Explore Michigan's Little Bavaria On This Charming Weekend Getaway To Frankenmuth
By Emily Tieman|Published April 03, 2023
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Emily Tieman
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Emily Tieman is a lifelong Michigander and has a love for locally owned small businesses. She is a freelance writer for Only In Your State and has her own vintage content creator business.
Frankenmuth is known for being a popular vacation destination, Christmas town, and Michigan’s little Bavaria. The town has deep German roots and lovely Bavarian architecture that makes you feel like you’ve been transported to Deutschland. Of course, we can’t talk about Frankenmuth without mentioning Bronner’s, the world’s largest Christmas store. I planned a weekend winter getaway to explore the small city and eat the world-famous chicken dinner.
Hi, I’m Emily and I’m a Michigander through and through. I grew up in West Michigan and just a short 5-minute bike ride from Lake Michigan. I love the Great Lake State with all my heart and enjoy planning weekend trips around the mitten. I’m the Michigan writer for Only In Your State and also work on the social media team. I’ve been to Frankenmuth once when I was about ten years old with my Oma and Opa (Dutch and German for Grandma and Grandpa), who enjoyed reminiscing about living in Europe. I’ve wanted to visit Frankenmuth again as an adult and see if it lives up to the memories I hold dear.
Frankenmuth is just below the thumb of Michigan and can be easily accessed from I-75. The tourist hotspot is known for being a family-friendly vacation destination with so many activities for kids. But I traveled with my boyfriend on an adult-only trip, and let me tell you, adults can have a blast here too.
We arrived on a Saturday to start our weekend getaway. I recently wrote an article about the free Gnome Hunt so my first stop was the Frankenmuth Visitor’s Center to experience it for myself.
My favorite places to shop include the Frankenmuth Cheese Haus, Zender’s bakery, and Frankenmuth Fudge Shop, which has delectable fudge.
If you have a hard time finding a gnome, a friendly staff member will give you a helpful and whimsical clue. This was my first encounter with Frankenmuth’s world-famous hospitality. Every staff person at each shop, restaurant, and hotel was so kind and happy to help.
We worked up an appetite and headed over to the Bavarian Inn Restaurant for lunch. We were in luck because the Glockenspiel Tower started its show which is a 35-bell carillon that is imported from Germany and tells the story of the Pied Piper.
Once inside, we split the world-famous chicken dinner and the hunter’s schnitzel. The schnitzel was my favorite and should also be world-famous, along with the ice cream that arrived with two adorable cake toppers. While we ate our ice cream, an accordionist began playing and I was absolutely delighted. She came right over to our table and played us a song and chatted with us; it was wonderful.
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We walked around town, and the Christmas lights came on which looked magical combined with all the February snow. Many people visit Frankenmuth during the holiday season but that is a busy time of year, so I recommend visiting once December is over. Frankenmuth has events all year long and next time I will visit for Oktoberfest.
After exploring all the shops, we successfully found 15 gnomes and turned in the gnome sheet. You receive a free prize mostly geared towards kids, but there was one item for adults and they kindly gave us one each. I won’t spoil the surprise, but let’s say it would help keep a nice German beer cold.
To end the day, we spent our first night at the Frankenmuth Motel. I love a vintage roadside motel but this place was by far the nicest motel I’ve ever stayed in. Not only was the motel affordable, but also quiet and provided an excellent night's sleep.
On Sunday morning, we visited the world’s largest Christmas store, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland. The store is ginormous and spans seven acres! I’ll admit: I got lost at one point and had to ask a friendly staff member for directions to the cash register.
You can easily spend an entire day here. Any holiday decoration you could dream of is at this Christmas store. You can imagine how busy Bronner’s would be in December, but visiting in February was a perfect time.
Once we had our fill of Bronner’s, we headed to our final hotel which is just beyond a lovely covered bridge.
The Bavarian Inn Lodge is a German-themed resort with an indoor waterpark, mini golf course, arcade, and restaurant. We got here right at check-in so we could get to the waterpark as soon as possible.
The waterpark isn’t just for kids! We went down the slides so many times and enjoyed every minute of it. Once we were tired out from the waterslides, we escaped to the quiet adult-only pool and hot tub, which is a peaceful oasis to relax and unwind.
Frankenmuth far exceeded my expectations and now I want to make an annual tradition of visiting the quaint town. If you find yourself wishing you could visit Germany but without the price tag, you have to put Frankenmuth on your bucket list.
To discover more incredible boots-on-the-ground adventures across America from our team of local travel experts, check out all of the articles in OnlyInYourState’s Everyday Explorers series. What destinations would you like to see featured next? Tell us where we should go on our nominations page.
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