Visit Chicago, Indiana Dunes NP, Saugatuck, Manistee, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinac Island, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, The Door Peninsula and Milwaukee.
Starting and finishing in Chicago, you’ll circle Lake Michigan in search of beautiful beaches, quaint towns and the warm welcome that can be enjoyed in Michigan and neighbouring Wisconsin.
Spend ten to fourteen nights touring around our favourite Great Lake – Lake Michigan. Whilst it’s not the biggest of the five massive lakes, it ranks third on that scale, lovely Lake Michigan is peppered with charming communities, endless beaches and two dynamic cities.
Lake Michigan’s highlights:
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All of our American road trips can be tailored to meet your requirements. Do you have more or less than 12 days for your Lake Michigan road trip? No problem, we can bolt on extra nights to allow more time to explore or shorten the number of destinations as required. Just let us know when requesting your quote.
You’ll start your Route 66 road trip by spending three nights and two exciting days in Chicago. Many start by enjoying Chicago’s famous pizza or by going to the top of Willis Tower to watch the sunset and get the lay of the land. You’ll collect your wheels when you leave Chicago to begin the drive down Route 66. For now, you’ll be pounding the pavement from one outstanding attraction to another.
Most visitors to Chicago head straight to the ‘Magnificent Mile’, a vibrant, bustling area which is home to upscale shops, trendy restaurants and posh hotels. Landmarks include the historic Chicago Water Tower, the neo-Gothic Tribune Tower and the 100-story Hancock Center, which has a rooftop observation deck called 360 Chicago. Spend the rest of the day exploring some of the other attractions found north of the Chicago River. These include Navy Pier, Wrigley Field and the beaches along Lake Michigan’s shoreline.
On your final full day in Chicago, we recommend that you spend time visiting the city’s attractions that are located south of the Chicago River. Some of America’s very best museums are found here, including the Art Institute, the Alder Planetarium, and the Field Museum of Natural History. Be sure to stroll around Millennium Park; you’ll find world-famous outdoor artworks like Cloud Gate and Crown Fountain for those all-important Social Media snaps. Lastly, before leaving town, make sure you spend at least one evening partying at Buddy Guy’s Legends Nightclub.
Collect your car and cruise around the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan on your way to Indiana Dunes National Park and neighbouring Indiana Dunes State Park (pictured). Here, you’ll enjoy leisurely hikes along Lake Michigan’s sandy beaches and over the mighty sand dunes that are found here. Next, you’ll continue north to the adorable neighbouring towns of Douglas and Saugatuck. The shoreline around Lake Michigan is packed with picturesque small towns. Saugatuck, in particular, is an absolute jewel and one of the prettiest places on the Gold Coast of Lake Michigan.
Spend the morning discovering the charming streets, shops and restaurants dotted around beautiful Saugatuck. After lunch at a local restaurant, like The Butler, consider crossing the Kalamazoo River on the adorable Saugatuck Chain Ferry and climb Mount Baldhead to enjoy far-reaching views of Lake Michigan. Feeling lazy, then forget Mount Baldhead and hire a retro boat to explore the river and Lake Michigan from the water.
Between Lake Michigan’s Saugatuck and Manistee to the north lie two must-see places to visit along the way. Firstly Holland, which is renowned for its springtime tulips, summer festivals, and fall orchards. Experience Dutch culture at Windmill Island Gardens, Nelis’ Dutch Village, and more. Further up the coast is one of Lake Michigan’s most beautiful beach areas—Ludington State Park Beach. Ludington is the perfect place for a picnic, as it’s home to gorgeous white sands that stretch for miles along the Lake Michigan shore.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is managed by the National Park Service, and thus, it offers a pristine environment of outstanding natural beauty for Lake Michigan visitors to enjoy. Sleeping Bear is centred around enormous sand dunes. One massive dune, in particular, used to resemble a “Mother Bear” sleeping on the ground, with her two cubs made up of two islands just off the shoreline. Energetic visitors can opt to walk down and then back up the largest sand dune you’ve ever likely to see. More sensible people can drive to the top and sit and watch the energetic people regret their decision to walk down to the shoreline. What fun. In the afternoon, you can explore less challenging hikes through woodland and more manageable sand dunes.
Leave Sleeping Bear Dunes behind and cruise through upscale Lake Michigan towns like Leland, Petoskey, and Harbor Springs on your way to Mackinaw City. Whilst it technically lies in the waters of Lake Heron, historic Mackinac Island should not be missed as you circle around neighbouring Lake Michigan. This unique island decided to ban cars as part of a clever marketing gimmick back in the day. Today, the benefits are clear: charming horse-drawn taxis and tourists on bicycles make this a unique environment in which to spend two restful days.
Kick off your day with a pancake breakfast, and then rent a bike and enjoy a flat 8-mile ride around this lovely little island. After lunch, you can visit the Historic Fort and then stroll over to find Sugarloaf Rock and Arch Rock. Next, we suggest you find a couple of Adirondack chairs and a bottle of wine and watch the sunset from your hotel porch. Complete your day with a delicious fish dinner at one of the numerous restaurants found along Lake Shore Drive.
After two relaxing days without your cherished rental car, it’s time to get behind the wheel again and cruise across the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge to explore the picturesque roads of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, or the U.P., as Lake Michigan residents call it. Suppose you decide to follow our suggested route. Your first stop will be Tahquamenon Falls (the largest waterfall in Michigan) before heading west to explore the wonderful Pictured Rocks area.
Enter the State of Wisconsin and cruise around Green Bay to find the delightful Door Peninsula. This popular Lake Michigan county is packed with charming lake houses, many of which are second homes to wealthy individuals from Milwaukee, Green Bay, and even Chicago. This area is a beautiful place to relax and unwind as you near the end of this Great Lakes road trip adventure.
Head south and enjoy 24 hours in Milwaukee. Enjoy breweries, fish dinners (fish and chips to us) and all manner of fine food at the Milwaukee Public Market. Interested in motorbikes? Then, be sure to head over to the Harley-Davidson Museum to learn about the story of the “hog”. Milwaukee’s other highlights include the Milwaukee Public Museum, the “Bronze Fonz” statue and the epic architecture and art collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum. Tomorrow, you’ll complete your Lake Michigan road trip adventure, by returning to Chicago O’Hare Airport and flying home.
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You’ll find answers to most of your questions right here. If you still need assistance, Feel free to get in touch and we’ll be sure to get back to you promptly!
Not a problem. If you are lucky enough to have extra time to explore more places or add more rest days, then just let us know and we’ll adjust your trip to match your preferred timescale.
We strongly advise that you purchase travel insurance for your holiday to cover you against medical expenses, theft and other financial costs. Should you need to cancel before travelling, some insurance policies may pay out for any loss of funds that have been paid to us and which cannot be refunded under our cancellation policy.
Many of our trips have a different end destination than the starting point, so this is not a problem. Please note a fee sometimes applies for one-way rentals between other regions or states, which will be paid to the supplier directly when collecting the vehicle. We’ll endeavour to inform you of this charge within your quote.
No, far from it. We work with a range of properties from 3* to 5*, so we can adapt the trip to match most budgets. We have access to rooms in more than 800 hotels, motels, lodges and B&Bs across North America.
The minimum age to rent a car is 21 in the United States or Canada, although, in addition, any drivers under 25 years of age will generally incur a surcharge.
Please use the form below to request a quote from our team. Fields marked with an * are mandatory. Please note that we currently only serve customers based in the UK & The EU.
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