I wrote this Michigan guide last year and we loved it soooo much, we returned this year! I wanted to update the post with a few more things from our experience in Saugatuck, Michigan this year.

Last year, after the fourth of July, we took our first real family vacation! Our kids were ages 5, 4 and 2, and it felt time to just get away. As I was looking for a beach we could drive to (that wasn’t too long of a car ride!!). I kept hearing about Michigan. In St. Louis, it seems to be a common destination for families in the summer. I wanted to see what the hype was all about!!!! So we decided to plan our first Michigan family vacation.

As I looked into WHERE in Michigan to go, there was one town that stuck out at me as I was reading about the different towns. It was a beach town was called Saugatuck. It had been described as an artsy town on the water (yep, I am sold), with an awesome culinary scene and storefronts. And very walkable! It seemed exactly what we would love. Everything about this town just felt like us.

I had never been to Michigan before, but my friend Ashley goes with her family often and I consider her a Michigan pro (I first started seeing her MI trips on her IG Colonial in the City). Before our trip, Ashley and I met up and she shared some of her favorites in the Saugatuck area and it was sooo helpful to talk to someone before our trip!! So much so that I wanted to write this post because I truly think it helped having a rough game plan of what we would do, where to stay and the different public beaches to go to. I want to be able to help others like Ashley helped me!!!

Now - Chad doesn’t like to plan at all, but especially with kids, I need a very rough itinerary of things to do, beaches to go to and places to eat.

And before I start with the recs, I will say the top reason why I love vacationing in this town...

In Saugatuck, life kind of just slowed down. The houses and shops were so cute, too, and it kind of felt like we were in some fantasy town that wasn’t real life. With such pretty beaches and amazing weather (cool mornings/nights and warm summer days). I now understand why people go to Michigan. It’s an oasis! And it was only about a 6-hour drive from St. Louis, which wasn’t too bad!!

We loved it so much; we returned again this year and are already talking about going back again.

This Michigan family vacation guide is more centered around a stay in Saugatuck with young kids. There are wineries and hiking, but with our kids, we more focused on the beach and walking around the downtown Saugatuck area. I think there is something there for every age (and even a getaway with your significant other), but this round up is vacationing there with small children!!

Our days involve having breakfast/coffee and heading to a beach for a few hours, then resting and walking around downtown Saugatuck where you can do boat rides/playground/dinner/ice cream. There are a lot of neighboring beach towns around Saugatuck, but we relax a lot and do things right in the downtown Saugatuck area and the nearby beaches.

WHERE TO STAY

I highly recommend staying somewhere that is walking distance to downtown Saugatuck. We bring our stroller/wagon and walk to the downtown multiple times a day! There is an updated playground the kids love, and tons of cute coffee shops and restaurants and ice cream. A toy shop. And it’s right on the waterfront, so restaurants on the water. (I also noticed so many cute Inns in downtown Saugatuck, if we didn’t have our kids with us, I feel like that would be fun to stay at one.)

We have stayed in a house here and loved it sooo much, it was so cute and perfect. It was a short stroller walk into the downtown. (Whenever you stay, I think being walking distance to the downtown is key.)

I noticed that peak season (July) was more expensive than if you go earlier in the summer (late May/early June) or later in the summer. I hear the off seasons are less expensive and less crowded, but Saugatuck was such a quaint town, I didn’t notice it being overly crowded and we loved the July weather, it was perfect for the beach!!! We love being able to spend the day at the beach, and then the weather gets cooler at night and we have bonfires.

BEACHES

All my oldest would talk about before our first Michigan trip was going to the beach! She was so excited for it!!! So the beach is definitely a highlight of our trips and why I am so glad we go in July - because the weather was hot during the day. If you are looking to enjoy a lot of beach time like we were, I would pick that peak of summer to go (July or August). When we were at the beach, it felt like Florida … but no sharks or jelly fish to worry about. :)

Here are the public beaches near Saugatuck we have been to…

Oval Beach is a super short drive from downtown Saugatuck and it pretty, clean and fun! This is out FAVORITE one and when we went back this year, we spent almost every day at this beach. It’s $15 to park and you walk right on to the beach, so it was easy and accessible. There is a SUPER cute bike rental + coffee shop called Outside Coffee Co on the way to oval beach. (And across from the coffee shop is a huge root beer barrel that has food and looked like such a fun stop with kids to eat after the beach).
Douglas Beach is near Oval Beach but a lot smaller and a great option if you want shade in the mornings. There are a lot of big trees on the shoreline. There are some stairs you have to walk down to get to the beach after you park (there is free parking - but very limited), but it wasn’t too many steps! This was a peaceful beach in the morning. This beach was more rocky, so it was harder for my kids to play… so if want a sandy beach, you may prefer Oval.
South Beach in South Haven - This year, we went to this beach for a day and it’s a busy, fun one. There is a playground in the sand at the top that my kids loved. And the parking was right there, so it was close to the beach and that made it easy. There is a lighthouse on this beach you can walk out to. It’s only about 20 minutes from Saugatuck, so we went for an afternoon! You drive through the town of South Haven on the way to the water, and it was cute with storefronts and places to eat.
One other public beach I looked into visiting but we haven’t been yet is Laketown Beach (there are a LOT of steps - 300+!! - so I was hesitant to go with my kids, but it looked sooo pretty!).
Last year, our way back to St. Louis on the last day, instead of doing a beach nearby, we left Saugatuck in the morning and about 1.5 hours into the drive we stopped at Porter Beach at Indiana Dunes State Park. It was SO fun!!! There was a main building at the top of the beachfront with food (a walk-up window where you could get fries, hot dogs, ice cream etc), and then there were showers and a changing area. So we stayed a few hours at the beach, ate and then changed and the kids slept right away when we got back on the road! It was a great stop to break up the drive and enjoy the day at the beach!

ACTIVITiES

In downtown Saugatuck, it’s right on the water, so one fun thing to do is go on the Star of Saugatuck boat ride! It was a little pricey but a 90-minute ride with food and drinks and it was such a fun experience.
Also ride the Chain Link Ferry across the river. It is super, super short, but has a lot of history and my kids loved riding on it.
Last year, we took a drive over to Holland, Michigan on Saturday morning after the beach to go to brunch and the Holland Farmer’s Market. It’s just a 15-20 minute drive from Saugatuck. We ate brunch down from the market at a cute and yummy place called Bowerman’s on 8th.
And one thing we haven’t done yet is the Saugatuck Sand Dunes Rides. It looks fun and is popular!
There is also a retro boat rental, if you’re up for renting a boat!
One thing on my list to do next time is blueberry picking!
Shopping in Saugatuck - downtown Saugatuck has a lot of cute stores and boutiques. Be sure to take an afternoon stroll and pop in some!

TIP: A lot of the attractions you have to get tickets the day of. So be sure to call the morning of to get tickets for the boat rides and sand dune rides.

This year, when we went back to Saugatuck, we didn’t do as many activities and actually just relaxed a lot. I feel like our first trip we tried a bunch of things and then this year, we got up and had breakfast, packed a cooler and stayed at the beach for a few hours, came back home, relaxed and had bonfires and smores. It ended up being the BEST!!! I think it was because it was our second time back and we were more familiar! And a good reminder that you don’t have to do allll the things, ya know.

PLACES TO EAT

We loved all the places to eat in Saugatuck. There are so many, but here are the ones we checked out or wanted to check out!!!…

Lunch/Dinner:

One thing we loved was that they had waterfront restaurants.

Both years we have gone, we eat at The Butler - it’s family friendly and outside on the water, so it really feels like you are on vacation.
Other great waterfront options are The Mermaid Bar & Grill, The BARge, The Southerner and The Old Boat House. There is something about eating at a restaurant on the water that just feels like vacation, ya know?!
Pennyroyal is a super neat place to eat, but you have to drive to it - it’s outside the downtown area.
The Grilled Cheese Shack was such a fun, causal place to walk up and order a sandwich and sit outside in downtown Saugatuck.

Coffee:

I loved a cute little camper by The Grilled Cheese Shack that sold coffee called Basecamp. Another popular coffee shop is Uncommon Coffee Roasters.

Ice Cream:

We get ice cream a lot! There were three ice cream places we have checked out in downtown Saugatuck. Boardwalk Deli & Ice Cream, Kilwin’s and Round the Corner Ice Cream.

Breweries:

After the beach, we love to stop by Saugatuck Brewing and eat outside. There was live music and it was family friendly! You have to drive to it from downtown Saugatuck, but it was on the way home from Oval Beach so it was convenient. There are a lot of other breweries in Saugatuck, but this one just seemed like a classic (maybe it was the name that got us) that we had to visit! We returned to it again this year!

The Grilled Cheese Shack and Basecamp Coffee

FINAL NOTES

We have done this Saugatuck, Michigan family vacation twice now because we love it so much! I find the entire Saugatuck area really magical. It was laid-back and we play on the beach a lot and overall, it is a great family vacation spot. I highly recommend Michigan by the water in one of the magical beach towns like Saugatuck.

If you visit, hope you love as much as we did!