We just came back from a Labor Day weekend (2022) trip to Mackinac Island, Michigan and I thought I would share about our experiences (because you know, I’m a wannabe travel blogger at heart). This was a trip we’ve had our eye on for a while, and actually we had plans to visit in 2020 but that trip was cancelled related to the pandemic. So we were super excited to finally make this happen, despite some apprehensions about what it would be like going with 3 young children. For reference, we arrived to the island around noon on Friday and left Monday morning. It was just about the right length of time, although we could have spent another day there and would have found things to do.
A little bit about Mackinac Island: it’s an island on Lake Huron between Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas. It’s quite small, less than 4 square miles, and 80% of it is Mackinac Island State Park territory. One of the most interesting things about it is that cars are banned, so besides 2 fire trucks and 2 ambulances, there are no cars on the island. Instead people use bikes or horse drawn carriages to get around. To get to the island you have to take a ferry from either Mackinaw City or St. Ignace (on the upper peninsula). Before I go on, let me say that Mackinac Island is not a budget destination. Everything is expensive from hotels, restaurants, activities, etc. It’s very touristy plus everything has to get ferried over which drives up the price of everything. Just something to keep in mind if you’re planning a trip!
The drive for us to Mackinaw City was 5.5 hours overall, however on our way up we stopped in a town about 45 minutes away to spend the night based on how late we were arriving (read, our children would have been bears if we tried to make it there that night). Therefore stayed in a Hampton Inn in Gaylord, Michigan and the next day drove the rest of the way to Mackinaw City. You have two ferry lines going from Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island, Star Line and Shepler’s. Their prices are pretty similar, but we decided to go with Star Line as it’s slightly cheaper and the ferry dock on the island was closer to our hotel.
Buying ferry tickets online ahead of time will save you money, so it’s definitely worth doing! Since cars are not allowed on the island, you have to park and leave your car before getting on the ferry. There are several different parking options available, including free unsecured parking, secured parking for a fee, or parking right on the dock for even more. We opted to pay for the secured parking (also paid online ahead of time) and Taylor took a shuttle back to the dock after parking the car. One thing to note about the paid parking is you don’t pay per nights you are there but for the days, so we ended up having to pay for an extra day than expected (I was calculating that we would be gone 3 nights but we had to pay for 4 days). If you are staying overnight on the island, there is a luggage check in spot where you can drop off your luggage; it gets stacked onto extra large luggage carts and transported on the rear of the ferry, with a luggage claim at the dock once you arrive. The ferries run all day at regular intervals, make sure to check out the schedule online so you have an idea of which one you’d like to get on. The tickets are not day/time specific so you have flexibility, but it also means you are not guaranteed a spot. The ferry site recommends arriving an hour before departure to ensure you have enough time for everything; we arrived half an hour before the next ferry and weren’t sure if we would make it on, but with a little hustle and a brief moment of panic, we made it!
The ferry ride was an activity all in itself for our kids (age 5, 3, and 10 months), our two oldest absolutely loved it! Depending on the time of departure, some of the ferries (including the one we took) take a quick detour to go under the Mackinaw Bridge. The ferry ride over was about 20 minutes and we made it to the island right around lunch time. (Keep in mind that there is a chance that your luggage does not make it onto the same ferry as you– on the way back, we were there with plenty of time to spare, but for whatever reason one of our suitcases was not there at the luggage claim, and we had to wait until the next ferry brought it over.)
Packing: We told our older boys that they could each bring a backpack and fill it with all the books and toys that they wanted to bring. If it fit and they were willing to carry it, it could come. We packed 2 suitcases for the 5 of us, plus Taylor and I each had a backpack (mine was our diaper bag backpack and his a regular one), plus we brought our jogging stroller.
Lodging: We stayed at an adorable little hotel called the Mackinac House. It had the perfect location, just one block up from the ferry dock and the main street running through downtown where all the restaurants and shops are. From the ferry dock, we picked up our luggage and walked the 4 or so minutes to the hotel. It was adorably decorated, had a big front porch for relaxing, and a cute dining room where they served breakfast (not a full, hot continental breakfast but rather cereal, muffins, yogurt, bagels, etc). Our room had 2 Queen beds plus a kitchenette area with a full fridge. The hotel provided a pack ‘n play so thankfully we did not have to bring ours, and we set it up in the kitchenette area to keep baby away from the other two noisier kids. Staying on the island was definitely worth it and is the way to go in my opinion; we had considered staying in Mackinaw City and ferrying back and forth each day, but were so glad we decided to stay on the island. It gave us a place to go back to during the day when we needed to rest, it allowed us to start exploring earlier in the morning and later in the evening, and although the hotel was more expensive, we avoided the extra cost of taking the ferry every day.
Activities:
- Renting bikes- one of the best ways to see the island and the water is to rent (or bring) bikes and bike around the M-185. It’s the “highway” that goes all the way around the island, and the only one in the country on which cars are not allowed. The entire loop around the island is 8.2 miles and is a very easy ride with little elevation change. There are several places to stop and enjoy the scenery or if you have kids to let them out and throw rocks in the water : ) . The views are beautiful and this was probably my favorite thing that we did the whole trip. As with everything on the island, renting bikes was not cheap so if you have your own that you can bring it would help. There are several bike rental companies to choose from; we rented from Mackinac Cycle, mostly because it was the closest to our hotel. (It’s located right in front of the Star Line ferry dock). We rented 2 adult bikes and 2 burleys for the 3 kids; they do not allow bikes with training wheels on the island. You can rent per hour, for 4 hours, or for the whole day.
- Horse drawn carriage tour- it was really fun to experience riding on a horse drawn carriage, plus you have a tour guide giving you an official tour as you ride around to various tourist spots on the inner part of the island. They provide some history of the island and fun facts about the places you pass. You can get off the carriage at different parts of the tour to explore and then get back on a carriage. The first stop takes you to Surrey Hill where there are gift shops, the Grand Hotel Stables which includes a carriage museum, and the Wings of Mackinac (a butterfly conservatory). Other stops include Arch Rock and Fort Mackinac, and you pass by the Grand Hotel, the cemetery, the Governor’s Mansion, and Fort Holmes.
- Arch Rock- a beautiful rock formation overlooking the lake. You can get there by walking/biking along the M-185 or the carriage tour makes a stop at the lookout as well. If you’re coming from the M-185 make sure to take the stairs all the way up to the lookout as the view looking down at Arch Rock is the iconic one (the view up at it from M-185 is not as impressive).
- Grand Hotel- if you aren’t staying at the Grand Hotel, it is worth going to see it. Fun fact, it has the largest front porch in the world! If you want to go inside or explore the grounds, there is a $10 per person admission fee. With the kids in tow we did not elect to do this, but we still walked up to the hotel, saw it from the outside, and grabbed some ice cream in the ice cream shop located on the first floor side entrance (Sadie’s Ice Cream Parlor).
- Fort Mackinac- this was one place that we did not get a chance to visit due to time constraints and our children needing to rest. However we heard that it is worth the visit. This fort dating back to the late 1700’s is one of the few surviving Revolutionary War forts and has lots of exhibits and demonstrations about life from that time period.
Restaurants:
- The Yankee Rebel Tavern- we went here for lunch on our first day. The food and service were good, I would recommend!
- Island Slice Pizzeria- we got takeout from here and took it back to our hotel and ate it in the dining room. Pizza was really good, the restaurant was packed and we would’ve had a hard time eating there so taking it to go worked out well for us.
- Horn’s Gaslight Bar & Restaurant- ate here for dinner one night, it was just okay. They serve mostly mexican food.
- Cannonball- a food stand along the M-185 where you can grab your typical fried food, seating is picnic tables outside. Great for grabbing a bite as you bike around the island.
- Fudge shops- Mackinac Island is known for their fudge, so you have to stop in at one of the many fudge shops on the island (on the main road alone there are 16 fudge shops!)
- The Carriage House (at Hotel Iroquois)- we did not get a chance to eat here, but would definitely plan to next time we visit Mackinac Island (especially if we go without kids). It seems like a fancier restaurant and has seating right on the dock so you’re eating next to the water.
One more random tip: I would highly recommend getting up and going early one morning to catch the island as it’s waking up, before the hustle and bustle starts and all of the tourists start arriving on the ferries. We did this on our last morning and it was so peaceful and beautiful! We walked along the main street in downtown and also out to the dock to watch the sun rise over the water.
