Downtown Traverse City: Best Shopping, Dining and Entertainment in the North! Downtown Traverse City has long been a vacation destination for Midwesterners. It still is, but Downtown TC is more. It is the culture, education and business capital of Northwest Michigan. Visitors will find more than t-shirt and fudge shops here. Downtown TC is home to Northern Michigan's most diverse cuisine, best shopping and great culture.

For a break from great shopping, visitors can take in the Traverse Symphony Orchestra or a national comedy act at the City Opera House. The Traverse City Film Festival is one of Midwest's largest at the beginning of August. The rest of the year, great films and MET opera simulcasts are shown at the State Theatre, the fabulous movie house in the North. Boasted as the Cherry Capital of the World, visit the National Cherry Festival in July. For live theater, the Old Town Playhouse offers locally produced plays and musicals throughout the year. Cure those winter blues at Downtown's Winterfest and Comedy Arts Festival.

If you don't want to be inside, Downtown TC's setting on Grand Traverse Bay and the Boardman River affords visitors many outdoor options. In fact, you can go from fly fishing to kite boarding to mountain biking all in one day. And, sailing, charter fishing and rollerblading the next. Oh yes, and don't forget the beach!