bigbomoho

Going to Detroit in july and would like to fly in near sault ste marie and drive down thru upper peninsula.Dont like flying so would like non-stop from Atlanta to somewhere near ste marie--any ideas on nearest major city airport tp ste marie.If not, ideas on a loop from detroit up and back down would be helpful.

SuzieTrue

You pretty much have to go through Detroit or Chicago to get anywhere else in Michigan by plane. Where in the UP to you want to go? The eastern UP is pretty flat and boring. The exceptions being the Soo Locks, Mackinac Island and Taquamenon Falls.

rkkwan

Since you're from Atlanta, the obvious choice is Delta. The city that closest to Sault Ste Marie that Delta flies non-stop is Flint, MI, with three Canadair Region Jet flights a day up there.

seniormsuedu

my daughter, veterinary dr. in st. ignace, flies in and out of pellston. petoskey is near, also mack. island, and upper peninsula.

Maggi

My husband and I have lived in Michigan for many years, currently living in the Detroit suburbs. My suggestion to you would be to fly from Atlanta to Flint for approx. $210 roundtrip from Atlanta on Air Tran. Check out Bishop Intl Airport online for specials. From there, you could rent a car and hop right on I-75 heading north (about 3-1/2 hours to the Mackinac Bridge).

However, there is so much to see in-between! I don't know how much time you have. For a week, I would suggest taking I-75 to 72W toward Traverse City, Charlevoix, Petosky, all gorgeous coastal towns. Take the Mackinac Bridge and spend at least a day or two on Mackinac Island Continue north up to not-to-be missed Tahquamenon Falls State Park and Sault Ste. Marie and the "Soo" locks.

On the way back down I-75 you could stop for a day at the very touristy, but fun Frankenmuth for fried chicken and Bronners for some summer Christmas cheer. If you're into shopping there is a huge outlet mall called Birch Run right across the freeway.

Of course, there is so much more we can suggest for you. Summer is great in Michigan and we wish you a great time.

www.bishopairport.org
http://www.mackinac.com
http://www.saultstemarie.com/index2
htmlhttp://www.superiorsights.com/information/tahquamenonfalls
http://www.frankenmuth.org
http://www.primeoutlets.com/cntrdefault.asp?cntrid=1015

jenifer

Although Flint may be the nearest airport to Sault Ste. Marie that Delta flies into direct, it's nowhere near Sault Ste. Marie. It would be a 4-5 hour drive - Flint is only 1 hour from Detroit.

You may find a connecting flight to Pellston (2.5 hours to SSM) or Traverse City (3.5-4 hours to SSM). Petoskey doesn't have an airport. I remember flying out of SSM Canada, just across from SSM Michign about 15 years ago, but not sure who flies there or whether it's worth the effort to go through Canada.

Your best bet may be to do a driving tour, but that does also depend on what ou want to see.

SSM is in the very eastern part of the UP, so a straight shot from there to Detroit will show you none of the UP really. A Detroit-SSM-Detroit tour might involve driving up the central/eastern side of the LP, then back down along the Lake Michigan coast where there are many nice towns (Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Traverse City, Grand Haven, South Haven, Saugatuck, etc.) then across I-94 or I-96 back to Detroit.

If you want to add in a UP loop, there are lots of options.

On the other hand, if you are really mostly interested in the UP, you could consider flying into Marquette, Hancock, or even Green Bay and then flying out of Detroit on an open jaw ticket - these are not necessarily any more expensive than flying to and from the same city.

Keith

Sault Ste Maire has its own commerical airport, Chippewa County International located about 20 miles away at the former Kincheloe Air Force Base. Mesaba (Northwest Airlines feeder) is the only airline, flying in three times a day

The Canadian Soo is served by Air Canada Jazz from Toronto and BearSkin Airlines from Winnipeg, Ottawa and smaller communities

Sault Ste Marie is at the far eastern end of the UP and not really the place to start the trip you are planning. To see the UP, fly into Marquette, MQT, which is served by four airlines and located in the middle of the UP.

Keith

bigbomoho

thanks so much. for the fast,good replies.We actually have 4 nights from landing to get back to detroit,thats why I was trying to avoid the long drive.Im interested in coastal sights and some hikeing(flat).We love good food ,doesnt have to be fancy,but willing to pay for something worthwhile.IN looking into our trip it seemed Macinack area as well as Taquaenon Falls were interesting.My wife likes a very nice place to stay, so no rough spots.Any thoughts would be appreciated.If flying into Greenbay makes sense and would save driving time thats fine.Thanks so much for the info

rkkwan

From Green Bay, it's 300 miles, but it's not freeway, and I believe most of the trip is 2-lane (one in each direction). Will definitely take much longer than coming up from Detroit/Flint/Lansing/whatever...

jenifer

Tahquamenon Falls and Mackinac are both pretty far east in the UP, so if those are the only two areas you're interested in, it doesn't make sense to fly into Green Bay. That would only be a good option if you want to drive across the entire UP to see the whole thing.

For Mackinac/Tahquamenon you can fly into Detroit or Flint for a few hours of driving, or Pellston or Sault Ste. Marie for shorter drives.

Maggi

If your wife likes nice places to stay you might want to spend a night at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island:
http://www.grandhotel.com/

Flyboy

Sault Ste. Marie is a rather remote location and it is not particularly blessed with great, competitive air service. It's 340 miles from Detroit and 280 miles from Flint (so about a wash with flying into Green Bay, but beware of drop fees on the rental car if you book an open jaw.) Throw in T. Falls and you could easily be looking at 700-800 miles of driving.

With the kind of time you have to spend, I would be looking at a connecting flight to work in a little closer to the places you seem most interested in seeing. Failing that, you might want to consider an entirely different trip from your Detroit base. For example, it would be substantially closer for you to drive to Niagara Falls or Toronto from Detroit than to Sault Ste. Marie. You'll also have a lot easier time finding some selection in terms of "a very nice place to stay".

bigbomoho

Thanks again for the great info--Ive been to Niagara a few years ago and it was great.I have no love affair with Soo or Mackinack, so would consider other ideas that minimize driving but still see a very nice part of the country.So what would it entail if i flew to green bay and toured around ending up in Detroit.Any ideas on a trip that way would be appreciated

gbhost

If you have no overwhelming reason to visit Sault Ste Marie, I would second an earlier poster's suggestion that you try the premier vacation Michigan vacation spots of Traverse City, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Charlevoix, Petoskey and Mackinac Island. Most of these areas are only a 4 hour or so drive out of Detroit, offer great lodging, shopping, restaurants, nature, scenery and hiking possibilities, and are infinitely more interesting than SSM in my opinion.

You can find many postings on Michigan's gorgeous and underrated Northern Lower Peninsula in the Michigan section of these boards.

Keith

Ok, based on what you have said, the main remaining factor is how important cost is.

If not that big a factor, I would fly into Traverse City and rent a car there, returning it in Detroit. If cost is more important, I would fly in and out of Detroit.

Flying into Pellston tends to be much more expensive in the summer, there is only one car rental company (Hertz) and although they have a new terminal and are getting a few more flights, the options are still pretty limited.

4 nights?

First day - I would fly into TC, visit Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes than go up into the Lelenau Penninula, staying the night either there or back in Traverse City.

Second day Drive out & back on the Mission Penninsula (narrow strip straight north out of TC with great vistas of orchards and water), then up US 31 through Charlevoix and Petoskey, then over off 31 through Harbor Springs and Cross Village (spectacular drive on tree covered road on cliff over looking Lake Michigan). Ending up in Mackinaw City. There are many wonderful places to stop along this route.

3rd day - day trip to Mackinac Island

4th day - Up to Tahquamenon Falls & White Fish Point then over to Sault Ste Marie. Staying the night at the Soo.

5th day - straight down I-75, 350 miles to Detroit.

Keith

bigbomoho

thanks again especially Keith on the iterenary.Ill definitely now look at places to stay,eat,see in those areas.Any tips on books,sites etc would be helpful--or if you hav time a note on your thoughts would be great.My email is [email protected],or post it here so everyone can be helped--this is a great service and rerally helped me on my Maine trip last year.