Located on Little Traverse Bay along the shores of Lake Michigan, Harbor Springs is one of the most beautiful resort towns around!     Offering all the options of a waterside resort community with the tranquility of a smaller town Harbor Springs is an ideal place for a getaway weekend or extended vacation. 

 

Popular activities include boating, sailing, strolling on the city pier, playing tennis, and shopping the 4-block downtown area, which boasts an inordinate number of upscale shops for such a small area. The downtown area includes several restaurants, including the historic Mary Ellen's (a '50's-style soda fountain that is authentic and untouched by trendy remodeling), the local favorite pizza place, Turkey's (named for its owner, who apparently "hobbled like a turkey" when injuring himself during high school football season), and Bar Harbor, famed for its burgers and as a gathering place for yachtsmen. Juilleret's is a popular family-run restaurant that began in 1895 when Joseph and Martha Juilleret opened a boat livery and an ice cream parlor on the same location. Gurney's Bottle Shop has take-out deli sandwiches that are very popular.

Also downtown are a small but thorough bookstore (Between the Covers), several coffeeshops, fudge shops, and over a dozen art galleries.   In the winter, the town serves as the base for visiting skiiers, as both the Boyne Highlands and Nubs Nob ski resort are only a few miles away, and the town's custom of setting their Christmas tree in the middle of the downtown street has been seen on many postcards.

The town is also just a few miles from neighboring Petoskey, Michigan, which is on the other side of the bay and offers a wider variety of activities including a multiplex movie theater, a thriving downtown area of its own, and several big-box stores.