8 Offbeat Michigan Towns To Visit In 2025
Let your next vacation in 2025 be quaint and imaginative like Michigan's small and offbeat towns. These eight charming communities provide the perfect escape from reality across time and space. Whether you are in for a festival, like the summertime Ultimate Cherry Celebration in Traverse City, or a whole camping trip in Petoskey or Ludington State Park, the fleeting moments will lighten your soul.
See Ludington's famed Big Sable Lighthouse and take a coal-fired steamer across one of the Great Lakes. Harbor Springs, lining the deepest freshwater harbor in the Great Lakes, features vivid colors through the Tunnel of Trees. Search for Petoskey stones; the spotted, dinosaur egg-like stones can be found on various beaches stretching from Traverse City to Petoskey along Lake Michigan. Dive into offbeat destinations this year!
Charlevoix
This storybook town on Lake Michigan's northeastern shore boasts a historic, crimson Charlevoix South Pier Lighthouse and two incredible waterfronts. Between Michigan Beach Park and Ferry Beach Park on Lake Charlevoix, no time will feel enough. The sprawling Fisherman's Island State Park offers island vibes and high dunes, plus dog-friendly trails. Charlevoix the Beautiful is popular among beachgoers and architecture fans alike thanks to the imaginative Earl Young's "mushroom huts," known far and wide as “Gnome Homes” or “Hobbit Houses,” that began "growing" in 1918.
Their unique fungal shapes with stone frameworks and distinctive roofs fit organically in the forested landscape. While some can be rented out, people from all over come to experience the fairytale scene on a self-guided tour, with a free map from the Charlevoix Visitor Center. Continue your ventures to the nearby Castle Farms, or “The Castle,” also built in 1918. Known for its French Normandy style, this model dairy farm exudes romanticism and timelessness with spires and archways as a tourable venue with a landscaped garden, a WWI museum, whimsical creatures, and even a pub.
Frankenmuth
Greetings from, or "willkommen" to, Frankenmuth. While Washington has Leavenworth, this is a no-less-famous and easier-to-access Germantown. Exuding warm sentiment in just three square miles, every inch is memorable. Drawing over three million annual visitors, it is fun and easy to explore, like an evening bar-hopping tour for a group of friends or the narrated, interactive Golden Ticket Trolley, perfect for families. Take a stroll or a drawn carriage ride through historic streets and witness the illuminated Bavarian Inn Glockenspiel Tower, a 35-bell carillon with a moving figurine.
Whether you are in for floating down the Cass River or the Oktoberfest, walk the iconic covered wooden bridge, ride a downtown trolley, and taste tradition over exquisite dining experiences. Zehnder's and Bavarian Inn both serve world-famous family-style chicken in authentic vibes and other nostalgic eats. From sweets and bakeries to wining and suds, ride it off via a PedAle Trolley, a 16-passenger bike ride tour of Frankenmuth. For those craving Europe in the US, Michigan's Little Bavaria, some 30 minutes from Lake Huron-Saginaw Bay's southern coast, delivers the sights and the feels.
Holland
Just off Lake Michigan, this Dutch-inspired village on Lake Macatawa emanates an inviting cultural essence, with attractions, which, like its name, is fit for the Netherlands, home of its first settlers. Windmill Island Gardens centers around Holland's most iconic feature, the over-250-year-old windmill, plus a carousel and costumed guides on site. Nelis' Dutch Village transports you overseas to the 1800s, with cheese-making, a petting zoo, and a wooden shoe factory. Score a pair up the road at De Klomp Wooden Shoe & Delftware Factory, next to Veldheer Tulip Gardens, with meticulous rows of colorful tulips.
Holland's culinary prowess is worth a side trip alone through the award-winning downtown with bakeries and restaurants using traditional recipes, plus the Holland Farmers Market on 8th Street for local produce and crafts. No need to venture far for nature: the "Window on the Waterfront" offers paved paths, and Kollen Park has boat launch ramps and picnic areas. The next-door Cappon House is a restored 1874 home of Holland's 1st mayor, while the Holland Museum is an early 20th-century post office. Meanwhile, the active enjoy Stu Visser Trails or minutes down, Saugatuck Dunes State Park.
Ludington
Named after an American businessman, many associate Ludington with an iconic lighthouse—rightfully so. Big Sable Lighthouse is 14 minutes north at the eponymous state park. While here, enjoy modern and remote campsites, plus sandy beaches and all-season trails between Lake Michigan and the charming Hamlin Lake. The sands rise to the north, culminating at Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area. From the immaculate beaches to town greens, Ludington effortlessly blends culture into sublime views of the Great Lake at the mouth of the Pere Marquette River.
Resting its spirited downtown on Pere Marquette Lake, Father Marquette Memorial Cross commands the hills above. The Red Door Gallery is next to the Waterfront Park, while Ludington South Breakwater Light is a white beacon at the end of a pier. Let the kids go monkey at Sandcastles Children's Museum, then enjoy a family meal of authentic Greek cuisine at the circa 1942 Old Hamlin Restaurant amid photo-covered walls. Why not plan a trip aboard the historic S.S. Badger Lake Michigan Carferry Service, a coal-fired steamer across the Great Lake to Manitowoc?
Petoskey
Just up the shore from Charlevoix via a scenic lakefront highway, this artsy enclave is a standout on the southern shore of Lake Michigan's Little Traverse Bay. From a casino to local farm produce and crafts at the Old Town Emmet Farm Market, there is something for the whole family, like the Bayfront Park, a former industrial site with sports fields and a playground. The radiant bay and the unique Petoskey emanate inviting vibes to enjoy the great outdoors year-round. The Bear River Valley Recreation Area at its heart offers steep bluffs, boardwalks, and whitewater rapids.
Bike or hike the 1.5-mile path along the Bear River, or simply soak up the sun along one of the sandy beaches. Minutes east, Petoskey State Park offers camping, a mile-long bayside beach, and diverse woodland hiking trails. Whether you are in for kayaking around the harbor or the surrounding vineyards in splendid fall colors, embracing the bay, the historic Gaslight District welcomes you post-adventures. This longtime hub for mingling and browsing, the main thoroughfare features boutiques, restaurants, and pubs, plus entertainment at the Crooked Tree Arts Center for theater performances.
Harbor Springs
Like its name, this seemingly typical resort town inspires an effortless escape on the north shore of Little Traverse Bay across from Petoskey. Natural beauty and human creativity marry in Harbor Springs, lining the deepest freshwater harbor in the Great Lakes, which attracts boating enthusiasts from all over. Between the beach scene for swimming and sailing, art in the park, and concerts along the waterfront, plus public golf, it is impossible to get bored. There are quaint B&Bs, galleries, plus events like Taste of Harbor Springs and Great Lakes Glass Pumpkin Patch.
Named one of the top 10 best bike towns in America by Outside Magazine, it offers mountain biking at The Highlands, plus hiking and biking on the Little Traverse Wheelway. Warm weather persists into fall, a beautiful time to drive down through the vivid colors of the Tunnel of Trees along a canopied lakeshore of nature parks to Cross Village. Stay cultured through the Lyric Theatre, Harbor Springs History Museum, and Andrew J. Blackbird Museum. Winter birds enjoy the nearby Nubs Nob Ski Resort, with downhill runs, a terrain park, and a retro daytime lodge to unwind after.
Tecumseh
Some 60 miles southwest of Detroit, Tecumseh was named after a prominent Shawnee chief. Boasting hundreds of acres of parkland and green space, there are plenty of outdoor pursuits near local landmarks. Kick a ball around Aden Mead Park or hang out lakeside at the Pit at Tecumseh Park, a beloved swimming hole that doesn't go a summer day without picnickers. The huge downtown Redmill Pond is an extension of the Raisin River to the north, perfect for navigating miles of waterways in a rented canoe or the trails winding through local wildlife.
Check out Indian Trails Crossing Standish Dam next to White Deer Grave, a local memorial stone of the white deer buried in the park with a Native American leader. Global Mill Pond is a favored fishing spot at Indian Crossing Trails Park with a network of hiking trails. Filled with places to browse for art, local flavors, and keepsakes, Art Walk is in May. Drop by the epic Tecumseh Area Historical Museum, and in the evening, the renowned Tecumseh Center for the Arts. All this nature offers its own falltime spectacle just in time for the unique Appleumpkin Festival.
Traverse City
There is more than meets the eye in the charming "Cherry Capital of the World." Even the airport, which can compete with one in your home city, is named Cherry Capital Airport. Tourists from near and far come to traverse the city between fun pursuits, like searching for the best pie. It wouldn't be the same without a beach scene, outlined with a whole stretch of them, from the serene West End Beach to Clinch Park with a defining arch. Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park provides the sun worshippers with all-season camping, heated restrooms, biking trails, and a beach.
It is undeniably pretty here, boasting one of the state's most unique settings at the bottom of Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay, where the two parallel East and West bays end. The downtown is well worth traversing for priceless views. Take a stroll along Boardman Lake through the heart of the World's Largest Cherry Pie Pan. Starting at the Dennos Museum Center Art Gallery, with interactive kids’ exhibits and a performing arts center, head up to Pelizzari Natural Area, which transitions right into Mari Vineyards, a historic stone house tangled within lush vines and water views.
Several towns in the US mimic the background of original settlers, revealing secrets through landmarks and treating visitors to traditional cuisine in 2025, like the lakeside of Holland. The scenery is the ultimate anti-stress, while the fun vibes and unique sights immerse you in an offbeat world.
Each, bursting with whimsy, is a magical destination for couples, families, and anyone after something atypical in the Great Lakes State. Frankenmuth is on the Cass River, yet anywhere in Michigan is just a hop from the soft-sanded beaches and other long-beloved attractions.
