Ideas for Your Girlfriends’ Getaway in Grand Rapids

Looking for a place to relax and have fun with your gal pals without breaking the budget? Look no further than Grand Rapids, Michigan. Centrally located between Chicago and Detroit, offering the amenities of a big city without the budget-breaking price tag, filled with friendly people and safe streets, Grand Rapids is an ideal destination for a girls getaway.

If it’s been too long since you’ve seen your besties – and it probably has –  don’t waste another minute. Browse our list of suggestions below and call, text or FaceTime your girlfriends ASAP to start planning a fabulous weekend!

Get Pampered

A group massage or mani/pedi session is a great way to relax, refresh and catch up when you first arrive in Grand Rapids. For maximum convenience, check in to downtown’s Amway Grand Plaza or JW Marriott hotel for the weekend and take advantage of their luxurious on-site day spas.

Celeste Salon & Spa at the Amway boasts a hair salon, nail salon, five treatment rooms, a dry sauna, hot tub whirlpool, and indoor and outdoor relaxation spaces along with a comprehensive suite of hair care, facial, massage and body treatments. JW’s Seraphina Spa offers a similar range of services on its “Wellness Floor,” which also includes an indoor pool and fitness center, steam room and cozy relaxation pods.

If you want to stay at a different downtown hotel – or in any of the other 80+ hotels around town – you can still book a treatment at Celeste or Seraphina. Or you can choose another spa closer to your accommodations. There are first-rate facilities in every corner of the city.

Grab a Bite

You may have enjoyed some nibbly things during your spa treatment, but you’re likely ravenous by this point. Good news – you’re spending the weekend in one of America’s Top 20 Foodie Cities, so there’s an abundance of incredible dining choices sure to please every member of your group.

Downtown alone has more than 150 restaurants within a 10-minute walk of the Amway and JW Marriott hotels. One of the city’s finest eateries is nestled on the 27^th floor of the Amway: MDRD (pronounced Madrid) offers contemporary Spanish cuisine along with stunning bird’s-eye views of the city.

There are six additional restaurants inside the Amway, so you could eat breakfast, lunch and dinner there throughout your stay – but then you’d miss out on the fun of discovering other downtown gems like Max’s South Seas Hideaway (an immersive tiki restaurant), Stella’s Lounge (serving what GQ Magazine calls America’s Best Burger), Roam by San Chez (a global street food concept) and Social Misfits (offering an eclectic and inventive offering of scratch-made waffles, craft cocktails and micro-roasted artisanal coffee).

There are hundreds of other restaurants outside the city center to explore on subsequent days. Uptown Grand Rapids, a walkable neighborhood about a mile east of downtown, is home to 70 or so eateries, including grove, which frequently tops local “best restaurant” polls, Brown Butter Creperie & Café, Forty Acres Soul Kitchen, Maru Sushi & Grill and Little Africa Ethiopian Restaurant.

A little farther afield, Ed Dunneback & Girls operates a year-round restaurant on its fourth-generation family farm. It’s one of dozens of local farms and orchards that made Grand Rapids a forerunner of the farm-to-fork movement and help us maintain our foodie-friendly status.

Insider Tip: Get the Flights of Flavor app to find awesome food and/or drink pairings at 30+ area eateries. Flights are a great way for your group to sample and share a bunch of different menu items in one sitting. Each Flight is artfully composed to make a great addition to your social media feed. And each Flight you order earns points that can be redeemed for prizes!

Have a Drink

The night is still young – at least, young enough to head to a bar or cocktail lounge for an after-dinner drink. Downtown and Uptown are each filled with diverse drinking establishments, but you might also want to check out the Bridge Street Entertainment District.

Just a 10-minute walk (or FREE shuttle ride) from downtown, Bridge Street is lined with restaurants, bars and breweries – including New Holland Brewing - The Knickerbocker, Küsterer Brauhaus, Arktos Meadery and One Bourbon. The Anchor Bar and Steel Cat Bar are friendly dive bars, while General Wood Shop caters to the LGBTQIA+ community and allies.

If you're a beer fan, consider downloading the Beer City Brewsader® app before your visit. Use it to check in to eight of 35+ local breweries during your stay (or on subsequent visits) and you’ll earn a FREE exclusive t-shirt. 

Bridge Street is part of the Downtown Outdoor Refreshment Area, so you can purchase adult beverages from participating businesses and stroll the sidewalks with them. It’s a great way to see the city sights, especially during fall’s annual ArtPrize competition, when downtown is filled with hundreds of free-to-see artworks, and World of Winter, America’s largest winter festival, which features large-scale art installations and outdoor entertainment.

Get Active

Greet the next morning with some physical activity, if you’re so inclined. Join a yoga class at Funky Buddha Yoga Hothouse. Get in a vertical workout at Higher Ground Climbing Centre. Hit the free outdoor exercise stations in Canal Park and Sixth Street Park. Rent kayaks from GR Outside and paddle your way down the Grand River. Walk or run a 2.5-mile loop around the Grand River. Play rooftop pickleball when it’s warm and ice skate when it’s cold. It’s all downtown, along with free outdoor cardio, dance and yoga classes during summer months.

Just five minutes outside the city center, you can bike/hike 18 miles of trails in Millennium Park, one of the nation’s largest urban parks, golf at The Mines, a hilly course built atop old gypsum mines, and play tennis on free courts in John Ball Park, a community greenspace adjacent to John Ball Zoo.

There are 30+ additional golf courses, hundreds more miles of hiking/biking trails and plenty of opportunities to swim, paddle, fish, snowshoe, ski and more, another 5-15 minutes away.

Go Shopping

After you’ve refortified yourself with a meal, it’s time for some retail therapy. Shop downtown, Uptown, Ada, Lowell and Rockford for one-of-a-kind boutiques and unique finds. Shop 100+ brand-name stores under one roof at both Woodland Mall and RiverTown Crossings Mall. Shop for bargains at the 70+ designer discount stores of Tanger Outlets.

If you’re visiting in November or December, be sure to visit the Christkindl Markt, a traditional European-style Christmas village lined with 60+ artisan gift and food vendors. It’s located on the grounds of the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, a year-round shopping destination for gourmet goods.

Make Something

Group classes and workshops are a fun way to fortify the bonds of friendship. Learn to make a wide range of Italian dishes at The Local Epicurean. Make your own signature scents at The Aroma Labs. Pour your own candles at Wax Poetic Candle Bar. Paint your own masterpiece while sipping soda, wine or beer at Brush Studio. Craft a keychain at or handbag at Tandy Leather. You’ll be creating mementos of your trip – even if, in the case of cooking classes, those mementos are fleeting.

If breaking something is more your style, your group may enjoy a trip to Break Room Therapy, which provides the space and the tools to break TVs, dishes, glasses, computer monitors and more. It’s a great way to let loose of the aggravations in your life!

Take a Tour

Go behind the scenes of local attractions to gain a deeper understanding of what makes the city special – so special that CNN named Grand Rapids one of its 10 Best American Towns to Visit.

Grand Rapids is Beer City USA and America’s Craft Beverage Capital, and a number of local breweries and distilleries will give you a sneak peek of their production operations. Tour operators will also transport you to multiple breweries around town for beer samples and insider information. They also conduct tours of the city, its landmarks and significant points of interest, on foot or chauffeured vehicle.

Prefer to move at your own pace? Self-guided tour subjects run the gamut from Black history and historic homes to fall colors and holiday lights.

Catch a Show

If the men in your life aren’t too keen on ballet, opera, symphony and theater, go ahead and fill your girls getaway with all the shows you can fit into three days. There’s plenty to choose from: Broadway Grand Rapids brings the nation’s finest touring productions to town. Grand Rapids Civic Theatre stages big crowd-pleasing productions of timeless plays and musicals, while Actors’ Theatre Grand Rapids focuses on more challenging off-Broadway-type material.

Grand Rapids Ballet presents a mix of classic and contemporary shows, including an annual production of The Nutcracker reimagined by The Polar Express author Chris Van Allsburg. Opera Grand Rapids and the Grand Rapids Symphony also offer a diverse mix of entertainment.

If you’re interested in a show of athletic skill, you can see women’s pro volleyball team the Grand Rapids Rise play in downtown’s Van Andel Arena from January through May. Van Andel is also the home of the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team (October-April) and Grand Rapids Gold basketball team (November-March).

Get Your Groove On

In the mood for some music? Grand Rapids is home 90+ music venues, and 30 or so of them are located downtown. Browse our Concerts and Live Music page for can’t-miss performances during your stay. Downtown’s Van Andel Arena, DeVos Performance Hall, Midtown, The Intersection, The Pyramid Scheme, St. Cecelia Music Center and GLC Live at 20 Monroe host a wide variety of touring artists, both internationally known and soon to be famous. Bars, coffeehouses and outdoor festivals spotlight local and regional talent, often without charging a cover.

You can dance the night away to live music or talented DJs at these dance clubs. And if comedy is music to your ears, check out The Comedy Project and Dr. Grins Comedy Club.

Appreciate Art

Take some time on day three to soak up the city’s creative spirit. USA Today called Grand Rapids one of the 10 Best Cities to See Amazing Art – and you can see why on a self-guided tour of downtown street murals and sculptures. Head to the Grand Rapids Art Museum to view some of the country’s best touring art exhibitions and pieces from their permanent collection of 6,000+ works.

Try to carve out three or four hours for a trip to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, a 15-minute drive from downtown GR. Named America’s #1 Sculpture Park and #2 Botanical Gardens, it showcases 200+ captivating sculptures in breathtaking natural environments, including an authentic Japanese garden and nostalgic Michigan farm garden. Take the tram tour for fascinating background information.

Plan Your Itinerary

When you browse attractions and events on this website, you can click My Trip at the top of the page to create a running list of ideas, and then share the list with your friends to create your final itinerary together.

Chicago residents L’Oreal Walton and Daria Silver collaborated with Atlanta resident Aja Powers and Daria Silver, on an itinerary for their reunion trip to Grand Rapids. (The trio attended local Grand Valley State University together.) L’Oreal likens Grand Rapids to a “mini-Chicago” that is “quick and easy to get around. It’s a good deal more affordable, too!”

If you need some inspiration for your girlfriends getaway, here’s what L’Oreal, Aja and Daria say were among the highlights of their long weekend in Grand Rapids:

Thursday

• Check in to the Amway Grand Plaza hotel – “first class all the way”
• Dinner at Caribbean restaurant The Chez Olga in Uptown

Friday

• Breakfast at Morning Belle on Bridge Street
• Coffee at the Eden Café
• Tour of the Grand Rapids Public Museum
• Lunch at the Kitchen Counter by Wolfgang Puck
• Celeste Salon and Spa

Saturday

• Shopping at Periwinkle Fog and Courage & Soar
• Drinks at IDC in the Amway Grand Plaza
• Dancing at Billy’s Lounge in Uptown

Sunday

• Drag brunch at The B.O.B. (Big Old Building) – “the drag queens were fabulous and the food was, too”

Have a look around our Things to Do and Events pages for even more ideas. Traveling with kids? See how Grand Rapids lets them Play Their Way while you and your gal pals have fun, too. Gathering the girls for pre-wedding festivities? Here are some ideas for bachelorette parties in Grand Rapids.