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A One to Three Day Itinerary for Western Michigan

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Start your Western Michigan visit in Grand Rapids, the second largest city in the state. Spend your first morning at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, 1000 East Beltline. The 125-acre gardens and sculpture park feature outside gardens, seasonal greenhouse displays, the five-story glass enclosed Lena Meijer Conservatory with tropical plants, a 24-foot-tall Leonardo da Vinci horse sculpture by Nina Akamu, a Michigan Farm Garden with a replica of an 1880s farmhouse, and a 30-acre outdoor sculpture park. The latest addition of the Lena Meijer Children's Garden is a family-friendly garden for kids of all ages featuring a Kid-Sense Garden, Great Lakes Garden, Story-Telling Garden, Wooded Wetlands, Rock Quarry, Log Cabin, Tree House Village, Sculpture Walk, Labyrinth and Butterfly Maze. Be sure to take the guided tram tour of the sculpture park and allow plenty of time for any kids playing with you to enjoy the children's park. You might even want to bring a dry change of clothes, as they might get soaked in the Great Lakes Garden.

Your morning visit to the gardens and sculpture park might extend into the afternoon. When you are finished, make your way to downtown Grand Rapids to visit the Gerald R. Ford Museum, 303 Pearl St. NW. The museum displays highlight the private life and public career of former President Gerald Ford.

For day two, drive from Grand Rapids west to Holland, a charming town on Lake Michigan. Visit Windmill Island at Seventh Street and Lincoln Avenue. The island is a 30-acre park containing canals, a drawbridge, miniature Dutch village, and the park's feature - a 1780s operating windmill brought from the Netherlands. During the TulipTime Festival in the spring, the island is a favorite place to view the thousands of tulips in a vast array of colors and varieties.

Also take the time to explore downtown Holland with its quaint shops - and heated sidewalks in the winter! When you are finished in Holland, it's time to head further down the Lake Michigan coastline to the town of Saugatuck. Stroll through the shops downtown, walk through the marina, and visit the sand dunes along the beach.

On day three, travel a bit further north on the Lake Michigan shoreline for a day enjoying nature at Ludington State Park. The park has 5,300 acres of scenic sand dunes, marshlands, hardwood forests, and nearly seven miles of Lake Michigan shoreline. The park, which lies between Lake Michigan and Hamlin Lake, offers swimming, dune climbing, walking along the beach, hiking, boating, and fishing. You may choose to hike along one of the eight marked trails covering 16 miles, including the Skyline Trail, which offers breathtaking views from an elevated wooden walkway. Also be sure to see the lighthouse and the Hamlin Lake Dam, which was constructed during the logging era when lumbermen dammed the Big Sable River.

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