Traverse City Transportation

Living about an hour north of Chicago, Mickey and I decided that the best way to travel to Traverse City, Michigan, was via automobile. Since we trade off each year as to whose car to use, we knew that it was my turn to use my car. Tradition for us includes taking a photograph of the person and her car just as we are ready to leave.

It is about 6-6 1/2 hours from my home to our hotel in Traverse City, Michigan [about 345 miles one way]. This time, [learning from the experience of the year before] we decided to use the 294 tollway around the city rather than going through the city. Even though it is a few miles longer this way, leaving at six in the morning on a Monday, the tollway has way less traffic. It was a good choice because we ran into little or no traffic, finding it much more relaxing.

One surely needs an automobile once arriving in Traverse City. Our hotel was three miles from the city, and our travel plans including the nearby communities of Suttons Bay, Empire, Leland, Old Mission, and Glen Arbor. Furthermore, we planned a journey to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Leelanau County..

If you are unable to use your auto to travel to Traverse Bay, Michigan,, one could fly into the Cherry Capital Airport (231) 947-2250 or Antrim County Airport in Bellaire
(231) 533-8524 and then rent a car.

Cars available for rental include:

Alamo Rent-a-Car
Avis Ren-A-Car
Budget Rent-A-Car
Hertz Car Rental
National Car Rental
Redmond's Economy Car Rental
Thrifty Car Rental

Using a car has an added bonus of seeing the breathtaking scenery throughout northern Michigan.

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We have a very bike-friendly city and hope to continue the process of creating more avenues for bike transportation. The TART Trail is a great way to see the city and outlying areas!