Pure Michigan Travel Itinerary

I just got back from a road trip to Michigan with my family and thought my itinerary might be of help to anyone else who wants to make the most out of their time there or needs help with travel planning. I’ll cover food in another post, so stay tuned for that.

We all had been to Michigan before, but never to Saugatuck and never all together to Traverse City. Since we didn’t have a ton of time, we limited our trip to those areas.

We arrived in Saugatuck late afternoon and checked into our AIRbnb on Holland Street, which was an excellent location for us to be able to walk into town for shopping, sightseeing, and eating. I would stay there again in a heartbeat. It was pouring our first night so we drove to dinner and ate until the rain stopped, after which we did some window shopping and planned which shops we wanted to revisit the next day. Butler Street is the main thoroughfare for shops and here you will find anything from ice cream to art galleries to sunglasses and clothing. Some of the shops are unique and some are local chains. We walked into just about every single one.

These colorful crosswalks brighten the vibe in downtown Saugatuck

Our favorite shops were Lulu Cadieux, which sells incredible accompaniments to charcuterie, Edmond Fallot French mustard and spreads, gorgeous brocade dish towels, beautiful woven and embroidered place mats and napkins, vintage designer purses and jewelry, unique clothing, wine, cheese, a wonderful selection of gifts, and also offers cooking classes! It’s a one-stop-shop for anyone who loves all things kitchen and home decor.

I purchased two jars of French mustard and this adorable watercolor book. I’m decent enough that I don’t need a book, but I found this to be SO cute and thought it would be a great thing to take on other trips with me. Our son took a blank book of watercolor paper and a set of paints and brushes on our last vacation and I envied the time he spent painting.

I also loved The Brass Anchor for their adorable sweatshirts and sweaters, as well as dresses that we haven’t seen anywhere else. My favorites though were Postcards from Paradise and the Beach Boutique, which I learned are affiliated with one another. If you love Loveshack Fancy, Lily Pulitzer, Spartina, Aqua dell’Elba, Sail to Sable, these are the shops you should visit.

They are also, conveniently, across the street from the Saugatuck Chain Ferry. While we did not ride it, we did watch it and admire its aesthetic and unique mode of movement–literally cranked across the short span of water by teenagers. It costs only $3 and will take you to the other side in case you want to go to Oval Beach, climb dune Mount Baldhead, or walk around.

Speaking of Oval Beach, I highly recommend doing during the day to swim and going at night for the sunset. We did both and both were wonderful for us. Oval Beach has ample parking, the water is clean and clear, and it was warm and so pleasant. Entrance costs $15 per car and, if you go after 9 pm, it is free to enter. I really wish we would have stayed much longer. But, we went back the next evening and stayed until after the sun set and it was absolutely worth it. Plus, it wasn’t crowded at all. Next time, we will take a picnic instead of going out to dinner.

At a completely different pace, I am so happy we went on a Saugatuck Dune Ride. This was along the same vein as the Thames Rocket rides we did in London, but minus the music. We four loved every thrilling second and every fascinating bit of history we learned from our driver and guide. This was only a few minutes drive away from our AIRbnb in town and was super easy to book online. We all wished it were longer and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. If you can, sit in the last row in the back so you can enjoy the bumps and dips even more. Essentially, this is a short geographical and local history lesson (very brief, but interesting) coupled with a drive up and down a private property filled with dunes and forest. It doesn’t go more than around 35-40 mph, but it’s refreshing and so fun. The people who run it are very friendly and welcoming. We went at 3:30 and it was the perfect way to break up an afternoon and enjoy the breeze provided by the ride.

After two days in Saugatuck (which we felt was enough) we drove to Glen Arbor and did the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, which we also would all recommend. It is a slow pace at 25 mph and has 10 stops you can pull off and either take photos at or hike at, depending. We stopped at 2, 3, 9, and 10. 2 was a beautiful view of the water, 3 was a hiking loop that we did and loved. There are baby’s breath plants ALL over the place and you can smell them everywhere you walk. It is so beautiful.

We drove through to stop 9 and got out of the car, forgetting what was ahead. I was against our kids climbing down and up Sleeping Bear Dune because I didn’t want to take the time and also because I was worried they wouldn’t be able to do it without being exhausted for the rest of the day despite them being highly athletic and in fantastic shape. Because I told them no and because we didn’t realize that stop number 9 was the big dune, they were unprepared with not having had breakfast or any water beforehand. Once we approached the edge it was clear there was no stopping them and they started running down. It took about 5 minutes to get down and they were rewarded with a dip in the gorgeous water and a photo from another climber. It took them about 40 minutes and they were tired and thirsty, but bounced back within a few minutes. They both said it was absolutely worth it and loved the experience. I’m mixed about whether or not I should have tried it, but probably will if I go back and have water to take down for the trip back up.

Once we left Sleeping Bear Dunes, we headed to Leland to stroll through Fishtown and have lunch.

It is such an adorable spot and easily doable in a few hours, which is all we budgeted time for. There are many really cute shops with higher quality offerings than we ended up finding in Traverse City. Our favorites were Leelanau Goods, The Harbor House, and Leland Gal. Each had unique items we hadn’t seen elsewhere and felt more special than the others.

After lunch and shopping, we strolled by the boats for a few minutes before driving up to Traverse City.

We had no specific plans for our first night, so after we checked into our hotel and relaxed a bit, we went swimming and headed to dinner. Our plans on the second day were partly derailed because it rained pretty hard, but we decided to go into town to browse the shops and eat. You could spend a day going through the stores. What drew us were the Camera Shop and Cherry Republic. My husband and kids loved Cherry Republic because of all of the samples. I’ll admit I loved the cherry salsa and brought home a jar along with a cherry balsamic I got from Harbor House in Leland, but I didn’t enjoy how commercial the store felt. My son bought some chocolate covered cherries and some cherry coffee for his girlfriend.

There is a wine-tasting counter and, for a small charge, you can choose 6 1-ounce pours. Neither of us liked any of them, but it was fun to try nonetheless. We dodged the raindrops for a few more hours and drove to Torch Lake, hoping to rent a few kayaks and get on the water. Not only had it become extremely windy, we could not find anywhere to park in one of the public access lots, so this was a bust. On a sunny, calm day, it would have been so great to get out into the water. We ended up driving along the coast and going back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

It was our plan to head to Mission Point and the weather broke and made that so worthwhile. We had dinner and headed to the lighthouse where our kids decided to go into the water until sunset. The water there is so shallow that they were able to walk out pretty far and only be up to their knees! It was the perfect way to end our trip. Driving back to our hotel with the windows down, admiring the gorgeous scenery, passing beautiful wineries and lavender farms was the cherry on the top of our last full day in Traverse City.