The Couples Getaway Guide to Traverse City

This post is brought to you by Traverse City Tourism. All opinions are my own.

The Ultimate Guide to a Traverse City Weekend Getaway

Need a fun couples getaway idea? Look no further than Traverse City! We just spent a kid-free weekend there and it was the perfect way to celebrate our ninth anniversary.

From sandy beaches to the beautiful rolling vineyard hills, I always forget just how beautiful Traverse City is until I get back there. TC also has a robust food and shopping scene between the downtown district and the Grand Traverse Commons.

For this trip, we wanted to fit in some fun activities, but also wanted to make sure it was a relaxing weekend. So we scheduled a few tours and made a couple dinner reservations, but otherwise kept our schedule pretty open-ended.

Our weekend itinerary looked like this…

Friday:

• 12:30pm – Leave Grand Rapids
• 3ish – Check in at Chateau Chantal B&B
• 6pm – Dinner at Trattoria Stella
• 7:30pm – Twilight Walking Tour at Grand Traverse Commons
• 9:30 pm – Nightcap at Low Bar

Saturday:

• 8am – Breakfast at Chateau Chantal
• 11am – Winery Tour at Traverse Bay Tours, which included stops at:
  • Peninsula Cellars
  • Bonobo Winery
  • Brys Estate Vineyard & Winery
  • Chateau Chantal
• 6:30pm – Mother’s Day Wine Dinner at Chateau Chantal

Sunday:

• 8am – Breakfast at Chateau Chantal
• Lunch/shopping downtown before heading back home

Friday:

Friday night was so much fun! We first checked into the amazing “Renoir Master Suite” at Chateau Chantal. Our suite was beautifully designed, extremely spacious and had a nice, private balcony overlooking the Grand Traverse Bay. We loved the amazing amenities in our room from the comfortable king-size bed to the large, custom-tiled shower to the granite wet bar. And the breakfasts they served were so delicious.  As B&B guests at Chateau Chantal, you also receive a complimentary wine tasting and glass of wine at their winery each day, which was such a nice treat!

For our Friday dinner, we went to Trattoria Stella and it did not disappoint. I ordered a pasta dish that came with roasted duck leg and it was perfectly cooked and packed with flavor. After dinner, we went on the Twilight Walking Tour in the Grand Traverse Commons, formerly called the Traverse City State Hospital.

• 

• 

I honestly went into the tour thinking the general consensus about the Traverse City State Hospital would be a negative one, considering it was an “insane asylum.” Instead, we learned about the incredible, progressive practices Dr. James Decker Munson implemented at the state hospital. We also enjoyed the amazing architectural design and learned about their sustainable animal husbandry and farming practices.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Saturday:

On Saturday, we had a great time checking out four different wineries. We went to Peninsula Cellars, Bonobo Winery, Brys Estate Vineyard & Winery and our final stop was actually at our B&B, Chateau Chantal. We had so much fun sampling lots of different wines. One of my favorites was called “Pop Quiz” from Peninsula Cellars. And we both loved the frozen rosé (aka “frosé”) and charcuterie board at Brys!

After a relaxing afternoon, we spent Saturday evening at the B&B enjoying a five-course wine pairing dinner. Chateau Chantal offers wine dinners throughout the year, so if you’re ever in Traverse City when they are hosting one, we would highly recommend it. The chef and his team prepared amazing food and the wine pairings complemented the food really nicely!

Sunday:

On Sunday we enjoyed some time downtown Traverse City after checking out of Chateau Chantal. The downtown has so many fun boutiques and shops and restaurants to explore. There’s something for everyone. Before driving back, we decided to have lunch at Bubba’s, which is a legendary burger joint in TC. Definitely order the tater tots when you go…you won’t be sorry!

Until next time Traverse City…

We had such a relaxing, romantic and fun anniversary weekend! Traverse City really was the perfect place to have a couples getaway. As you can tell, our trip mostly consisted of enjoying amazing food and wine, while soaking in the beauty of the vineyards and the lake shore. It was the perfect, kid-free trip to Michigan’s wine country and we cannot wait to get back there again soon!