Quick Family Trip Idea: Holland, Michigan

We had a blast the other day checking out Holland, Michigan. It had been years since I had been and I couldn’t wait to go back.

Because Lake Michigan. Because great shopping and restaurants. Because TONS to do for families.

Unfortunately, shaky weather forced us to change some plans last-minute, but as we told the kids, “As long as we’re together, we’ll have fun,” and we were so right!

I won’t sugar coat it — going anywhere for a night with three little ones is a LOT of work. I felt like I packed for a week, knowing darn well we’d go through snacks and extra clothes like water. And we sure did.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn, which was a great hotel with an indoor pool and game room. It was a bit of a drive into town, but worked out great. The 15 minute drive to the beach worked great for power naps for my little guy.

The first tourist destination we checked out {super close to our hotel} was Nelis’ Dutch Village, which is definitely a must for anyone with little kids. Our littles enjoyed the petting farm, carousel, pedal cars, dutch dancing and more – all included in the admission price {$9 for kids 3 and under and $11 for adults}.

How fun is this play structure for kiddos?

My 4-year-old was SO intrigued by wooden shoes, and we enjoyed learning about the life of Dutch folks.

From there, we visited New Holland Brewing, which was fantastic. We love tasting local brews wherever we are, but usually go sans kids. We took the fact that it was family night {every Monday during summer} as a sign we needed to go, and were glad to be among the company of lots of other families with littles.

Tasting some of the delicious beers at New Holland Brewing in downtown Holland, Michigan

We loved the beer of course {Dragon’s Milk FTW – but warning: It sneaks up pretty quick with 11% ABV}, but also? The kids menu ROCKS. I never would’ve thought to come here with kids, but it was super family friendly. We loved the atmosphere and my 10-month-old demolished the Chef’s Plate, which came with ham, cheese, grapes, carrots and celery for $3.50. If we could’ve pushed our kids a tad more, we would’ve walked around downtown. So many cute shops and places to eat!

After sleeping as much as we could with 3 kids in one room, we woke early for breakfast at the hotel and headed to the beach.

First, we checked out the Holland State Park, which is home to the Big Red Lighthouse, and is free to get in with a state recreation passport. It was SO windy the girls couldn’t swim, but we enjoyed walking around. The beach area was huge with plenty of parking and swings for kids.

How beautiful is this view? No photo editing needed!

After, we headed a few miles north to Tunnel Park. WOW. What a fantastic beach for families! There was a great play area, clean bathrooms, a sand dune the kids could easily climb, and gorgeous views. We all were in awe. As out-of-county residents, it cost us $7 to get in and was worth every penny just for the views.

So fun walking through a tunnel to the beach. 

After playing at the beach for a few hours and having a picnic, we headed home at nap time so the kids could sleep in the car. They didn’t last long before passing out and we had a nice little ride home.

I have already been planning our next adventure there…We missed so much, and I would love to even do an entire week here. But for less than $250 with gas, hotel and dinner out, we had a fantastic night away enjoying some of the beauty Pure Michigan has to offer.

Best of all? We created some fantastic memories for our family.

As good as it gets these days for family photos!

Learn more about Holland by visiting Holland.org.

This post is not sponsored – just wanted to share since I had some questions about our trip.

Where are your favorite Michigan towns for a quick getaway?