Photo: alexeyes

🕰️ 🕰️ Where It All Began: The Grand Hotel 🕰️ 🕰️  

Grand Hotel first opened its doors in 1887 as a summer retreat for vacationers who traveled to Michigan by train, and then came to Mackinac Island via steamer and boat. Throughout its time as America’s Summer Place, one family nurtured and guided the hotel’s growth to a highly celebrated and much-beloved getaway. Today, this National Historic Landmark continues to beguile guests with old-world hospitality and charm, inspired enhancements, and a heritage to be preserved for generations to come.

Mackinac (MACK-in-awe) became one of the nation’s favored summer resort destinations during the Victorian era. Vacationers seeking the cooler weather on Mackinac Island arrived in large lake-excursion boats from Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit. They danced to Strauss’ waltzes, listened to Sousa’s stirring marches, dined on whitefish, and strolled along the broad decks. To accommodate overnight guests, boat and railroad companies financed the building of Grand Hotel. One of the most noticeable differences on Mackinac Island (which is accessible only by boat and plane) is the absence of automobiles. Visitors and residents travel by foot, bicycle or horse-drawn carriage. There are only 600 year-round residents. And during the summer, there are more than 500 horses.

The Grand Hotel served as the location for the signing of the MCAA's charter back in 1950 and we're excited to celebrate our first 75 years at this historic location.

Air Travel
Photo: tomprout

✈️ 🛥️ 🚙 Reaching Mackinac Island ✈️ 🛥️ 🚙

DRIVE TO THE PORT CITIES
Visitors living within driving distance from the south often take I-75 to the ferry docks in either Mackinaw City or St. Ignace, which are the cities at either end of the Mackinac Bridge that connects Michigan’s Lower and Upper peninsulas. From there, you can board a ferry for a 15-minute trip to Mackinac Island. From the north, I-75 and US-2 are the most common routes to the ferry docks.

FERRY BOAT
For visitors who plan to arrive on Mackinac Island by ferry boat, provides service from both Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry offers passenger ferries back and forth from the mainland every 30 minutes or so during the primary tourist season, from late April through the end of October. Your luggage will come on the ferry to Mackinac Island with you, and you also may bring a leashed pet and your own bicycle on board if you wish.

Once your ferry boat arrives at Mackinac Island, you can retrieve your luggage and bring it to your place of lodging. Mackinac Island Taxi service is available. Some places to stay will have dock porters take care of your luggage for you and bring it from the ferry docks to your room.

FLY
Instead of taking a ferry to Mackinac Island, some visitors choose to fly into Mackinac Island Airport. Fresh Air Aviation offers charter air service from St. Ignace. The flight takes about 7 minutes. At some times during the winter when the water freezes in the Straits of Mackinac, flying is the only way to reach Mackinac Island for visitors and locals alike.

Visitors taking a commercial flight into Michigan have several options for making their way to Mackinac Island. Both Pellston Regional Airport (PLN) south of Mackinaw City and Chippewa County International Airport (CIU) north of St. Ignace offer shuttle services to the Mackinac Island ferry docks. Mackinaw Shuttle and Northern Transport & Shuttle both offer shuttle services. Renting a car for transportation to the ferry docks also is an option. And charter flights into Mackinac Island Airport may be available from other airports around Michigan.

BOAT
While many Mackinac Island visitors board a commercial ferry from the mainland in either St. Ignace or Mackinaw City, it’s also possible to take your own personal boat to Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island State Harbor has a public marina with 80 slips, most of which are available for transient use by the day or overnight. Private boat slips also are available in the Mackinac Island harbor for both day dockage and overnight stays.