Michigan’s mojo comes from its beaches, forests and small towns. Visitors often are surprised to learn that four of the five Great Lakes clasp the state and that more than half of it is covered by timberland.
What’s a visitor to do amid all of this natural bounty? We’ve got answers, and don’t worry, you’ll get an urban fix, too. Here are the best places to visit in Michigan.
1. Detroit
Best place for art and nightlife
It’s hard not to fall for the infectious, can-do spirit of Detroit. The edgy public art scene meets you at every turn, from the multi-block, polka-dotted Heidelberg Project to the 100-plus murals remaking the warehouses of Eastern Market. Traditionalists can ogle one of the world’s best collections at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Come nighttime, the city rocks, and live music spills out of clubs like Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, a stuck-in-time jazz hotbed. Design hotels and homey restaurants in once-abandoned buildings add to the buzz.
Planning tip: Detroit is easy on the wallet, with plenty of free things to do.
2. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Best place for days at the beach
One of Michigan’s unheralded national parks, Sleeping Bear Dunes spreads across 35 miles of prime Lake Michigan shoreline. There are two main ways to absorb the true-blue lake views. One is the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, a 7-mile, one-lane, picnic-grove-studded loop. The other is the Dune Climb, which entails slogging up a 200ft-high sand pile. It will punish your leg muscles, but the summit view of panoramic, Caribbean-hued water is worth it.
The park’s 14 beaches and 100 miles of forested hiking trails provide more gorgeous vistas, and many families return here year after year to enjoy them.
3. Traverse City
Best place for couples
It may only have about 15,000 residents, but Traverse City is northern Michigan’s “big” city, with the superb restaurants and cool-cat shops to prove it. Beach lounging, parasailing, cycling bucolic trails and kayaking to breweries with outfitters like Paddle TC provide the action.
Detour: Vineyards blanket the nearby Old Mission Peninsula, where ten wineries in 18 miles pour chardonnays and pinot noirs. The area has the same microclimate as France’s Bordeaux and Italy’s Piedmont regions,…
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