What You Need to Know When Visiting Marquette Michigan

What to Do When Visiting Marquette Michigan

Our family took a vacation in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  While there, we spent 2 days and nights in Marquette Michigan.  Marquette is a large city in Michigan’s UP and has so much to see and explore.

Abandon Iron Ore Dock

While Marquette is a college town, there is so much more to see in this gorgeous city and it’s lake view.  Set along Lake Superior, you have the opportunity to enjoy the stunning sunrises and sunsets set on the shore.

Be sure to take a look at the abandon iron ore dock and how the sun reflects on it.  Carts once moved up and down the dock dumping the iron ore into shoots that would then fill the ships.  You can see more details here from Michigan Radio on how it was used.  Now it is beautiful to photograph and twice a year the sun is perfectly aligned inside it to shine through.

Historic Hotels

We stayed at the historic Landmark Hotel located at the top of a hill, in downtown Marquette.  The hotel that was beautifully decorated with a welcoming decor.  We enjoyed dinner here and also went up to the top floor and peered through the windows for an almost panoramic view of the city.   You have to stay here or at least go inside and enjoy a meal and see the gorgeous historic decor.  Several famous people have stayed here throughout it’s history and many rooms are named after them.

stay at the Landmark Hotel in Marquette Michigan

exploring downtown Marquette Michigan

There are a lot of places to eat downtown Marquette.   My kids are extremely picky and unwilling to try new food.  We have to check out the menu to make sure there is kid friendly food to eat.  We found Donckers to be a wonderful place to enjoy a family friendly breakfast and lunch/dinner options (like grilled cheese and mac and cheese) and a wonderful breakfast. Perfect for those picky eaters.

See our video on what to see in Marquette.

There are many other restaurants we wanted to check out as well, we just need to take another trip to Marquette.

Enjoy shopping downtown the many shops with unique UP souvenirs and clothing. We spent a lot of our time driving to many different destinations, like Pictured Rock and Lakenenland Sculpture Park on our stay downtown.

Bakeries in Marquette

Find the Marquette Baking Company located next to the Children’s Museum (look for the thumb).  You need to get down to the bakery early to get some of their delicious doughnuts and cupcakes.  A little further away from downtown is the Huron Mountain Bakery. Both delicious and worth checking out.

what to see traveling along the Lake Superior lake shore

Coffee to go!

Dead River Coffee is perfect to stop and get some local coffee.  It’s named after a local river in the area.  It’s a cool little coffee shop to check out.

There is so much to see in Marquette Michigan, do you have a favorite place you go to?