Looking for the best things to do in Downtown Holland in just one day?
Holland is a small town in the Western/Southern Michigan area with a historic downtown district known for its authentic Dutch architecture and shops.
It’s an easy 1 hour or less day trip from places like Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Kalamazoo.
While you can definitely enjoy a day here on a budget by window shopping, many shops are higher end retail, drawing clientele with some disposable income.
Best Things To Do In Downtown Holland, Michigan
Recently, my husband and I were on a weekend road trip through Southern Michigan, visiting Michigan’s Adventure amusement park.
We thought we would spend the whole day in the park, but it was very empty and we did every ride in less than 3 hours.
Our original plan was to drive over to Frankenmuth that evening, but now we had a full day with nothing to do.
So I looked up where we could go along the way or in the area.
Once I looked into Holland, I knew that’s exactly where we were going to go.
It has everything we love – antique shops, wine tasting, history, beautiful architecture, and authentic souvenirs.
We didn’t have enough time to do everything in the area, so we decided to just explore the downtown area since it is walkable and doesn’t require booking or scheduling anything.
1. Novelty Shops
The authentic, Dutch shops are plentiful as you walk through Downtown Holland.
What stood out to me the most were the wooden tulips of all sizes and all colors.
Usually when we travel we just find a Christmas ornament as our one souvenir, since we travel so much.
But I actually got one of these small pots with different colored tulips to sit on my shelf with my Spring decor.
Another popular souvenir here is the hand-crafted cuckoo clocks.
These are actually German, but if you think of the overall “storybook” style of places like the Netherland, Germany, and some areas of France, you can see that they still fit the vibe of this town.
I personally already have a large Black Forest cuckoo clock at home that I purchased from Epcot at Disney World, but I like checking out others because of all the unique features on each one.
Lastly, another popular souvenir that you can splurge on are the Delft blue tulip vases.
They are quite the splurge, but they are definitely something I’d love to have if I ever buy a home with a formal dining room or another spot where these could be a center point.
A side note about some of the retail shops is that there were kid friendly boutiques with tables for kids to entertain themselves!
The one pictured below has a picnic table with temporary tattoos and coloring pages.
2. Treats From Le Bon Macaron
Who doesn’t love to treat themselves while spending a day browsing the local shops?
The best place to sit for a bit and refresh yourself is Le Bon Macaron.
It’s a beautiful little macaron shop that looks like a princess tea party with their pink and white decor, chandeliers, and Parisian cafe tables.
They have a large selection of macarons and some coffees and teas.
There are usually specials each day too.
3. Antique Shopping
One of our favorite activities anywhere we go is antique shopping.
It’s interesting to see what kinds of things you see everywhere and what kinds of things tend to be specific to different locations.
We can spend hours in a single store without spending any money, so it’s free entertainment, but we’ve also found some great gems to bring home every so often at a great price.
4. Wine Tasting
Another one of our favorite things to do when we travel is visit wineries.
We like a wide variety of wines and the midwest can be pretty hit or miss with the quality of wines since they tend to be sweeter, fruitier wines than what you would typically have in a restaurant.
We had also tried cherry wine from Cherry Republic in Frankenmuth and those were a little hit or miss too, but they have a location in downtown Holland too.
I’d say it’s definitely worth trying if you’ve never had it before though.
Warner Vineyards Tasting Room is also downtown and they have a large variety of over 30 different wines – fruit wines, merlot, pinot noir, rose, etc.
One of my favorite types of wine that is very sweet is Gewurztraminer and most wineries don’t have this, but this one does!
5. Dining
Downtown Holland has a little bit of everything when it comes to its restaurants.
There are Asian, American, Italian, French, Irish, and other restaurants.
Here are some that stood out to us:
Windmill Restaurant – American diner
New Holland Brew Pub On 8th – typical American brew pub
Hops at 84 East – American, brew pub, modern style
Crane’s In The City – bakery, pies
Curragh Irish Pub – typical Irish pub
Butch’s Dry Dock – French, American, upscale
Waverly Stone – upscale, Italian, Seafood
Tulyp, Tapestry Collection by Hilton is in downtown Holland, so it’s a great place to stay if you want to stay in a walkable area.
What I love about Hilton’s Tapestry Collection hotels is that they are usually more of a boutique style with some upscale amenities.
This one in particular has a very clean, modern design but its decor fits in with the vibe of the area.
Click Here To Book Your Tulyp, Tapestry Collection by Hilton Stay Today!
Conclusion: Best Things To Do In Downtown Holland, Michigan
Downtown Holland, Michigan is a beautiful, historic Dutch area with shops, restaurants, and more.
It’s a great place for a day trip to just walk around and window shop, enjoy some wine, some treats, and enjoy a nice meal.
We love that it’s walkable and we love the authentic souvenirs available here.
Another great town in Michigan to visit that is similar is Frankenmuth.
It’s in Eastern Michigan and it’s a Bavarian style village (German) that is a bit larger, but has a lot of the same things we enjoyed in Holland.
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