Great Lakes Explorer

10 night tour - Starting in Chicago, Illinois - ending in Toronto, Ontario.

Escorted Tour with tourmappers.

Tourmappers, based in the USA are experts in the Great Lakes Region, Their expertise encompasses many areas of the United States and Canada and they pride themselves on providing a unique and distinctive product and service that is unsurpassed by their competitors

The five interconnected Great Lakes (Superior, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Huron) are impressive enough taken singly. Taken as a whole, the Great Lakes form the largest body of fresh water in the world; Lake Superior alone is more than three hundred miles from east to west. The shores of these inland seas can rival any coastline: Superior and the northern reaches of Lake Michigan offer stunning rocky peninsulas, craggy cliffs, tree-covered islands, mammoth dunes and deserted beaches. 
 

2016 Guaranteed departure dates:
Departure dates to be confirmed
 
TO BOOK THIS TOUR: CALL US ON FREEPHONE 0800 0336 335 OR EMAIL US RESERVATIONS@PURELYTRAVELGROUP.CO.UK
View Itinerary Details

Day 1: Chicago

Arrive Chicago. Greeter will assist you in boarding a shuttle to hotel, in downtown Chicago. The Tour Manager will be available at the Tour Desk in the hotel lobby this evening. 

Meal(s) Breakfast

Day 2: Chicago

This morning will be spent exploring some of Chicago’s most noted sites. Board The Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady. CAF certified volunteer tour guides interpret more than 50 buildings along the Chicago River, revealing how the city grew from a small back-country outpost into one of the world’s most important crossroads in less than 100 years. This afternoon, we’ll visit the neighboring town of Oak Park - home to the world's largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings. We’ll tour Wright’s home and studio and will also see the birthplace of the noted American author, Ernest Hemingway.  

Meal(s) Breakfast & Dinner

 

Day 3: Chicago – Milwaukee – Green Bay (210 mi/337 km)

Travel north into Wisconsin and tour Milwaukee. Once known almost exclusively as a brewing powerhouse, the city now boasts the beautiful Milwaukee Riverwalk and Milwaukee Art Museum Even people who’ve never been on a motorcycle will enjoy the visit to the Harley-Davidson Museum. Exhibits tell the stories of the extraordinary people, products, history and culture of HarleyDavidson. Continue north to Green Bay for the night. Twice awarded the title of All-America City, Green Bay is known as “Titletown” because of the number of professional football Super Bowl titles its team, the Green Bay Packers has won. 

Meal(s) Breakfast & Dinner

Day 4:  Green Bay-Marquette (178 mi/286 km)

Continue north to Marquette. It is a major port on Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes. This afternoon, board a 2-hour narrated cruise that will detail the mining and maritime history of Marquette, the colossal iron ore docks, and as the cruise sails by the Black Rocks of Presque lsle, get ready to see some of the bluest water and oldest rock formations in the world. 

Meal(s) Breakfast & Dinner

Day 5: Marquette-Mackinac Island – Mackinaw City (168 mi/268 km) 

Travel south to Mackinac Island. We’ll board the ferry in Mackinaw City. Bicycles and horse-drawn carriages are the modes of transportation on this island in the straits of Mackinac where the upper peninsula of Michigan meets the lower peninsula. Take a self-guided hiking tour or rent a bicycle to tour sites such as arch rock, skull cave, sugarloaf, British landing, devil's kitchen and the beach of a bazillion beautiful skipping stones, or just take a carriage tour and eat the fudge the island is famous for. Return to the mainland and overnight in Mackinaw City.  

Meal(s) Breakfast & Dinner

Day 6: Mackinaw City – Sleeping Bear Dunes -Traverse City (102 mi/165 km) 

This morning we’ll set out for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It offers magnificent views over sweeping vistas of Lake Michigan from atop high dunes, forested wilderness islands, hiking trails and a series of preserved historic farmsteads. In the afternoon a stop will be made for a tasting at one of the local wineries. Traverse City is home to vintners who grow grapes and bottle wines.  

Meal(s) Breakfast & Dinner

Day 7: Traverse City-Detroit (256mi/412km) 

Known as Motor City because of its’ notoriety as the world's automotive center, and known also as Motown for its importance as a source of popular music legacies, the city offers a host of activities to the traveler that lends itself to both cultures. We’ll spend the next two nights in Detroit. 

Meal(s) Breakfast & Dinner

Day 8: Detroit

Today we’ll visit two of Detroit’s highlights: the Henry Ford Museum. The Ford Museum is centered around an unparalleled collection of historically significant vehicles, and focuses on the enormous influence the automobile has had on American culture. Entering Greenfield Village is like stepping into an 80-acre time machine. Here one will see Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory and the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law among other sites. At Hitsville, you can stand in Studio “A” where the likes of Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and the Jackson Five, among others, recorded their hits.  

Meal(s) Breakfast & Dinner

Day 9: Detroit-Toronto (245mi/394km)

Toronto is the world's most ethnically diverse city. Its waterfront provides a scenic backdrop for many popular attractions including the CN Tower, which we’ll visit. It was recently nominated one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The tour will also include revitalized areas such as the Distillery District, the picturesque Flatiron Building, St. Lawrence Market, Front Street and King Street.  

Meal(s) Breakfast & Dinner

Day 10: Toronto -Niagara Falls – Toronto (79mi/127km) 

This morning, depart for Niagara Falls. The falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world, with a vertical drop of more than 50m. The best way to explore the Falls is by The Maid of the Mist boat tour. Board the Maid of the Mist and enjoy the cruise as it takes you past Rainbow Bridge, American and Bridal Veil Falls, then into the dense mist of spray. This afternoon. You may want to walk over the historic pedestrian bridges to Goat Island, or be awestruck by the breathtaking views from the decks of the Cave of the Winds. Late afternoon transfer back to Toronto for the overnight. 

Meal(s) Breakfast

Day 11: Depart Toronto or extend your stay

Departure day. Individual airport transfers will be provided, or one can extend their stay to experience more of what Toronto has to offer.  

Meal(s) Breakfast

Your Tourmappers Tour Highlights

 • 10 Night Accommodation • 10 Breakfasts • 8 Dinners • Coach Transportation • Professional Tour Guide • RT Shuttle Transfers • Baggage Handling at Hotels • All Taxes.

Included attractions: Oak Park Tour, Chicago Architecture River Cruise, Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Office, Milwaukee Tour, Harley Davidson Museum, Lake Superior Harbor Cruise, Mackinac Island Ferry, Winery Tour & Tasting, Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, Hitsville USA, Toronto Tour, CN Tower, Niagara Fall Day Tour, Maid of the Mist  

Mini coach: Tour buses have air conditioning and a non smoking policy operates on each vehicle. 

Hotels: The Hotels on this tour will be 3 star or above and allocated/advised closer to departure, all properties have been carefully selected to evoke the style and charm of their city, rooms are based on the hotel's standard room category and all have private facilities.

Tour Only Cost: All prices quoted below are per adult person, per tour in British Pounds (GBP)

Departure Dates

Single Twin/Double Triple Quad
All departures in 2016 TBC TBC TBC TBC
 
Not included in your tour cost:
Flights – we can package your tour with flights at very competitive airfares using our airline partners. Please call us to discuss the best airline for your itinerary.
Pre or post accommodation - If you want to extend your stay at the start or the end of your escorted tour or add another destination to your booking please call us and we will be happy to provide a quote.
Meals, other than those listed in the itinerary.
The customary gratuities for the Tour Director and local drivers are not included.
 
FAQs:
There are many questions and considerations you might have when planning an escorted tour with TourMappers. For more information please click here.
 

TO BOOK YOUR TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS:

Please call us on FREEPHONE 0800 0336 335 or EMAIL us reservations@purelytravelgroup.co.uk we are open 7 days a week.

We will be happy to answer any questions, check the availability of your tour, offer a quote for flights and any pre or post nights you would like to add.

When you are ready to go ahead with the booking, a non-refundable deposit of 10% will be due at time of booking or the full balance if you are due to travel within 8 weeks.