nalaland

I consider flying in to Detroit, checking out Detroit, Mackinac City, UP and returning the car at CLE. Is this plan too ambitious? Is it worth it to visit Mackinac and UP or I should stick with south side of MI. Four, five days are all the time I have. We like outdoors activities, sightseeing, architectures, history. Not much shopping except some souvenirs.
Day 1 > Arrive Detroit, rent a car, checkout Detroit, stay overnight in Detroit
Day 2 > Drive to MacKinac City, cross the ferry to UP, check out UP stay Night 2, and/or 3 in UP
Day 3 > Cross the ferry back to MacKinac, check out the city, stay night 4 here
Day 5 >Drive from Mac Kinac to Cleveland Hopkins Airport.

1) How long is the wait for the ferry crossing to/from UP
2) What not to miss in UP?
3) As I must return the car in CLE, if it's better to stay in the South size of MI, where best to go?
4) Trying to fit in driving along 23 (Lake Huron?)

Thanks all

shelemm

The view of Lake Michigan from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is one of the great majestic sights in the U.S. The Leelanau Peninsula is great with serious hiking, a landmark lighthouse, and one of America's most unique and fascinating small towns, Leland.

If you are driving in the summer, Michigan has many very serious fruit stands with varieties of fruit that you can't find elsewhere. It is a cornucopia.

janisj

I assume you mean Mackinaw City not 'MacKinac City', right?

Are you flying out of CLE on day 5? If so your plan seems a total non-starter. Mackinaw City is more than 400 miles from CLE and the drive could easily take 8 hours if there is an traffic at all and you just stop for a quick meal/rest stop.

shelemm

It's confusing since there is Mackinac Island, yet Mackinaw City.

janisj

Either one . . . is a loooooooog way from CLE

tom_mn

There's a bridge to the UP, there's no ferry. I am having trouble figuring out the Cleveland angle.

Assuming this is all serious, fly to the Straights/Soo area, Pellston or Sault Ste Marie MI or even Traverse City MI, and drive from there to Cleveland, which is 2 days driving.

As an alternate, if you like museums, you could just see those, in Detroit and Dearborn MI, then the Toledo Art Museum (free), then onto Cleveland.

tom_mn

Adding: There are pretty shores of the Great Lakes and then so-so ones, the Michigan shore of Lake Huron is not very pretty. The Lake Superior Shore of MI is quite pretty of you can fit that in, the MI shore of Lake Michigan is pretty scenic, too, lots of sand and beaches.

If you could start and end this trip in Traverse City the time frame works a lot better. The airport there has some good service.

nalaland

Thanks all for opening my eyes!! As my ending destination must be in Cleveland in only a few days, my plan to Mackinaw city and UP is shot.
I need to replan.. maybe I have to decide between West or East side of MI.

Yep.. It's Mackinaw hahaahha


Later y'all

gardendiva

Srping and summer are construction season in Michigan. I just took a trip from Detroit to Grand Rapids. Add at least an hour for driving through construction zones. I may be biased but you could fill your days with a trip to Detroit but it depends on what you enjoy doing. Detroit has many indoor things to do. The Henry Ford and Village, The Rouge Plant (steel plant), the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Historical Museum. Outdoors there is the River Walk which is a path along the Detroit River, many outdoor patios on restaurants, etc., Belle Isle is a beautiful park in the middle of the Detroit River. On the island is a very small but historic aquarium, and aboritum and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. If you have your passport, you can take the bridge or tunnel over to Windsor, Ontario Canada. They also have a beautiful water front. Although it is just north of the city, the Detroit Zoo is also a nice place to visit.

shelemm

I've driven twice back and forth to Interlochen, once late Spring and once late Summer and didn't run into construction, so this was not a factor for us.