One of the states of the Midwest, Michigan is located in the heart of the Great Lakes. Michigan boasts many attractions, famous natural sites, and beautiful state and national parks and forests. In addition to the Great Lakes, four of which are in Michigan, the state has about 12,000 inland lakes, 38 deep water ports, and as many bodies of water as there are in no other US state except Alaska.
- Countryaah – Cities in Michigan: List of all municipalities in the state of Michigan, including cities and towns of Michigan.
Michigan is geographically unique in that it is formed by two large peninsulas, the Upper and Lower, and is divided into five regions: the Upper Peninsula, and North, West, Central, and Southeast Michigan. Large cities: the capital of Lansing, the cities of Detroit, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, Holland, Maxegon, Kalamazoo, Saginaw, Sault Ste. Marie.
How to get there
Michigan has several airports, but most arrivals use Detroit International Airport, which has air service to any other airport in the state. Grand Rapids Airport, for example, receives daily flights from different parts of the country. Of the regional airports with connections to Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Cincinnati, the airports of Detroit, Flint, Lansing, Kalamazoo and Maxegon should be noted.
By train
Amtrak provides daily rail. service to Michigan from its headquarters in Chicago. The service operates on three lines: the Pere Marquette route goes to Grand Rapids via the cities of St. Joseph and Holland, the Wolverine route goes to Pontiac via Kalamazoo, Jackson, Ann Arbor, and Detroit, and the Blue Water route goes to Port Huron via Kalamazoo, Lansing and Flint.
By car
Michigan can be reached by any of the highways passing through the state. I-75 enters Michigan from Ohio, passes through Detroit, Flint, Bay City, Mackinac City, and ends at Sault Ste. Marie.
I-94 enters Michigan from Indiana and Illinois, passes through Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Jackson, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and ends in Port Huron. I-196, branching off from I-94, continues to the lake in Grand Rapids.
I-69, from east Indiana and Indianapolis, intersects I-94 and passes through Lansing, Flint, and Port Huron. Highway 131, off I-80/90 in northern Indiana, passes through Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Big Rapids, Cadillac, and continues north.
The Upper Peninsula is accessible from Wisconsin via Highway 2 through Duluth and Highway 41 from Green Bay or Milwaukee.
Michigan has several border crossing points (through bridges and tunnels) with Ontario: the points are located in Detroit (on the Canadian side, the city of Windsor) and Port Huron (on the Canadian side, the city of Sarnia).
On a ferryboat
Car and passenger ferries from Milwaukee and Manitowoc, Wisconsin operate during the warmer months, crossing Lake Michigan to Muskegon and Ludington.
Transport
The most extensive American public transit network, the Greyhound, covers most of the communities in most of the state. Several major cities have developed a network of local bus routes, and in Detroit you can use light rail services. Still, a car is the best way to get around the state.
Entertainment and attractions in Michigan
Nature has endowed Michigan with many beauties, among which, of course, the Great Lakes (Erie, Huron, Michigan and Lake Superior) occupy the first place. On the territory of Michigan, there is the Picched Rocks Nature Reserve, the Tahkuamenon Falls, as well as many islands, the largest of which are North Manitou and South Manitou on Lake Michigan, Isle Royal and Grand Island on Lake Superior, Bois Blanc Island and Mackinac Island on Lake Huron.
Picched Rocks stretches for 67 km along Lake Superior and covers an area of 296 sq. km between the cities of Munising and Grand Marais. The reserve is notable for its natural arches, waterfalls and sand dunes, and got its name from the colorful sandstone rock located northeast of Munising.
Tourism activities such as fishing, sailing and powerboating are popular on both the Great Lakes and the inland lakes. The waters of the Great Lakes may seem a bit chilly to some, even in the summer, but their beaches are just as popular as those of the warm inland lakes. Canoeing on Michigan’s meandering rivers, and some even surfing, is also a common form of tourism here, predominantly on Lake Michigan.
In winter, the water turns to snow and ice as anglers fish their fish under the ice and skiers push back down the slopes at the state’s most popular resorts. Detroit is considered the cultural and entertainment center of the metropolitan area: there are four casinos, major concert halls, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Institute of the Arts and the theater stage.
In Lansing, the Capitol, renovated in 1992, and other historic buildings are worth a visit.
Michigan cities
Detroit is Michigan’s largest city on the border with Canada. The city was founded on July 24, 1701 by the Frenchman Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, and the name comes from the French word “detroit” (“strait”). Known as the automotive center of the world, the city is the birthplace of the American automotive industry.
The small towns of Michigan are no less interesting: for example, Frankenmus is an exact copy of the Bavarian town, and Zendher and Bavarian Inn restaurants, known for their delicious fried chicken, are popular here.
If moving from the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula, or vice versa, Mackinac City, St. Ignace, and Mackinac Island, the latter of which hosts Fort Michilimacchino and an old sawmill, both open to the public, are worth a visit.
