Advice on roadtrip around Michigan

[kojtl1000]

Hi all,

We (2 people 41 years old, no kids) just relocated from Belgium to the US and are looking into doing a 1,5 week roadtrip around Michigan. We live in the Peoria Illinois area and will be driving up to Michigan the first week of September. We really want to see Detroit, but not necessarily stay overnight in the city. We also like to visit smaller towns, beaches, interesting museums if there are any, and definitely also vineyards.

We have put a preliminary route together. We have some visitors over with whom we are going to meet up at the end of our Michigan trip (in Chicago). We would have about 12 days to spend in Michigan.

This is the route we are looking at at the moment. I just sum up some destinations so you know what route we would follow. Of course these are not all places we would stop and visit (we wouldn't have the time). We also would have to look where we would stay and how many days we would stay there.

- Peoria (leave early Saturday morning September 8th)

- Kalamazoo

- Detroit

- Frankenmuth

- Saginaw

- Standish

- Au Gres

- Tawas City

- East Tawas

- Oscoda

- Harrisville

- Alpena

- Rogers City

- Mackinaw City

- Mackinaw Island

- Harbor Springs

- Petoskey State Park

- Traverse City

- Leelanau Peninsula

- Leland

- Glen Arbor

- Grand Haven

- Grand Rapids

- Saugatuck

- Drive to Chicago on September 19th and arrive around 9:00 am

Do you have any advise on this route? Would you do things differently? And taking into account we would have about 11 nights, where would you advise we stay along this route (we like the bigger chain hotels, or the beautiful B&B's in the vineyards)?

Thank you so much for your input.

[kojtl1000]

Nobody has any tips for me?
I'm really lost and would appreciate any advice.

Thanks.

[Lifemagician]

Hi, and Welcome to the The Great American RoadTrip Forum.

Nobody has any tips for me?

You already have a route laid out... and as you say, you do not have time to visit all those places. Have you actually laid all this out on a paper map, and see by which attractions it passes. Most maps have many of these marked on them. You may also like to check out the map centre on the green bar above to check out further attractions.

What I do in cases like yours is this... I get in the car, and start driving. Enjoying what I see along the way and stopping whenever I see something of interest. Keep an eye on your progress, and note the time you need to be heading home.

Not having spent much time in MI, I am not able to give any advice about specifics such as accommodation and restaurants. Have you checked out the hotel and motel reservations tab at the right top of this page, and see what is available. I know there are some good deals to be had. It also shows in which towns the greatest variety is.

Enjoy the planning.

Lifey

[kojtl1000]

Hi all,

a while ago I posted a request for more information regarding our coming road trip around Michigan. Thank you again for all the information we received. Based upon this information, we modified our plans and came up with the itinerary as described below.

We now need to look into booking the hotels/B&B's and would again appreciate your help on this. I think for the most part of the itinerary we are pretty sure on the places to stay. However, f.e. around Traverse city, I do not know if this is the best place to stay 3 nights to visit places like the Leelanau Peninsula, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Leland, Glen Arbor, Suttons Bay, ... Maybe just one night in Traverse City and then 2 nights in another town? Any thoughts on this and other places to stay would great. If you think that some of the places below are not that interesting to stay, please let me know if you would have a great alternative.

9/7/12: Morton (IL) - Ann Arbor (drive just to reach hotel)

9/8/12: Ann Arbor - Frankenmuth (visit Ann Arbor, Henry Ford Dearborn, drive through Detroit)

9/9/12: Frankenmuth

9/10/12: Frankenmuth - Saginaw

Saginaw - Standish

Standish - Au Gres

Au Gres Tawas City

Tawas City - East Tawas

East Tawas - Oscoda

Oscoda - Harrisville

Harrisville - Alpena

Alpena - Rogers City

Rogers City - Mackinaw City (or St. Ignace)

Mackinaw City (or St. Ignace) - Mackinac Island (Take Ferry)

9/11/12: Mackinac Island

9/12/12: Mackinac Island

9/13/12: Mackinaw City (or St. Ignace) - Sault Ste. Marie (Take Ferry off island in morning, visit Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Tahquamenon Falls, Soo Locks (Total tour = 257 miles / 6:00) --> so maybe skip Pictured Rocks ??)

9/14/12: Sault Ste. Marie (UP) - Harbor Springs (Via M-119 (Tunnel of Trees))

Harbor Springs - Petoskey State Park (Visit Petoskey State Park)

Petoskey State Park - Traverse City (via Charlevoix and Elk Rapids)

9/15/12: Traverse City - Leelanau Peninsula (Visit Leelanau Peninsula, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Leland, Glen Arbor, Suttons Bay….)

9/16/12: Traverse City (Visit vineyards)

9/17/12: Traverse City - Grand Haven (Visit Silver Lake State Park (+ dunes)? / boardwalk in Grand Haven)

9/18/12: Grand Haven - Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids - Saugatuck

Saugatuck - Holland or South Haven

9/19/12: Holland or South Haven - Chicago

9/20/12: Chicago

9/21/12: Chicago - Home (Illinois)

Thank you very much!!

Moderator Note: Please keep all questions about this trip together in the same thread

[Midwest Michael]

You certainly aren't going to have time to do everything you've got planned on your Sault Ste. Marie/Pictured Rocks day. There's a lot to do, and you won't be on high speed roads, in fact, you'll likely end up on a gravel road or two.

My last trip to Pictured Rocks, I had the idea that I'd tour Pictured Rocks and make it out to Paradise for Tahquamenon Falls and the Shipwreck museum, but I didn't have nearly enough time. I only made it to Grand Marias, before I had to turn to head back (and even then it was dark by the time I got back to the other side of the park.) In fact, I'm just about to head back up there to revisit all those places I didn't get to.

Personally, I'd try to keep Pictured Rocks, as it is one of my favorite spots in the area. It seems like you're going at a very relaxed pace for the rest of your trip, and you could easily steal a day or two from somewhere else to fit it in.