Mackinac Island Carriage Tours

My wife and I were on Mackinac for our second anniversary. Although the day was extremely windy and cold, our tour guide Rick made us forget the elements and took us on a ride we’ll never forget. Rick was down to earth, knowledgable, and had a sense of humor that is deserving of an HBO special. If you plan on taking the tour in the next week, ask for Rick. «Live in the moment»

You are only in a very small part of the town for 10 minutes then you transfer to a larger carriage and are driven slowly thru the park. Very boring. We would have had a much better experience by either renting bikes or our own horse and buggy from Jack’s Livery Stable.

Excellent ride with both Chris and Talf! Both were very knowledgeable about the Island and all its history as well as being very good hosts. Definitely recommend taking a Carriage Ride around the Island for some amazing photos.

We really enjoyed the tour around Mackinaw Island in a horse drawn carriage. The tour guides were very knowledgable and friendly. We learned so much about Mackinaw Island this way.

Tour guide — told us he was the only one not in college and who started driving right out of high school — was horrible. Kept calling the horses dumb and jerks. Kept saying how much better he was at driving the horses than the other drivers. Kept telling us how unlucky we were to get «Oreo» because they were the slowest and dumbest horses on the island. He absolutely ruined the island for us.

It is good if you are sitting in the first row. The guide was entertaining, but I would rather take a walk or bike if I had a choice. This is better for people who wouldn’t prefer to walk.

Joe was our tour guide and he was recently engaged. He told us how his fiancée lured him to the island while neglecting to tell him how cold the water was year-​round. Still, he loves her and won’t be leaving! He made the tour fun and lively!
You can get your picture snapped for a souvenir, just be sure to wear something bright ans sit on the driver’s side to get a good shot! Most people wear blue and blend in! Choose red and stand out!

Worth the price. Add the butterfly conservatory. Well worth the extra $$. Learned a bit about the island and arch rock was a great photo opp!

My mother and I were visiting Mackinac for the weekend and wanted to tour the island. We decided to do the carriage tour. Both of the women who operated our carriages were friendly and very knowledgeable on the island, history and landmarks. The tour took us to Arch Rock which I really liked. It was beautiful. The company has no control over this, but there were A LOT of nats in, on and around the carriage. I spent a lot of the time distracted because I was swatting nats. One of the downfalls is that you start the tour and get settled in, then about 30 minutes later, you exit the carriage, walk through a bunch of tourist shops and get on another carriage. I did not really like that part. Other than that it was decent and I would suggest doing it especially if you like to learn new information about where you are visiting and/​or you cannot bike around the island.

This was great. We got tickets from our hotel on Mackinaw city.
For a newb to the island the carriage tour is a must.
If you dont mind the poopy smell from the horses I would definitely advise you to sit in the front. You get to ask the driver questions and overall it’s a better experience.

I was visiting Mackinaw for the first time with my two teenage children. I knew we intended to rent bikes and ride the perimeter trail, but I wasn’t sure if doing this tour was worth it and/​or would add anything to our visit. Well, I can now say that it really is a great addition to your visit and I would highly recommend it. We had arrived the day before, so were out early after eating breakfast at our hotel. We walked downtown to the Carriage Tour stand, and were able to get on the 9:30 tour. They make sure to fill the carriages, so you may end up sharing your bench with others, but that wasn’t a problem in regards to seeing the sights. They begin by taking you through parts of downtown and share with you lots of interesting facts about the island, the horses, etc. You gradually work your way up a large hill past the Grand Hotel — you don’t get out but they do share more info about the hotel with you as you go by. Eventually this two-​horse drawn carriage reaches the Carriage Museum where everyone gets out. You can tour this museum (takes just a few minutes) get a bite to eat, use the bathrooms, etc. and then get in line for the 3-​horse carriage tour. We also purchased the combination ticket which allows you to visit the Butterfly exhibit which is located here next to the Carriage museum. This was a fabulous stop! We had so much fun looking for all the different butterflies — I wasn’t sure if we would enjoy it as we entered, but we really did and we talked about it quite often throughout our trip. You can spend as much time in the exhibit as you want, and it was so neat to have the butterflies flying all over around you.
When we were done we headed back to the Carriage Museum and waited a few minutes until the next 3-​horse carriage tour pulled up. Again, they fill the carriages so keep that in mind if you want a seat on the side, etc. This was a great trip through the state park, again sharing lots of information, showing you a military cemetery, a civilian cemetery, a cave, etc. leading up to Arch Rock. You can get off the carriage here to take pictures (they also have bathrooms) but you literally get 8 minutes before the carriage begins again. The guides continue to regale you with stories, yes they are corny, but it keeps things interesting. Eventually you get to Fort Mackinac, at which time you can get off the tour to visit the Fort or continue back to the Carriage Museum, where you change back to the 2-​horse carriage for the ride back downtown. If you get off at the Fort you can reboard the carriages after you finish your visit there if you want, or you can simply walk down a long, somewhat steep sidewalk right into downtown. We chose to walk back into downtown but the horse carriage ride would have been nice too I would imagine. You need to set aside at least 2 hours for this tour, depending on how long you spend at the stops — more if you visit the fort too. So this can easily take ½ a day while you are on the island. As I said earlier, I was skeptical about whether to do this or not, but I am so glad I did. We so enjoyed the stops, and although you can technically get to these attractions (Arch Rock, the Fort, the Butterfly exhibit) by foot or by bike, it is pretty hilly and all of it together would have been exhausting in my opinion. Plus we learned some neat facts and saw some parts of the island we probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise. So I would definitely recommend this trip.

My niece and I took this carriage ride. There was a bit of confusion as while she is 4 years old and could technically ride for free I preferred to buy her a ticket so she would have her own seat. Upon entering they tried to make me put her on my lap which I protested and dug out my receipt to show them I had paid for her seat, apparently there was a mix up at the ticket booth and they did not give me the correct tickets. Ride was nice but way too long! We skipped the ride from the Grand Hotel back to main street and it was 2:10 minutes, according to website it was supposed to last 1:45.

The carriage tour was fun. It’s a great way to see the island and learn a thing or two. The horses are great and have their own personality at some points. The tour guides try to deliver some one-​liners but usually fall short. Watching them fail at their bad jokes is fun though. You get switched to different carriages along the route and you stop at their gift shop and eatery at the half way point. There are some excellent views and photo opps along the way. I recommend a tour if you haven’t done one all ready.

This is basically the only way to see the island. It takes you back in time and takes you from the newest and most settled places on the island to some of the most remote. It’s very informational and be sure to bring your camera as you will need it.

I’d definitely recommend a carriage tour while on Mackinac Island, it’s worth the money and you’ll get to see parts of the island you wouldn’t have normally gotten to see. It’s a two-​part tour. You start on a two-​horse carriage and switch to a three-​horse carriage for the second part of the tour when you stop at a butterfly sanctuary. At first it looks like these poor horses have to pull a lot of weight, but as your tour guide will explain, these horses are pretty strong and can pull much more weight than that of the carriage and passengers. The horses are brought on to the island each season and are treated very well, groomed and given opportunities to rest. As an animal lover, I was relieved to hear that. I did feel sorry for the poor horses when they were standing still, all the mosquitos were biting their legs. And I even asked, they do spray their legs with something to keep the mosquitos off, but apparently it’s not working so well. These horse are large, beautiful creatures. Larger than your average horses and very well-​mannered. The second part of the tour takes you more through the national park, with a stop at a scenic point overlooking the shore. Most tour guides have a good sense of humor, so it should make for a fun ride.

The carriage ride is the only way to see the island. You hope on board a horse drawn carriage and they take you on a slow ride all around the island. They will stop at various interesting locations as well. Take the ride as the first thing and it will help you orient yourself.

We had Chuck as our driver for our tour and he was as good as it gets! Clearly a veteran of the trade, he regaled us in the history while adding corny and great jokes alike. Dale and Rusty (our horses) were amazing and did a great job taking us on this 90+ min tour.
You get dropped off halfway at the stables, where you can indulge in a bit more history or head to the butterfly house (an additional charge) where you can be amongst hundreds of these beautiful insects. Afterwards, you can head to Arch Rock and Fort Mackinac on a separate carriage.
Definitely should be one of the first things you do on the island!

We took the island tour with Mackinac Island Carriage Tours. Our 1^st carriage driver was very good (although I can’t remember her name). Very knowledgeable and provided good insight into things around the island. 2^nd driver (Sam) was equally as good. Very personable and knowledgeable. 3^rd driver – back to town – not much to go on – he was pretty quiet – but the tour was over by then. One thing I noticed – not many people tipped the drivers – I am sure they work for little more than minimum wage – give ‘em a tip!

Love it! This is a must do. We only had 1.5 days on the island and this tour provided us with all of the information we needed. Great for those who are into history.
Got to see all of the different parts of the island. Two thumbs. If we came back we would do the tour again. Great experience.

In our group of 5, we had a disagreement on if we would ride bikes around the island or take the carriage tour. 1 other person and myself choose the carriage tour and were we glad we did.
We started out, as the other person commented, in a 2 horse carriage and saw much of the main area of downtown Mackinac Island. Our tour guide was Rob and he was very informative, although a bit difficult to understand.
Due to the time of day that we took the tour (12:15) we also got the opportunity to stop at the barn and switch our team. It was like a pit stop and very efficient.
We stopped at the Carriage Museum area to switch horses. Before we got off our first carriage, a picture was taken that you could purchase inside (no prices were posted). There were some old carriages to look at as you walk through. We were seated on the next 3 horse carriage that left.
For us, the second half of the tour was the better half. I’m not sure if it was our tour guide, Sam, or the tour itself. Again, Sam was very information and able to answer any questions that we had. We stopped at Arch Rock and had the opportunity to stop at the Fort. We didn’t get off at the Fort, but took the carriage all the way back to Main Street.
It was such a perfect day and riding on the carriage was soothing and the perfect temperature, with the cover of the carriage keeping the sun off us.
After we finished our tour I was amazed at the amount of things I had learned. I was constantly giving facts and information to the group that choose the bikes as we continued our vacation on the island.
I would take the tour again to learn the rest of the information that I haven’t already committed to memory and for the relaxing.