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One of the best Christmas things to do in Michigan is to spend a day exploring Rochester! Rochester is a town in Michigan I’ve been interested in visiting during the holidays ever since I saw pictures of it. Millions of colorful lights draped across the downtown buildings for a couple blocks left me in wonder and awe. I knew one day I needed to see it for myself. Well folks, that day finally arrived! This West Michigan family ventured east during this Christmas Day Trip to Rochester.
Not going to lie, we are the ‘in bed by 9pm’ kind of family so the 2.5 hour drive there and back was rough. Especially since this is an evening day trip! However, this is such a bucket list destination so we needed to go! We paired our trip to see downtown Rochester’s ‘Big Bright Light Show,’ with a new attraction Meadow Brook Hall created this year – Winter Wonder Lights.
This Christmas Day Trip to Rochester is perfect for anyone – couples looking for an inspired and fun date, friends and groups, and families of all ages. We took our son, and he loved it! In fact, this was one of our easiest day trips with him. We timed up his nap time with when we traveled to Rochester. Then, as we headed home, he fell asleep in the car along the way.
~ Christmas Day Trip to Rochester Map ~
~ Christmas Day Trip to Rochester Summary ~
When: Saturday evening in early December – but can be done anytime before Christmas!
Why: Every December we love embracing the spirit of Christmas and try to visit as many Christmas attractions as possible. For a couple years, downtown Rochester’s Big Bright Light show was on my Michigan Christmas bucket list so when I heard Meadow Brook Hall launched a new attraction – Winter Wonder Lights, I had to put together this Christmas Day Trip to Rochester.
Time Traveled (one way): 2.5 hours from Grand Rapids, 45 mins from Detroit, 2.5 hours from Kalamazoo, 1.5 hours from Lansing, almost 4 hours from Traverse City, 5 hours from Chicago, 5 hours from Indianapolis
Time Spent at Destination: 4.5 hours
Budget: $$ – about $150-$200: Gas, Winter Wonder Lights, Dinner at Rochester Mills Beer Co, and Shopping at the boutiques and at Kris Kringle Market
~ Places to Stay in Rochester ~
If you don’t feel like driving all the way home after checking out the lights, consider these hotel options to extend your Christmas adventure in Rochester.
- Royal Park Hotel: Make the most of your time in Rochester and stay right downtown at Royal Park Hotel. Also, they offer a three hour private snow globe rental – an igloo you can dine in that’s decked out in holiday décor!
- Holiday Inn Express & Suites Rochester Hills: Comfortable and inviting, the Holiday Inn in Rochester Hills has all the amenities you expect and love when staying at Holiday Inn. This includes free breakfast and an indoor pool.
- Days Inn & Suites by Wyndham Rochester Hills: Finally, the Days Inn in a quality, budget friendly alternative for those looking to stay in town. Free breakfast is included with your stay.
~ Christmas Day Trip to Rochester Details ~
Innovation Hill
After our 2.5 hour car ride to Rochester, our first stop was to Innovation Hill Park to allow our son time to play. He did a wonderful job during that long car ride (by napping the entire ride). Before we left home, we planned on arriving early in order to give him time to play and get his wiggles out.
Innovation Hill Park is only a six minute drive to Meadow Brook Hall. It is a modern park with a huge playground! The nature themed playground is three acres with several smaller playgrounds broken out by age group. There are slides, balancing toys, musical toys, hills to slide down, and even an accessible zipline! Much of the playground is accessible for all kids, which is another great thing to see! My son loved the zipline the most. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have an adrenaline junkie on my hands soon!
The worst part about this playground was leaving. My son was having a blast with all the toys, but ultimately we needed to move on to make our 5:30 tour at Meadow Brook Hall!
Winter Wonder Lights at Meadow Brook Hall
Our next stop and first Christmasy destination on our Christmas Day Trip to Rochester was to Meadow Brook Hall! This year, Meadow Brook Hall introduced Winter Wonder Lights, a mostly outdoors self guided tour and Christmas light display. There are multiple light shows taking place across the grounds with different color schemes and Christmas music paired to the dancing lights. Winter Wonder Lights runs from November 26 to December 30, 2021.
This Christmas attraction is perfect for all to enjoy. We saw couples, families of all ages, and friend groups out enjoying themselves. My toddler especially loved looking at all the lights – his face had a constant expression of wonder and awe.
It is ok if you show up hungry or thirsty! There are two tents selling food and drinks (including alcoholic) at two places along the tour route. If you do not stop at either of those, it takes about 50 minutes total to tour.
My best tip for visiting is to book a ticket to the earliest time slot – which is 5:30 pm. If you arrive at this time, the volunteers direct you to parking at the front lot, which is right in front of the entrance. If you come at a later time, that’s ok. While you may park further away, there are free shuttles dropping people off at the entrance.
Tickets to visit Winter Wonder Lights are $22 for adults (age 13+), $12 for kids (3-12), and those 2 and under are free.
Interior at Meadow Brook Halls
The tour also takes you inside the house. This is a welcome feature in order to warm up a bit. A few rooms on the main floor are part of the tour (along with 2 fireplaces to warm up at)! After this teaser, I’m tempted to return to tour the mansion’s other Christmas event – the Holiday Walk. This self guided tour takes you throughout the mansion to see over 50 decorated Christmas trees. During the weekends, Santa and his reindeer are also present for photos!
Meadow Brook Hall has a fascinating history. It was built by Matilda Dodge Wilson – widow of John Dodge of Dodge Motors. Her and her then husband, Alfred Wilson, built the home on 1,500 acres. It cost them $4 million when built between 1926-29. This home is one of the best examples of Tudor-revival architecture in the United States.
Throughout its construction, Ms. Wilson and her architect traveled to England to study English country manors and pick out inspirational details from historic homes to use at Meadow Brook. While English in inspiration, the materials and furniture at Meadow Brook are all American, which was important to the family. In 1957, Meadow Brook Hall was donated to what is now Oakland University. In total, Meadow Brook Hall is 88,000 square feet and contains 110 rooms.
The Big Bright Light Show in Downtown Rochester
After the tour at Meadow Brook Hall, we headed into downtown Rochester to check out the famous Big Bright Light Show. While not necessarily a ‘show’, most of the buildings in downtown Rochester are draped in over a million LED lights. Each building with a specific color or pattern. Every day between November 22 to January 3rd, the buildings are lit up from 5pm until midnight. And to take advantage of this marvelous holiday attraction, most downtown shops remain open daily until 9pm.
Throughout the Christmas season, there are a number of special events. On November 22nd, the Big Bright Light show kicks off for the season with a celebration called Lagniappe. On December 12, coordinated holiday carolers will be downtown to bring out some holiday cheer.
If you’re interested in visiting the Big Bright Light Show, try to visit on a weeknight if you live nearby in order to avoid crowds. However, if you’re traveling from afar like us, that’s ok! Even with it being busy, we had no issues with finding a place to park right away. Check out the map I put together on the top of this article. There, I’ve indicated all of the various parking lots that are all within 1-2 blocks from downtown. And, if you’re looking for a great, less busy spot to take photos with the lights, just walk down east 4th street. This block is all lit up, but it’s off the main road so not as many people wander down there.
Boutique Christmas Shopping
Another goal of mine and great thing to do in downtown Rochester is to go shopping. The Big Bright Light Show is a great feature that draws a lot of people into town. Because of that, downtown Rochester also has a vibrant local business scene. There are so many great boutiques, clothing shops, restaurants, and more to explore. This is perfect because I had some Secret Santa shopping to do. Some of my favorite stores we stopped into include Bizzy Buzz Artisan Market, which is a gift shop with all kinds of great products from local Michigan markers and artisans. And as an all things Michigan appreciator, I loved all the great Michigan decor and apparel sold at MI State of Mind.
Now, another great and convenient shopping option we experienced when visiting was the Kris Kringle Market. This European style, open air holiday market only runs the first weekend in December (mark it on your calendar for next year!). We found a lot of great local specialty foods to snack on this holiday season as well as some holiday décor for our house. During the market, there’s a stage with live music, food tent, bonfire pits to roast smores at, photos with Santa, and kid sized ‘gingerbread’ houses to play in. We even saw a live glass making demonstration!
Rochester Mills Beer Co
Our final stop for the evening was dinner and drinks at Rochester Mills Beer Co. Here’s my time saving tip! If you don’t make a reservation, when you first arrive in downtown Rochester, put your name in. We did that and were told the wait was 1.5 hours. Since we planned to go shopping, check out the Kris Kringle Market, and admire the lights, we weren’t bothered by the wait. After the wait was up, we received a text and were seated right away.
Rochester Mills is well known for their milkshake stout. The very first time I tried this beer was back in 2015 during a family bar crawl in downtown Grand Rapids. Ever since then, I knew, one day, I needed to visit the source. And just like visiting the Big Bright Light Show, I’m so glad we came!
Not only did I enjoy a milkshake stout at the source, I enjoyed a mint milkshake stout, which is of their ’12 Days of Milkshake Stout’ specialties. And this brewery is on the map for their food as well. In addition to the typical brew-pub fare, Rochester Mills offers a variety of entree menu items like Chilean Sea Bass, Muenster Chicken, and BBQ Ribs.
Rochester Mills opened in 1998 in the former Western Knitting Mill building by founder Mike Plesz. This building was built in 1896 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. After significant restoration work, the brewpub kept the interior design the same as it was when it was the knitting mill with exposed brick and beams. This year, the Oakland Press crowned Rochester Mills first place winners of their annual Readers Choice Awards.
Other Christmas Things to Do in Rochester
If you’re looking for some brand name stores to go shopping at, you need to visit the Village of Rochester Hills. While it sounds like another small town, it is actually an outdoor shopping mall made to look like a cute downtown area. Shop at stores like Alex and Ani, Banana Republic, Pottery Barn, and more. There is also a plethora of dining options. Grab something quick from Chipotle or Shake Shake, or sit down and relax at Bravo Italian Kitchen or Kruse & Muer in the Village.
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Looking for more Christmas things to do in Michigan? You need to check out my article detailing all of Michigan’s Christmas attractions that run all season long. Read it here!
What’s your favorite Christmas event or attraction where you live?
from Michigan with Love,
Jackie
