<p>I’ve been daydreaming about driving from Minnesota to upstate New York, and was using Google maps to compare the drive time for the standard through Chicago route vs taking the ferry across Lake Michigan & cutting through Canada. Google maps lets me drag the default route to change it to cross from Manitowoc to Luddington, but it doesn’t let me change it to a ferry from Milwaukee to Muskegon. I don’t have any experience with it, but I believe there is a car ferry that leaves out of Milwaukee as well.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any insightful comments on the relative merits of either of the ferry routes?</p>
<p>I travel frequently from Minnesota to the middle of the Michigan “mitten”. I took the ferry a few times several years ago, but concluded that it really wasn’t saving me time. You need to get to the location early enough to be comfortable that you won’t miss it (~1 hour). The times when it ran were quite inconvenient (back then it ran early in the morning or in the evening). And it wasn’t cheap. So we have gone back to driving around Chicago (having one of those E-Z pass thingies to whiz through the toll booths is very useful, speeds up the trip a lot).</p>
<p>I’ve been looking at the Lake Michigan ferry between Luddington and Manitowoc too. We’ll be in Petoskey MI for a week in August and I’m trying to find a practical way for S2 to visit UWisc and Marquette while we’re there. The Lake Express is quicker across Lake Michigan (I guess, hence the name!) than the Lake Michigan Car Ferry. Thanks for the info. I’ll be recalculating the costs/time with this new option.</p>
<p>Really wish there were direct flights from Pellston or Traverse City to Milwaukee.</p>
<p>Depending on where you are going in “upstate New York” – a pretty big target – it’s not like going around the south end of Lake Michigan takes you far out of your way. When my relatives drive from Chicagoland to Western New York, they often cross into Canada at Windsor and drive from there to Buffalo through southern Ontario. Counting onloading and offloading times, and the speed at which even fast boats travel, unless you plan to drive through Chicago in the middle of a rush hour I can’t imagine that your Milwaukee-to-Detroit time would be faster with the ferry.</p>
<p>It does probably make sense to drive through Canada if you are going someplace like Watertown or Plattsburgh/Lake Champlain – taking the 401 around the north side of Lake Ontario would be much faster than going east then north on the NY interstates. For most other places, especially along the southern tier, or nearer to NYC, there’s no great advantage in driving through Ontario, and you can get significant customs/immigration delays at Buffalo or Niagara Falls.</p>
<p>According to Google maps, the south-of-lakes route is 18 hours & some change, and the Luddington ferry-Canada route is approximately one hour more. I thought the break from driving and ferry experience might be worth the additional hour. As mentioned, though, I can’t get Google maps to do the Milwaukee ferry, which is supposedly faster. </p>
<p>I realize that the ferry route would be more expensive, but thought the family might enjoy the experience more than the Chicago toll roads!</p>
<p>I just today came in from upstate NY to Illinois. We always go through Canada by way of Port Huron/Sarnia and enter NY at Lewiston. The ferry has never worked out for us, mainly because where we are located. But one thing to check is when the ferry starts running as I don’t think it goes year round.</p>
<p>You’ve got priorities near to my heart, Chisquared! Living in Wisconsin, I’ve taken both those ferries over to Michigan. Will agree with the above posters however, that the timing just never seems to work out quite right, and it isn’t necessarily a bargain. But I love the idea of ferries on the lakes, and it does certainly break up a trip in a pleasant way. </p>
<p>The Badger, from Manitowoc, is an old style big boat, though perhaps redone these days. We took a night boat, which left at midnight, and brought sleeping bags for the upper deck, where there were plenty of lounge chairs. Mid summer, the middle of Lake Michigan can be cold! We arrived in Michigan around dawn, and though a short night, were able to get to our destination by mid day. </p>
<p>I’ve taken the Lake Express a few times. I was able to justify the price by leaving my car in Milwaukee, and renting on the other side, where they had discount rates. Passengers, plus car can add up. Was an efficient way to visit Kalamazoo college, and the ferry was clean, efficient and fast. The website has all the info you need. </p>
<p>Years ago, when looking for an interesting family vacation, I drove with the kids up through the UP, into Ontario, and camped on Manitolin Island, in Lake Huron. Beautiful, and relatively untouristed, at least at that time. We took a ferry from Manitolin Island down to the Bruce Penninsula and then to Toronto and eventually Niagara Falls. Lovely country. But that was the time I planned to take the ferry on the way home, and realized the Chicago route was more time and money efficient.</p>
<p>Living in Iowa and spending many summers in Petoskey we tried just about every way around the lake that exists. We never did the Lake Express, but the SS Badger was fun, but with the car and four passengers, it adds up fast. In the end our favorite way was to go through Wisconsin and across the UP crossing into Michigan across the Mackinaw Bridge. (One of the scariest things in the world, if you ask me. I love the fact that you can ask a trooper to drive you across if you just don’t think you can make it on your own.) This way is a longer time wise, but we always found it more enjoyable then around Chicago. If you are thinking that the journey is half the fun, you might think about going across the UP and into Canada at Port Huron/Sarnia. This way you avoid a lot of big city driving. </p>
<p>Great lakes mom, one of our legendary family vacations growing up was a trip we took to Manitolin Island. As a girl my grandmother had traveled the Island with her uncle, a medicine man. It is beautiful and remote, we all loved it and had a great time with my grandmother who was close to eighty at time. But boy did my father hate the ferry!! We still talk about my father’s battles with ferry boats some 35 years later.</p>
<p>The native part of Manitolin Island was one of the most fascinating parts of the trip. Land that still hadn’t been ceeded to Canada, and quite different in feel from my experience of reservations here. lololu, you’re quite fortunate to have that historic view of the place.</p>
<p>I’ve used Lake Express a number of times traveling between the Twin Cities and upstate New York and I’m very satisfied. It’s not cheap but I think it does save time, depending on what time of day you’re trying to get through Chicago, and most of all it saves wear & tear on the driver. An early (6 am) start from Mpls-St. Paul can get you to Milwaukee in plenty of time for a midday (12:30 pm) ferry, then it’s a relaxing 2-1/2 hour trip across the lake to Muskegon. From there it’s an easy 3 to 3-1/2 hour drive across to Port Huron, coming off a nice midday break. Driving that straight from the Twin Cities is a grueling 12 hour drive with the middle of the day spent fighting Chicago traffic which can be hellish. </p>
<p>From Port Huron it’s only 3-1/2 hours to Niagara Falls, 6 or so to Syracuse, so pretty much anyplace in upstate New York is within an easy day’s drive on Day 2.</p>
<p>Lololu- speaking of the Mackinaw Bridge- in the past on Labor Day you could walk the 5 mile span. The middle section is made of steel grating with the full view of the straits hundreds of feet below. It’s a fun family activity if no one suffers from acrophobia.</p>
<p>One suggestion, if you are, indeed, crossing the border back into the U.S. in the Buffalo area. Choose your route to cross at the Peace Bridge from Fort Erie into Buffalo, not at Niagara Falls or Lewiston/Queenston. Long delays are far less likely there than at the other two and the connection over to the NY Thruway is easier.</p>
<p>If, as JHS suggested, you are going to remain on the 401 through Ontario, make sure you time your trip to avoid rush hour through Toronto or you will face very heavy traffic all the way across the city, and beyond.</p>
<p>Yes, the Peace Bridge in Buffalo is very much more a working-man’s bridge than the ones in Niagara Falls and Lewiston, and the procedures there reflect the fact that most of the traffic over it consists of locals who cross it many times a week. Nevertheless, you can get some bad back-ups there. One Christmas vacation, we had a 45-minute wait.</p>
<p>(The Symbionese Liberation Front agreed, by the way. Patty Hearst re-entered the U.S. from Canada while a fugitive across the Peace Bridge.)</p>
<p>bclintock, sounds like you’ve made exactly the trip we’re considering. Thanks for the endorsement of the Lake Express ferry. Did you buy tickets on the spot? I’d rather do that, just in case something happens en route and we don’t get there in time.</p>
<p>And thanks, others, for the hint about the bridge. I’ll plan to follow in Patty Hearst’s footsteps!</p>
<p>JHS, that’s interesting about Patty Hearst. I didn’t know (or my aging brain doesn’t recall! - more likely) about her being in Canada during her captivity.</p>
<p>The Peace Bridge can definitely have some bad back-ups, and we’ve certainly seen them through the years. One aspect of that possibility which isn’t nice is that you are then backed up over that very high, and narrow bridge, which isn’t fun. I have to say, though, that in recent years, and I cross that bridge probably a minimum of a couple of round trips per month, I’ve never had to wait longer than 10 minutes. It’s usually shorter than that. Coming into Canada at the Peace Bridge is a snap. They have the entire new ‘plaza’ set up now so that there are 15 booths, all of which are manned at busy times. If you’re a Nexus traveller, you won’t have a wait at all, either direction. Coming into Canada, be prepared for the toll right after you go through customs, and have your $$ ready - currently $3.75(Canadian) or $3.00(American). </p>
<p>p.s. Don’t forget your passports! They will be mandatory on June 1 for land travel, as they have been for air for quite some time. It’s still best to have your passport to cross the border, even prior to June 1.</p>
<p>Say it ain’t so! They’re charging different prices in Canadian and U.S. dollars on the Peace Bridge? That is sooooo wrong! As a teenager on the NY side, I used to keep a bunch of Canadian change in the car because you could always pay the bridge toll with it at par.</p>
<p>I remember those days, too, JHS. I don’t actually recall when it was that they changed the policy. I came through last night and that’s why I remember the exact amounts. The only time I’ve seen the sign change to the same for both currencies was those months last year when the Canadian $ was at par.</p>
<p>I’ve always bought tickets in advance and never had a problem getting there in time to use them. My impression is the Lake Express sells out frequently. I’d hate to plan a trip around it only to drive up and find a sold-out crossing. So I guess there are risks either way. My biggest worry has always been the weather. They won’t cross if it’s too rough, and even short of that I’m not keen on traveling by boat in heavy seas. But so far I haven’t had a problem in something like 6 or 8 crossings.</p>
<p>On the other hand it’s always tempting to go through Chicago and stop for a nice meal, even though that adds a couple of hours to the trip. I’d welcome suggestions on places to eat in Milwaukee.</p>