I realize it was JUST the 4th of July, but considering it’s fresh in my mind and because I’m getting about a dozen questions a day about how to reserve a place in Door County for the 4th of July NEXT year, I thought it was worth a post about how to plan the perfect trip to Door County over the 4th of July because the truth is, if you’re not planning NOW for where to stay for next years 4th, you’ll likely be out of options.

Let me start by saying that I never miss a 4th of July in Door County. It is better than Christmas for me. My favorite holiday, favorite place, my entire extended family visits there, and the county comes alive putting on a show for all the visitors. It’s something special and I encourage you to consider spending your next 4th here if you can!

The best Door County 2024 4th of July itinerary

Yes, we realize that’s a ways away, but the time to start planning is now.

Where to stay

You’re definitely not alone in wanting to spend the 4th in Door County and many places book out a year in advance. We’ll be opening up our calendars the week of August 14th and you’ll want to jump on this waitlist right here to be notified. In our opinion, the best places to stay in Door County is to have a home base on the quiet side. Why? It’s a nice central location to be able to easily hit up all the touristy things up and down the peninsula all while having an oasis and “up north at the cabin feel” – best of both worlds in our opinion. We’ve got 4 unique waterfront cabins to choose from that are dog friendly, have boat rentals, and are cabin cozy.

Where to see the fireworks

You’ll have a few options to see fireworks over several nights surrounding the 4th, but the best one? Egg Harbor on July 3rd. Our insider tip is to head down around 5 or so and grab pizza at Pizza Bros connected to One Barrel. They’ve got live music typically starting at 6:00 on the patio, yard games, beer, cider and seltzers on tap and it’s the perfect place to kickoff your night because you can walk to your next stop to view the fireworks later in the night.

The best Door County 4th of July Parade

Again, several of the towns have parades, but the best in our opinion is Bailey’s Harbor. You’ll want to get down there to park by 9:00AM before roads are closed down and to give yourself time to grab a drink and a brat for breakfast (hello Wisconsin!). Our pick: A bloody Mary from the new Lake Fire Winery where they use wine instead of vodka in their Bloody Mary’s (surprisingly delish!) and hit up the brat stand a block to the south. Or, Chives always has great food/drink options at their food trucks serving coffee, mimosas, bloody mary’s and other “breakfast-centric speciality cocktails”.

Other 4th of July Fun

The county truly comes alive this week and I don’t know about you, but a patio and live music is my love language and you will not have to try too hard to find either this week in Door County! Our insider tip for a night this week is to grab a Wickman House reservation (you’ll need to prepare in advance for this, we reserved ours in March when they opened their calendars – join our waitlist and we will let you know when that happens!) or an earlish dinner at Chop and then head to Stabbur Beer Garden for live music. It’s one of my absolute favorite things and always bring artists with the best energy to get people on the dance floor. This unfortunately has to shut down at 10 which is why we recommend getting dinner early so you can catch as much of the live music as possible! Next head to Husby’s for some more live music or across the street to Sister Bay Bowl which is able to stay open later because it’s indoors.

Cabins on Clark Fun

If you’re lucky enough to snag one of our Clark Lake Cabins (The Point or The Bay) you can rent one of our pontoons and participate in the annual boat parade complete with a DJ! It’s such a good time and a unique 4th of July experience. There are also amazing fireworks here on the 4th so you can see 2 nights of display, one over the marina of Egg Harbor and one over the lake.

We generally recommend saving all our other favorite things in Door County for a less crazy week and hit up the above suggestions this week instead! Just make sure to have your lodging secured 9-12 months in advance and dinner reservations 3-6 months in advance and you’ll be set for one of the best weeks ever!