DAY 01 - 03: DETROIT, USA

Since its founding in 1701, the city on the Detroit River has had many identities, including fur trading post, shipping centre, automotive capital and home of the Motown sound. Once you arrive pick up your car from the airport and drive to your downtown Detroit hotel. Why not enjoy some dinner in Greek town, a lively corner of the city known for its restaurants and nightlife.

Visit the Cultural centre and view the impressive collection and newly reinstalled galleries of the Detroit Institute of Arts, including Diego Rivera’s massive “Detroit Industry” murals. Stroll to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the world’s largest institution dedicated to the African-American experience. Check out the display of General motors’ Vehicles at Renaissance Centre, a multi-towered office, and retail and hotel complex overlooking Detroit river.

Spend a day at The Henry Ford and its collection of Americana, from light bulbs and cars in the Henry Ford Museum to historic structures like the laboratory of Thomas Edison, relocated from New Jersey to the outdoor Greenfield Village. Tour the famous Ford Rouge Plant and F-150 pick-up truck assembly line.

DAY 04 - 05: MACKINAC ISLAND, USA

After your 2 night stay in Detroit drive north to Mackinaw City. Here you will leave you car over-night as you will be travelling 30 minutes by small ferry to Mackinac Island.

Once you arrive on Mackinac Island check into your hotel. All transportation is by foot, bicycle, horseback or carriage – no cars are allowed! Explore the 1780 Fort Mackinac, bicycle the island’s eight mile perimeter, stroll past Victorian-era cottages, delight in the winged creatures at the Butterfly house.

DAY 06 - 07: SAULT STE. MARIE, USA

You will need to get back on the ferry once you have checked out your hotel and go back to Mackinaw City where you car has been Over-night. You will then begin your next part of the Journey.

The Upper Peninsula, surrounded by the waters of the Great Lakes Huron, Michigan and superior, is connected with the “mitt” of the Lower Peninsula by a suspension bridge that spans the five-mile wide Straits of Mackinac. With Just three percent of the State’s Population living on about one-third of its landmass, the air in the U.P is clear and refreshing, the woods are thick and green, wildlife is plentiful and most roads are two-lane.

At the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point on Lake Superior learn about the Majesty and danger of the Great Lakes and the Ships they have swallowed, especially the Edmund Fitzgerald, which went down off this point.

Spend 2 nights in Sault Ste. Marie, the first European settlement in Michigan and the third oldest in the nation, established as a Jesuit mission in 1668. Here, at the rapids where Lakes Superior and Huron meet, the Soo Locks were built in 1855 so that ships could negotiate the 21 foot difference between the waters. Take a boat tour through the locks, and you may be fortunate to pull up alongside a 1’000 – foot freighter.

DAY 08: TRAVERSE CITY, USA

Return to the Lower Peninsular across the five-mile Mackinac Bridge, a 50 year old engineering marvel soaring above the Straits of Mackinac. You May choose to travel the Winding “tunnel of trees” scenic drive along Lake Michigan, especially beautiful during fall colour season. Shop and lunch in the Victorian-era resort towns of Charlevoix, Petoskey and Harbor Springs, which enjoy “million dollar sunsets”. This is where Ernest Hemingway spent the summers of his youth, and referred to in several of his stories.

Continue onto Traverse City for Dinner and your Overnight stay.

Michigan’s “little finger” area and the northwest region are a year-round recreational wonderland, boasting resorts that offer world-class golf in the summer and skiing in the winter. Where logging operations once flourished, recreational fishing, snowmobiling, boating and other four season sports now thrive, including famed fly fishing rivers and streams.

At the heart of it all is Traverse City, overlooking the beautiful Grand Traverse Bay, and known for its annual National Cherry Festival, fine shops, restaurants, entertainment spots, and several nearby vineyards and wineries.

DAY 09: SLEEPING BARE DUNES, USA

Poet Carl Sandburg said, “The dunes are to the Midwest what the Grand Canyon is to Arizona and the Yosemite is to California. They constitute a signature of time and eternity. Once lost, the loss would be irrevocable”. One of the most impressive dune areas is just west of Traverse City at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Scramble up the Popular Dune Climb, motor along the Pierce Stocking scenic drive, or tackle the strenuous Dune Train to Lake Michigan, a 3.5 mile stretch of sand (each way).

There is also plenty of Opportunity to take a Winery Tour. The fertile soil, lake effect and temperature weather that made this region the nation’s Cherry Capitol are also ideal conditions for growing the fruit of the vine. Continue onwards to your next hotel for the night which is in Ludington.

DAY 10: GRAND RAPIDS - , USA

After your stay in Ludington drive to Grand Rapids where you will spend your last 2 nights.

Grand Rapids is the state’s second largest city, on the banks of the Grand River. Visit the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum; the 38th president grew up in the city. Take in the works at the new Grand Rapids art Museum, the first newly constructed, LEED-certified art museum in the world. Awaken all of your senses at Frederik Meijer Gardens & sculpture collection with works by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore and Claes Oldenburg, several themed gardens and “American Horse”, the 24 foot tall sculpture by Nina Akamu based on Leonardo Da Vinci’s original drawings.

Hit The B.O.B, a big Old building that house four floors of entertainment, multiple restaurants, microbrewery, dance and comedy clubs, wine cellar, and cigar lounge and live Jazz.

On your final day once you have enjoyed everything Grand Rapids has to offer head back to Detroit airport ready for your flight home.