Best Travel Guide Traverse City, Michigan

Traverse City, MichiganGuide was updated: 2024-09-17

Traverse City’s claim to fame is its position as the largest producer of tart cherries in the United States. The Michigan city hosts annual events to celebrate the cherry harvests, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors. The land is also ripe for Traverse City’s numerous vineyards, which place it among the Midwest’s top centers of wine production. After touring the orchards and attending the wine tasting events, head to Traverse City’s freshwater beaches, the National Lakeshore, downhill skiing areas, and verdant forests.

Do & See

Traverse City is filled to the brim with attractions, courses, art galleries, and even a corn maze. It is also home to a number of annual festivals, including the famous National Cherry Festival, which draws over 500,000 visitors to Northern Michigan to celebrate the cherry harvest each year, and the Traverse City Film Festival, which highlights the work of independent film makers and documentarians every summer. If you are looking for a night of elegance or a day of fun, Traverse City has all you could want plus much, much more.

Chateau Grand Traverse

This famous winery is known for having the first large-scale planting of Vitis Vinifera in Michigan. Chateau Grand Traverse offers exquisite full bodied wines and delicious food, as well as an inn to lodge visitors.

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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Located on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, one of the U.S.'s five great lakes, Sleeping Bear Dunes is a natural wonder that has been marked for preservation for its awe-inspiring beauty and natural resources. It takes its name from a Native American legend concerning its formation. It consists of Sleeping Bear, Empire and Pyramid Point bluffs that overlook the lake, and Manitou Islands, which are located about 15 miles offshore. There are numerous activities available to visitors of the park that include camping, hiking, kayaking and canoeing, biking, skiing, fishing, or simply exploring the myriad of ecosystems that are home to a diversity of plants and wildlife.

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Mt. Holiday Ski & Recreation Area

Mt. Holiday is home to year-round recreation for the entire family. During the winter season, take advantage of the abundant snowfall that blankets Northern Michigan by skiing, snowboarding, or tubing down the slopes of Mt. Holiday, which range in difficulty from beginner to advanced. In the summer, enjoy a round of disc golf at the 18-hole Carly Lewis Disc Golf Course.

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City Opera House

Check out the City Opera House's Calendar for a myriad of performances and events. This historic downtown theater hosts comedians, musicians and theatrical performances, as well as cultural and educational events.

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Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum

Historically significant in the trade and travel of the Great Lakes Region, the lake shores are dotted with old lighthouses used to guide ships traveling these expansive waters. The Grand Traverse Lighthouse is one of the oldest lighthouses and now houses exhibits that shed light on the journeys of those who sailed the waters of the Manitou Passage.

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Leelanau State Park

Leelanau State Park sits at the tip of Lelanau Peninsula and the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay. It is home to campsites and the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum. Some of the popular outdoor activities at Leelanau State Park include hiking, skiing, wildlife watching, swimming, and fishing.

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