“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.” – Jo Watson
A trip to Mackinac Island doesn’t have to break the bank, especially if you plan ahead and set a budget for eating and drinking. We love the island’s scenery, history, and natural attractions. There is so much to explore for free. Once you cross off all the tourist activities, you can slow down and savor the real island experience.
Read on for the rest of my tips to visit Mackinac Island on a budget. Click here to read the first installment: Mackinac Island on a Budget: 10 Tips to Save Money.
6. Explore Mackinac Island’s library, churches, and museums
On a rainy day, stop in one of the island’s historic churches or the Richard and Jane Manoogian Art Museum. The museum, in the former Indian Dormitory building in Marquette Park, offers free admission with proof you’re staying at a Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau member property.
For $10 per adult, a Historic Downtown Mackinac ticket includes entrance to the Biddle House, featuring the Mackinac Island Native American Museum and Benjamin Blacksmith Shop, plus the American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum and McGulpin House.
The Stuart House City Museum, built in 1817 as the “Agent’s House,” is another unique stop with a donation-based admission.
Art museum admission is included with a Fort Mackinac ticket ($15.50 for adults, $9.25 ages 5-12). And there is a lovely peace garden with an impressive public art sculpture, “Be Still,” behind the museum.
Looking for free family fun? Kids will enjoy playing on the playground behind the art museum. You can find other playground equipment at Mackinac Island Public School and Great Turtle Park.
Marquette Park a favorite spot on Mackinac Island
Many people enjoy sitting, picnicking, or napping in Marquette Park. The park has plenty of green space to spread out. You can watch the boats in the marina and listen to the clip-clop of horses on Main Street. With a view of Fort Mackinac and the Father Marquette Statue, the park has long been an island gem. This is where you can rest, unwind, and people watch. It’s a great place to soak up the island’s peace, history, and beauty — especially when the lilacs are in bloom.
Mackinac Arts Council hosts a variety of free events, including movies in the Mission Point Theater and concerts at Marquette Park. Check the website for updated events during the summer.
Mackinac Island is a place to renew your spirit. Many people escape there for the peace and serenity. Despite the busyness and traffic in downtown, people leave you alone to let you do your thing. There are so many secret hideouts, secluded overlooks, and sightseeing spots, whether you venture up to Anne’s Tablet, Pontiac Trail, Sunset Rock, or walk out to the boardwalk.
Mackinac Island Public Library
Another gem is the Mackinac Island Public Library. Just make sure to follow library etiquette, use your quiet voice, and don’t wear out your welcome. If you’re lucky, you might find an open Adirondack chair outside behind the building to sit and watch the ferries go by. Shhhhh….It’s a secret!
Pro tip: Skip a busy restaurant for lunch and save time and money. Pack snacks or grab picnic items from Doud’s and stop and have a picnic along M-185. You can also take it to Windermere Point or Marquette Park.
Other free fun: Hunt for rocks and beach glass, sample fudge, or sit at a picnic table and watch the ferries come and go.
7. Bring a cooler, plan your meals
May this should be my No. 1 tip if you’re trying to stick to a budget. Besides lodging, food is probably the biggest expense if you stay overnight. Most of the restaurants have their menus online or outside the door so you don’t walk in or out with sticker shock. You can figure an easy $50 to $100 per dinner with two entrées, a couple cocktails (or dessert), and tip.
Thankfully, we don’t eat a lot and can get by on two meals a day or snacks throughout the day and a nice dinner. The alcoholic drinks are another budget buster, especially if you like mixed or tropical drinks like rum runners! Many of the B&B’s offer breakfast, but some have scaled back and served grab-and-go items since COVID.
Doud’s also offers an assortment of fruits, vegetables, snacks and pre-packaged food. I recently changed my diet, cutting out gluten, dairy, craft beer, most alcohol, and processed foods. So, I brought a lot of snacks for our trip in September, and the snack stash lasted throughout our trip.
Pack snacks
I packed some fruit and veggies, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, tuna, peanuts and nuts, chips, and beef jerky. I even brought a little leftover filet and tomato and made that into a breakfast with peanut butter on celery, grapes, cheese, and a hard-boiled egg on our first morning. Harbour View Inn offered a breakfast of oatmeal, cereal, muffins, fruit, juice and coffee, so we had that for two days of our September stay.
We’ve also tried some of the cheaper places to eat for breakfast or lunch, including Chuckwagon, Mighty Mac Hamburgers, and Watercolor Café. Pink Pony has a late-night menu that’s pretty affordable, or you can always split a meal or opt for an appetizer or soup.
Despite the prices (which do include the transportation costs to get food to the island), we’ve had a lot of good meals on Mackinac Island. We usually try to eat at different restaurants on every visit. Some of our favorite, mid-priced restaurants include Pink Pony, Seabiscuit Café, Yankee Rebel Tavern, and Kingston Kitchen at the Village Inn. Check out my article on Pink Pony, Pony Up, for Michigan BLUE.
Against my better judgment, I tried a $20 burger on our visit in October. I’d say skip the burgers and pay a little more for a good meal. You can’t go wrong with the Surf & Turf at Pink Pony.
Cooler comes in handy
We also bring a small cooler with a shoulder strap to keep drinks and snacks cold. Sure, it’s a slight hassle on the trip over, but it can save some money. The cheapest option is to pack a cooler with beer, booze, or even bottled water and sports drinks, or you can buy supplies at Doud’s Market. You’ll quickly find the island’s only grocery store is a lifesaver.
Most hotel rooms don’t have mini-refrigerators (or tables to eat in your room) unless you rent a condo or suite. That was another perk at Harbour View Inn. After looking on the website before our trip, I learned you could request a mini-frig based on availability. So, I called in advance and they had one in our room! I also liked having access to a refrigerator and microwave at Metivier Inn and Hart’s.
Pro tip: Bring a cooler if your room doesn’t have a frig, and find ways to save on food and drinks. If you splurge for a room with a view, you’ll probably have more fun relaxing and watching the sunset than late-night bar hopping (unless maybe you’re young or there for a wedding or bachelorette party).
8. Improvise and adapt
After our initial Pink Pony rum runner (see first blog), we had to devise an alternative plan. On the second day of our September 2021 stay, we found Mackinac Island Rum Co. at the back of Horse Corral Mall on Main Street. We tried a tasty rum punch and left with a bottle of Mackinac Island Banana Rum for the price of two drinks. We picked up two juices at Doud’s Market.
Bonus: We brought half of the bottle home (thank you Harbour View porter for riding our bags down in a trailer) and have a cool souvenir on display. We also discovered Great Turtle Brewery has four-packs of cold beer (with cool labels) for carryout, and the price is reasonable for craft beer. Save at least one can, or bring it home unopened, because it’s worth collecting.
Pro tip: Sure, it’s fun to visit some of Mackinac Island’s bars for live music and late-night shenanigans — that’s part of the island escape. But your bar tab can quickly get out of hand. You’ll also likely wake up with a hangover, which is no fun when there is so much to see and do that involves exercise! We’ve discovered it can be just as fun to sip a cocktail at our hotel and soak in the atmosphere.
9. Bring your own bicycle to Mackinac Island if you can
Ferry tickets and parking are another expense before you ever step foot on the island. Both Shepler’s and Star Line usually run some sort of Cyber Monday special. Shepler’s requires you to pay $10 per night for parking, which is in a secured lot. Star Line offers free overnight parking (unsecured) in Mackinaw City as well as free overnight parking in St. Ignace. If you’re staying for a few nights, that’s a $30 savings.
If you plan to stay overnight or do a lot of biking, even for more than a couple of hours, it’s worth it to haul your bikes to the island. Bike licenses are an extra $13 per bike, but you’ll pay that for an hour bicycle rental. We even invested in saddle bags specifically for our Mackinac Island trips. You can haul more on the ferry and bicycle rides.
I visited in May without my bicycle. We rented beach cruisers from Ryba’s Bicycle Rentals for $8 per hour, which seemed to be one of the cheapest. It takes about two hours to ride around M-185. For $16, it’s definitely worth it to rent a bike. M-185 should be on every Mackinac Island itinerary.
Pro tip: Make sure you know the location of your hotel and where the ferry you plan to take docks on the island. The Star Line Ferry from St. Ignace and all Shepler’s ferries dock near Lake View Hotel by Hoban and Main streets. But Star Line from Mackinaw City docks down by Murray and Chippewa hotels, closer to Marquette Park.
I don’t know how many times we’ve arrived at the opposite end of Main Street and wheeled or biked our bags to our hotel. It’s worth it to take the ferry closest to your hotel if you plan to transport your own bags.
10. Look for package deals and other discounts
The ferries and some hotels do offer bundle deals where you can add on a carriage ride, breakfast, or discounted ferry tickets and fudge. I haven’t booked a package deal, but they may save you some money depending on what you want to do.
A few years ago, it seems like there were coupons for bicycle rentals and island attractions. I haven’t noticed any in recent years. But I have found a 15 percent off coupon for Joann’s Fudge at Chippewa Hotel. And Murray Hotel Fudge Company (one of my favorites) offers 20 percent off fudge before 10 a.m.
906 Rewards Club
Signing up for the 906 Rewards program is another way to save a little money. You might as well if you’re stay at Island House Hotel (read my blog here) or patronize Pancake House, Seabiscuit, 1852 Grill Room, Ice House BBQ, Mary’s Bistro, Starbucks, Ryba’s Fudge, and Island House Bike Rental. Each time you visit, you earn 5% back at Island House and Pine Cottage and 10% back at the other businesses.
You redeem the rewards like cash. It may take a few trips to accumulate a significant reward. I redeemed $10 in rewards for dinner in September. You get a $5 reward for signing up, and one year I received a $5 birthday reward.
Pro tip: Make sure to tell your server or other employee that you are a 906 Rewards member. They have to take your phone number and input your purchase to accumulate rewards. If you don’t, you won’t get rewards.
11. Bonus tip: Collect meaningful Mackinac Island souvenirs
There are only so many Mackinac Island T-shirts and fleeces a person needs. I have at least five. One year, we bought Mackinac Island rain jackets since you can definitely expect some rain and inclement weather on the island.
While there are many lovely downtown shops, I’ve discovered some of my favorite souvenirs didn’t cost very much. I love drinking out of my Mackinac Island coffee mugs. We also have several refrigerator magnets and bicycle stickers.
I have the Addicted to Mackinac Island Facebook group commemorative pins, island postcards, and the Seasons of Mackinac calendar on the bulletin board beside my desk. You can pick up the pins for a donation at designated island businesses.
The annual Seasons of Mackinac calendar costs $10 (plus $4 shipping). Proceeds support the Mackinac Island Recreation Department and youth and recreation projects on the island. Submit photos for the calendar or order it online here.
In September, I mailed a postcard home from the island for the first time. I also bought a used book (on menopause, ha) for $2 from the library. On our October trip, I found an autographed copy of “Being Ethel (In a world that loves Lucy)” and “Under the Tuscan Sun” in the Little Free Library on Market Street.
As a former newspaper reporter, I always pick up (and put $1 in the newsstand machine) a current copy of the island’s Town Crier.
In addition, I have a collection of glass and rocks found on the island on display in my home. Someday, I’d like to turn them into jewelry or art. And I’ve saved things like luggage tags, ferry tickets, and fudge boxes to put in a shadow box.
Sunrises, sunsets always free on Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island deserves the title of “Michigan’s crown jewel.” We are lucky that so much of the island has been protected from development and preserved for the public’s enjoyment. And remember, the sunrises and sunsets are always free. They take your breath away. And they keep you coming back.
You may not care about sticking to a budget. But it’s definitely easier when you seek out free activities. Pro tip: Leave your computer at home, unplug, and reconnect with nature!
Go without a fully booked schedule. Sit on your hotel’s porch. Watch the people and horses. Soak in the scenery. Relax in the jacuzzi. Wake up for a sunrise or scope out a spot to watch the sunset. Walk through downtown after dark. And take time to appreciate that you’re lucky enough to vacation in such a special place on the planet.
Marla R. Miller is an award-winning journalist, travel writer, and content marketing writer who lives in Norton Shores. Please “like” or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
