Lansing

Understand

Its suburb—East Lansing—is the home of Michigan State University, a Big Ten school and one of the United States' largest and most distinguished public universities with three medical schools and a law school. General Motors has a major presence in the area.

The Lansing metro area has a population of about 464,000 (2010).

Tourist information

• Greater Lansing tourism website

Get in

By car

Lansing is easily accessible from Detroit and Chicago. Interstate 96 directly connects Lansing and East Lansing to Detroit and Grand Rapids. US-127 to Interstate 94 connects Lansing and East Lansing to Chicago, Ann Arbor, and Detroit. Interstate 69 connects Lansing and East Lansing to Flint and Fort Wayne.

By bus

Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) provides local bus service.

• Greyhound Lines service Lansing and East Lansing, with direct connections to Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo (with transfers to Chicago).
• Owosso, Michigan-based Indian Trails Bus Lines provides daily service to Chicago.
• Michigan Flyer Motorcoach service provides multiple daily connections to Detroit Metropolitan Airport with stops in Jackson and Ann Arbor.

By train

Amtrak provides one daily train service via the Blue Water Service, which connects to Flint and Port Huron to the east and Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, and Chicago to the west. There's also Amtrak Thruway Buses to the Wolverine line between Chicago and Detroit as well as the Capitol and Lake Shore Limited services via Toledo.

All trains depart from East Lansing Station (+1 800-872-7245), located on 1240 S Harrison Rd next to the Michigan State University in East Lansing. CATA's route 20 provides service to the station for both departures and arrivals on weekdays, and for arrivals to East Lansing on Saturday. Connections to downtown Lansing are provided by route 1.

By plane

The airport is served by Capital Area Transit Authority (CATA) bus line 14, which provides direct service to downtown Lansing.

Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Flint Bishop International Airport, and Grand Rapids Gerald R. Ford International Airport are other nearby airports which serve the region.

By taxi

Taxi companies provide around the clock service to the Lansing-area. It is not necessary to call ahead for evening taxi service near downtown East Lansing, but riders should allow at least 30 minutes for taxi service to arrive elsewhere. This is especially true on weekends.

Get around

Lansing is served by a number of highways. Travel by car to any part of the city normally takes very little time. Traffic is generally light in the region. While there is some rush hour traffic, visitors driving in the region should not anticipate heavy congestion. The heaviest traffic is concentrated on the east and west sides of the city.

The Lansing-area is served by the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) bus system. Visitors should find bus service to downtown Lansing, downtown East Lansing, and Michigan State University a convenient and affordable alternative to driving. Buses along the Michigan/Grand River Ave corridor (Route 1), which travel between downtown Lansing and East Lansing, run until 3AM on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, making it easy to avoid driving and parking fees. CATA recommends using the smartphone app Transit to plan trips, track buses in real time, and see up-to-date departure information.

Many companies provide taxi service throughout the area. Taxi service is heavily concentrated in the downtown East Lansing-area, especially during evenings and weekends. There is no need to call ahead for taxis in downtown East Lansing, as an available taxi can always be found on Albert Street behind downtown East Lansing. In downtown Lansing, taxi service is not as frequent. Taxi service usually arrives in under 30 minutes. Visitors should expect longer delays on the weekends and during Michigan State University football games. One option is L Transportation Taxi, +1 517-402-3995.

The City of Lansing provides an extensive river walk trail along the Red Cedar River and Grand River. Visitors will enjoy strolling along the Red Cedar as it meanders through the beautiful Michigan State University campus, through dense forest, past the City of Lansing's Potter Park Zoo, where the Red Cedar joins the Grand River (Michigan's largest river) and continues through downtown Lansing, Cooley Law School Stadium (formerly Oldsmobile Park), home of the Lansing Lugnuts minor league baseball team, the downtown Farmer's Market, and to the River Walk terminus near the historic Old Town on Lansing's north side.

The area offers many bike lanes, especially in East Lansing near the Michigan State University. Whether on foot or by bike, the area offers plenty of sidewalks, bike lanes, and trails to connect pedestrians to all the local attractions.

For visitors arriving or leaving, Lansing is well-connected to the major regional transportation hubs of Chicago and Detroit. The Capital Region International Airport, Amtrak, CATA, Greyhound Bus Lines, Indian Trails, and Michigan Flyer provide transportation services to and from Lansing. Freeways I-96, I-496, I-69, and US-127 provide fast and convenient connections throughout the Lansing area.

Learn

• The [https://cooley.edu/ Thomas M. Cooley Law School] located in downtown Lansing is among the nation's largest law schools.

• [https://www.davenport.edu/campuses/lansing Davenport University] and [https://www.cmich.edu/ Central Michigan University] have satellite campuses in and around Lansing.

Go next

Lansing provides convenient access to all of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Michigan is a wonderful state to explore in all seasons. In the summer, get out and kayak the many rivers, take a sailboat out on the thousands of lakes, or enjoy a day at the beach along the thousands of miles of sandy beaches along the Great Lakes. The fall is perfect for hiking through the woods and taking a camera to document the leaves as they change from vibrant green to golden yellow. Fall is also a time for enjoying Michigan's abundant crop of Michigan apples and Michigan sweet corn. Michigan is one of the country's largest wine growing regions. Get out and explore.

• Detroit: Visit Michigan's first state capital! Only 1.5 hours away from Lansing is Michigan's largest city. The city is home to a metropolitan of combined statistical area of nearly 5.5 million people. Founded in 1701 as a French outpost, the city boats North America's tallest hotel, the busiest international crossing in the country, world-class museums, and all the major sports. Detroit is a gaming center, with three major casinos and one major casino across the river in Windsor, Canada. Visitors will enjoy the sights and tastes of Greek Town and Mexican Town, which have long been staples of the Detroit restaurant scene. The city is also home to many of the best examples of art deco architecture in the world. A visit to the Detroit-area would not be complete without checking out a number of the suburban cities. Dearborn is home to the world headquarters of Ford Motor Company and the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. The collection includes the chair in which President Lincoln was assassinated, the car in which President Kennedy was assassinated, a replica of Liberty Hall, Thomas Edison's last breath, Thomas Edison's childhood home, and the Wright Brothers bicycle shop.
• Grand Rapids: The city is Michigan's second largest and located on the west side of the state, or as it is known locally, "the other West Coast." The city has not suffered as greatly from the decline of the auto industry as other Midwest cities, and has a modern class skyline. The city is home to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and Library. The city has an impressive art collection and located nearby is the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, which includes a replica of Leonardo Da Vinci's massive sculpture, Horse. The gardens receives over 600,000 visitors annually.
• Ann Arbor: The city is Michigan's academic and cultural center. The city is home to the University of Michigan, many of the State's high-tech jobs, museums, and many fine restaurants. The high population density, lively downtown, and good public transportation system, make the city one of the best in Michigan. It is also close to Detroit, providing easy access to major events in downtown Detroit.
• Traverse City: Traverse City is the largest city in upper Michigan. Situated on the Grand Traverse Bay, the setting is idyllic and popular tourist and vacation destination for people in the Chicago and Detroit-areas. The area is the largest cherry producing area in the world, and one of the largest wine-producing regions in the country. The area has also begun growing hops to provide the growing number of local breweries. The city is comparable to smaller version of Ann Arbor.
• Mackinaw City: Mackinaw City is the northern most point of the Lower Peninsula and gateway to Michigan's rugged wilderness in the Upper Peninsula. To the west is Lake Michigan and to the east is lake Huron. In the middle are the Straits of Mackinaw. In the center is the Mackinaw Bridge, or Mighty Mac. The bridge is one of the largest in the country and links Michigan together by a thread of steel and concrete.
• Mackinac Island: This small paradise is in Lake Huron, just offshore from Mackinaw City. The historic island is protected by a stone fort built by the British to control the trade routes of the Great Lakes. Historic homes, including the governor's mansion, dot this island. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the island, so tourists must get around by horse, on bike, or by foot. The island is noted for its beauty, fudge, and the Grand Hotel. The Grand Hotel, built in 1887, still maintains the record for the largest porch in the world.