Long Weekend in Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan is a popular destination to escape to for a weekend getaway. It offers a good balance between a quiet retreat into nature and lively lakeside towns, allowing you to easily fill up your itinerary with plenty of things to do!
Given that we can’t cover the entire state in just a one weekend itinerary, we’ve chosen Traverse City to be the base for this trip since it is situated relatively centrally and is easy to access by either plane or car. While there is more to explore in the upper peninsula of Michigan, this guide shares fun things to do in the northern region of the lower peninsula! I suppose we’ll just have to visit Michigan again some time soon to explore the UP 🙂
Day One Itinerary
For the first day, we’ve created a loop of all of the things to explore in the peninsula on the western side of Traverse City. This route assumes you’re already starting from the city, but if you’re driving up from the lower parts of Michigan you could also start right from the first stop and cut off about an hour in the car!
Stop One: Crystal Lake
To start your day, you can grab a coffee or a breakfast sandwich from Ursa Major Bistro in Beulah, and walk it down to the beach for a morning picnic by Crystal Lake. This lake is one of the larger inland lakes in the state, and as noted by its name is known for its clear blue water!
Crystal Lake is about a 50 minute drive if starting from your accommodation in Traverse City. We recommend blocking out about 30-60 minutes to get yourself some breakfast and enjoy a stroll by the water front in Beulah.
Stop Two: Frankfort Beach
Next along your drive up the coast is a town called Frankfort. Here you will find a vast public beach (Frankfort Beach) with open views of Lake Michigan and ample space to layout and relax. This beach offers a lot more space than the shorelines of Crystal Lake, as well as a bit more to do.
Frankfort Beach hosts sitting areas in its dunes, volleyball nets, and a long jetty with built in ladders from which you can climb out of the water from if you’re interested in jumping in from out deep.
Frankfort Beach is just on the outskirts of the start of Sleeping Bear Dunes, so from here you can already see the towering sand dunes bordering the water in the distance.
Frankfort Beach is only about a 5 minute drive from Crystal Lake & Beulah.
Stop Three: Sleeping Bear Dunes
The next stop is about a 40 minute drive up through the dunes, but worth the trip: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This national reserve allows you to explore the naturally formed sand dunes that have built up along the coast of Lake Michigan.
The stark contrast of the steep sand hills against deep blue water is breathtakingly beautiful. There are also a couple of options to hike throughout Sleeping Bear Dunes, so depending on how much you would like to explore by foot versus in the car we recommend blocking off anywhere between 2-4 hours for this part of your day.
Stop Four: Glen Arbor
After exploring the park, you can stop by the nearby town of Glen Arbor to grab a bite to eat and refuel.
This happens to be the home of the original Cherry Republic, another staple to northern Michigan, so if you want to stop in there for lunch and some souvenirs we think it could be a fun option!
If not, Glen Arbor has a main strip with a handful of restaurants and indoor + outdoor dining options to choose from.
The town of Glen Arbor is only about a 5 minute drive from Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Stop Five: Fishtown (Leland)
The next stop in the itinerary switches it up a bit – Fishtown (formally called Leland) is an old fishing town that has had its boathouses converted into artisan shops! Here, you can explore its little port area and enjoy a bit of shopping by the water.
As a bonus stop if you’re not beached out yet, we also recommend popping over to Van’s Beach while in Leland! This beach is just a block over from Fishtown (you can see it from the docks), so you can easily walk over when you’re through shopping.
This was one of our favorite beaches during our trip, so even if you just pop over to take a short walk along the water – it was super pretty and we highly recommend!
Leland is about a 20 minute drive from Glen Arbor.
Stop Six: Sutton’s Bay
As you begin moving back towards Traverse City, if you need a place to stretch your legs Sutton’s Bay is another fun place to stroll through and do some street shopping. They also have a nice expansive park along the bay to sit down by and enjoy the water.
Sutton’s Bay is about a 15 minute drive from Fishtown.
Stop Seven: Ciccone Vineyard
Along your drive down the West Arm Grand Traverse Bay, another pretty stop is the Ciccone Vineyard. Higher up in elevation on the peninsula, Ciccone offers a nice overlook of the bay through the trees and rolling hills that surround the area. If you’re there in the summer, the vineyard also hosts live music in the evenings twice a week, so be sure to check the schedule to see if your trip lines up with the fun!
Ciccone Vineyard & Winery is only 10 minutes from Sutton’s Bay and then it is just a 20 minute drive back into Traverse City to end the day.
Day Two Itinerary
Since the first day of this itinerary built in a lottt of moving around, day two goes at a slower pace. Given everything in this list is within easy driving distance from Traverse, feel free to mix and match stops between the different days to better match your own travel pace.
Stop Eight: Grand Traverse Pie Company
To start the next day, we recommend stopping at the Grand Traverse Pie Company for breakfast! They do offer a larger breakfast menu than just pie, but we highly recommend getting at least one slice to share while you’re there since it is such a staple of Traverse City.
The Grand Traverse Pie Company is located at 101 North Park Street.
Stop Nine: Cherry Republic
Another staple to Traverse City just a few minutes walk down the road is the Cherry Republic! This is a larger store front than the original found in Glen Arbor, and from here you’ll be able to find ample cherry flavored perishables to bring home or give as gifts.
Our favorite was the chocolate covered cherries, but you can also find cherry flavored salsa, queso, horseradish, gummies, and more!
The Cherry Republic of Traverse City is located on 154 East Front Street.
Stop Ten: Brys Estate
When you’re ready to get going for the day, the next stop on the itinerary begins to explore the peninsula east of Traverse City (the Old Mission Peninsula). Our first recommendation is the Brys Estate Vineyard & Winery. There are tons of different pockets to explore within this vineyard to fill a good portion of your day, including a lawn bar and lavender field!
There are two main sections of this estate to explore, and each have enough going on to almost make it feel like two stops in one. We recommend kicking back to relax with some food & getting some samplers to taste and enjoy in the beautiful scenery.
Brys Estate is located at 3309 Blue Water Road, about a 20 minute drive from Traverse City.
Stop Eleven: Chateau Chantal
Continuing the tour of pretty vineyards in the area, our next recommendation is Chateau Chantal. This is another expansive vineyard with many different hosting areas for its visitors. It offers a great view from atop a hill of the nearby lake, and also features formal sit down dinners in the summer & fall seasons.
If you’d like to stretch your legs, they’ve marked a walking path through a portion of their vineyard to explore as well.
Chateau Chantal is located at 15900 Rue de Vin on the Old Mission Peninsula and is only a 10 minute drive from Brys Estate.
Stop Twelve: Front Street
Lastly, to end your weekend we recommend heading back towards Traverse City itself for the evening. From here you can walk around the downtown area, namely Front Street, and pop into one of the many restaurants that look good to you to talk about your weekend.
Please let us know what your favorite thing to do in northern Michigan was in the comments below!
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About the Author: Hi, I’m Jill! I am a biomedical & mechanical engineer who loves traveling during my free time. My hope is to help make it easier for others to plan their dream trips by providing firsthand experience from the places I’ve been! Read More.
