The Harvard center is around 1 mile east of Milky Way Park and 7 miles south of Mecum Auction Company.
The best time to visit Harvard would fall between late May and late September, when high temperatures range from the low 70s to the low 80s and tourism is at its peak. Hotel rates will rise during this season, though, so you'll want to book early both to shave a little off the cost and to ensure room availability. You can score a cheaper rate if you travel earlier in May or later in September.
The temperatures are quite cold for much of the rest of the year, when tourism is down. However, if you did travel during winter, you'd get the lowest rates of the year.
Seniors, AAA members, government employees, and members of the military can enjoy discounts at Comfort Suites Delavan Lake Geneva Area in Delavan, Wisconsin. You'll be within a short drive of Dancing Horse Theatre, Animal Gardens, and Apple Barn Orchard. Rooms feature refrigerators, plasma TVs, desks, and free Wi-Fi. The hotel offers a spa tub, a fitness center, a 24-hour business center, outdoor barbecue grills, a gift shop, free newspapers, and a fireplace in the lobby. A free buffet breakfast is served each morning.
Sky Lodge Inn & Suites in Delavan offers AAA and military/government discounts. Your room will feature a refrigerator, microwave, flat-screen TV, and work desk as well as free Wi-Fi. You can also get a spacious suite with additional amenities such as a whirlpool tub. Cool off and get some exercise in the indoor pool, do some work in the business center, and pick up a free newspaper in the lobby. You can even get free breakfast each morning.
Fontana Village Inn in Lake Geneva is a highly rated lakeside hotel in an excellent location for scenic views and recreation. Rooms come with refrigerators, microwaves, flat-screen televisions with HBO, tea and coffee makers, and free Wi-Fi. Jacuzzi rooms are also available. The waterfront hotel provides easy access to the 26-mile path along Geneva Lake. Views on the path include historic estates as well as the scenic lake itself.
Your room will have a microwave, refrigerator, flat-screen television, desk, and free Wi-Fi. Upgraded rooms feature added amenities such as spa tubs and sofa beds. The hotel offers an indoor pool, a 24-hour fitness center, a 24-hour business center, and free breakfast.
Harvard Milk Days is the longest ongoing hometown festival in Illinois, and Harvard bills itself as the Milk Center of the World. The event started in 1942 when 3,000 people gathered in Harvard to honor local dairy farmers and drink 500 gallons of milk. Speeches, music, baton twirlers, and dancers were also highlights of the event.
"It is only right and natural that Harvard should honor the producers who have made it the 'Milk Center of the World,'" program chairman Charles A. Minot said at the second annual Milk Days celebration in 1943. "This Milk Day will be much more than the glorified picnic it started out to be."
Over the years, the crowds kept increasing, and organizers kept adding new elements, such as a petting zoo, races, a golf outing, and a marching band contest. Milk Days has featured a Milk Day queen since 1945, when Norma Garrett of Harvard was crowned. The mascot of Milk Days is Harmilda, the fiberglass cow that has been at Five Points Park since 1966.
Milky Way Park, which hosts Milk Days, is a community park with amenities such as a walking path, picnic shelters, a playground, and sports facilities. Also popular is the Aquatic Center and Swimming Pool, which also offers a water slide, a sand play area, a bathhouse, a beach volleyball pit, and concessions.
Rush Creek Conservation Area offers 726 acres of woodlands, wetlands, and meadows that provide homes to many species of wildlife. Restored areas have increased production of native plants. Wildflowers brighten up the summer forest floor. Water quality and fish habitat in the creek and pond have improved greatly since the restoration work was completed in 2005.
Among the annual events in Harvard is the Food Truck FEASTival, held in July. Besides all the food trucks, the event features an arts and craft show and a car show. The Harvard Balloon Fest, which began in 2016 as an annual event, is now planned to be held every two years. In addition to the hot-air balloons dotting the sky, the festival features concerts and other entertainment, food and beverage vendors, demonstrations, helicopter rides, tethered balloon rides, inflatables, and more.
Harvard, Illinois, can bring you close to Chicago and other big destination cities, or you can stay right in its own backyard. Recreational, shopping, and dining opportunities are all around you, both in Harvard and in the other vibrant small cities in the area.
Below are reviews of the city of Harvard, IL from an actual visitor's perspective.
Restaurant next door was good, the Heritage.
It's my hometown and has expanded businesses greatly since I was growing up there.
Harvard is a nice small town.