Mackinac Island Carriage Tours Review

This is worth it. The tour guides give you a lot of info with some dad joke humor.

Paul was great tour guide. Enjoyed Skylar on last half of tour. Keep up the good work!

Bought tickets and got there it was full and no refund. They in the friendliest way said sorry about your luck.

Once we got off at the grand hotel they would not allow us to got back on to go downtown to the ferry, my family had to walk a 1/4 of a mile to downtown!!!!

Very worth the price. You will see alot of nice scenery.

The tour guide Maggie was extremely unprofessional and her voice was horrible that gave us all headaches. She destroyed our trip.

Fun to take a horse and buggy and hear some history

Leisurely trip through the scenic island and reliving the past

We visited Mackinac Island last week of June 2015. The carriage tour is a welcome change from the automotive wagon tours in other places. They provide a guided tour throughout the island which lasts little less than 2 hours. The tour guides (and horses) are well aware about the antecedent of the locales and landmarks. You have to switch carriage in between and finally get an option to visit the Fort Mackinac, for which ticket has to be purchased separately. You can take a leisurely and quick walk back to the downtown from Fort without the carriage if you do not have any issue with walking on steep slopes.

Loved it, Mark was an amazing driver very knowledgeable highly recommend requesting mark as a driver.

We had a handicap person, the brochure we picked up didn't say anything about not being handicap accessible, we were told we had to schedule for a handicap tour, nowhere in the brochure does it state that, if the brochure would have stated that we would have made the arrangements before we arrived, instead we were told at the ticket counter that we had to call the taxi service to schedule a ride, which I was told it would be 4:30PM it was 10am when I called. Might be a really good idea to put on the brochure that you need to make prior arrangements for persons with a handicap

Fantastic and informative tour of the island, I recommend doing this first once you arrive as it shows you alot of the island and your guide will also tell you about different things to do, this is crucial if you are unsure of what to do during your stay on the island. The tours are not cheap but then again nothing on Mackinac Island is cheap.

Gives you feel of old days transportation, takes you to all the tourists spots on Island with places information.

This tour is a 2 stage tour in a horse drawn carriage. The first stage is a tour around the city and the historical sites and informative. The tour guide was a lot of fun. The second stage was through the State Park. We transferred to a lower profie carriage for this part of the tour. This was for me the highlight of the tour as there is for the most part nothing but trees. Our tour guide Brent and his team of Cash, Ebony and I don't remember the 3rd horses name. Brent was very and I mean very engaging with the people on his tour. He also was informative about the historical sites. Just to mention I found every staff member to be very friendly.

Wonderful tour! I think this is the best way to see the Island! I would highly recommend doing this! It was so much fun & a one of a kind experience!

The drivers are great, but the lady who answers the phone for the taxi service is rude and sounds drunk. She actually hung up without saying thank you or bye and when I asked questions she seemed very annoyed.

Good tours. Go early to avoid the longer lines. Use the phone to set up your tickets, since they will wait on anyone who calls in first.

Wow this one is hard and mixed to review. You board a carriage down by the docks. Well first you sign in and they give you a boarding time, and then you board. The first stage was very enjoyable. The driver was from Morocco, he's studying to be a doctor. However their practace is ti take a year break before doing their internships. So he's here driving horses for the 1st time. The horses Bill and Rocco were both beautiful. The driver was both very funny and fully understandable. The trip goes to the top of the hill out of town. To a museum and butterfly house.

The 2nd part takes a 3 horse team and goes through the Nation Forrest Park to Arch Rock before coming back to the Fort then back to museum where you can catch a ride back to town or walk. We had a young lady, actually from the ares as huide through 2nd pary, I think Brittany or something. Safly can't remember horses names either. The sights were great, the driver was horrible. She was extremely unfunny, but kept trying to be. She non stopped chattered about nonsense and degraded the Myths of the local tribes. To top it off when she did have something informative to say she mumbled. It made the 2nd have almost unbearable. I was somewhat able to tune here out and enjoy the sights. The person I was with was even more annoyed by 2nd driver.

Overall I guess 3 stars. Would I return? No.

Great tour and nice experience. Tour guide was very informative. Dogs are allowed. Small dogs that can sit on your lap our free. Bigger dogs may have to pay.

Great way to tour the island especially when you are disabled! We ended with 3 tour guides because we took a extra carriage down from surrey hill. Two of our guides were from Romania, one of which was the Transylvania region. They both were knowledgeable of the island and various facts. Our other guide was a girl from outside Kalamazoo. She was fantastic! Great personality and entertaining. We got a solo ride with her as we kept with her to go back up the hill. If you love horses this is heaven. They don't overwork the horses and only work them for about 4 or 5 hours before they are done for the day. They truly care of these animals and the drivers care for the teams they use. I would strongly recommend this adventure!

Good tour but I was assured I would be back in time for my ferry and because they made us wait twice on the tour totalling more than 40 mins I was late and had to buy another ticket to get off island.

Maggie did an excellent job as our carriage tour guide today! She was informative with a great sense of humor!

Had a wonderful tour today with Mike what a great sense of humor.

The first part was good i had a nice time but the 2nd part i was not too happy i was rush at the rock what i had only 7 mins to take a pic go to bathroom take pic with horse... i wish they would have told us we could have took as long as you wanted and if there is room you could got on the next ride or just walk 1/2 mile to the fort and i did like the guy who tried to be funny and told us how much he just loves the woods and pine or whatever tree ... Is his fav tree ... I wont go back on this i will just rent a bike it about the same price for the day and you can take your time and just ride with them you can hear all the same things... Its not much they just read the sign to you that out front of the buildings but you can do that...

This place does not take care of its horses. They are exhausted, not fed correctly, and have sores all over their body from people driving incorrectly. I HIGHLY discourage people from taking this tour. It s a sad scene

These tours are great for a solid overview of highlights of the island. We've taken them with little kids (hauling a stroller with us) and as our kids were older (tough to keep everyone together interested in the same things). Great experiences! Love to be able to see history, travel the forests, stop at Arch Rock, and hear the unique stories that have made Mackinac Island. This last time, we got off the tour at Fort Mackinac, which the kids (now 13-21) also loved!

This is a perfect experience for #ToursAroundMichigan group tours with either families or older guests who want to see a lot, but get too tired making the walk.

#LakeshoreTour #OnePureMichigan #ToursAround #NatureTours #ExperienceLife

Very frustrating! The first half I could not understand one word the driver said. Heavy accent from Transylvania. 2nd half driver was wonderful but not much to talk about in a cemetery. Also had to walk to the Grand hotel from the carriage or wait a half hour from the drop off point. Not easy for me with a bad knee, other is replaced and 2 hip replacements. I use a cane. NOT a 5 minute walk like he said. 15 for me. I am 83.

The rudest person on the island or at least top 5. She doesn't know how to communicate with the outside world. She literally is the worse. Just be careful when and if you get her as a driver. All other drivers were great even got tipped for taking me less than a mile, but this one is just terrible.

She sits all day blowing kisses to horses how hard could that be.

Love the guides!! So informative and funny!! Plenty of time to look around and see everything!

Great tour! Most efficient way to see the island by far! On top of it all, Our guide Jared was hilarious!!!

Carriage ride, tour, and history lesson all wrapped up into one. Worth every penny.

Super cool tour! The operators are great and make sure you enjoy the entire ride. Great history

This is a must do for anyone who is visiting the island. They show you all the best that the island has to offer. They also let you stop and take pictures a few times along the trip. The guides were also very helpful and informative.

The girl we had on the first half of it did speak very good English and was hard to understand.

Beautiful view, nice people, and safe carriage ride. I would do it again.

We encountered an extremely rude driver. I called in prior to planning the trip, just to make sure that they dropped and picked up the passengers at all the spots. This was because we were travelling with an elderly person who had problems walking. Therefore, every time we got off the carriage i made sure to check with the driver where do we wait to get back onto the next available carriage. So we were at one of the spots waiting (45 minutes) for the carriage, when this young driver didn t even bother to stop the carriage. He simply shouted at us saying that he had no space on the carriage for the entire group. To which I asked him if you could just take 2 of us, if not all. He literally just mocked and ignored us. It would be much better if you hire drivers who understand what kind of business they are into and atleast know what kindness is. Btw, we were 4 adults plus an infant, and he easily had space for 15 people on the carriage.

Love the people that drive you around because they know how to mess around while working and everyone has a great time.

Very scenic, although I wish we would have been taken through more of the trails behind Ft. Mackinac. They do cram quite a few people onto 1 carriage so if you happen to get stuck with a bunch of people who won't quit yammering, then you'll miss a lot of the what the guide is saying. Not enough stops along the way, so if you see something you'd like to do, then you'll have to make your way back up the hill behind Ft. Mackinac on your own - and it's a very LONG walk uphill.

Overall the carriage ride was a great way to see the island. My biggest concern though was our driver. He consistently referenced his own political beliefs, was boastful and arrogant when he touted his knowledge over the young kids, almost ran a man on a bike off the road and then preceded to call him big guy, he also spouted irrelevant information which was not about the island in an effort to educate us.

Megan, Brandt and Sam were excellent drivers and guides. Very friendly, polite and courteous. Our first visit to Mackinac Island was very memorable. Sam made sure we arrived at the Grand in high style, of course, with the help of Prince and King. My wife and I both enjoyed the beauty and the quaintness of the island and it inhabitants. Hats off to the Mackinac Island carriage tours and their guides. We will recommend you highly.

The carriage tour was one of my favorite parts of visiting Mackinac. Our in-room driver was Joey, and he was very knowledgeable about Island history. We switched to a three-horse carriage at Surrey, and Walker took us to Arch Rock and Fort Mackinac. You do only get about 8 minutes at Arch Rock, but it's enough time to snap a few photos and take in the sights. We got off at Fort Mackinac and had no trouble reboarding about an hour later. Overall, it's worth the money and a great way to see the sights.

We had two great ladies as our drivers. They were friendly, knew their information, and made the ride enjoyable. This is something I would recommend doing once while you are on the island, but it is a one time experience.

The seat was comfortable, the ride was long. Halfway through we were dumped at the Surrey Hill shops and not allowed to continue until everyone else in our tour had arrived..that left us stuck for an hour. Tour has some history, but visually boring...trees and tombstones. If time or money is limited I would avoid it. Rent a bike and just read the signs.

This was a great way to see the island and to get all the history. Well worth the money.

Wonderful vacation ride and our guide was so friendly!

Not the cheapest at like $30 a person but for a 90 minute tour it was well worth it! Dylan was a great tour guide and we got to enjoy a peaceful, beautiful ride through Mackinac Island while he pointed out sights and gave us interesting facts about them! Definitely recommended!

Lots of fun. Four different drivers and all made me laugh out loud. The best scenery. The most relaxing ride.

Very fun the tour guides are very informative and funny. We loved it

This tour is informative, fun and relaxing. You get to see much more of the island than you would if you were on foot. And you have the bonus of a knowledgable guide to tell you "inside" stories about the island and it's history. Great tour.

Wonderful time. Great drivers and beautiful horses. Very enjoyable day. We learned so much. Highly recommend the tours. Breezy and her three horse team the Grubs were tops. Our first driver was nice too, but I don t remember her name. Maybe Amy or Anna. Her horses names were Paul and Daren. Made for a pleasant day. Be sure to ask Breezy about how PK scared Grub!

Lots of fun. Our guide was funny, friendly, and informative. Great way to see the island without too much walking. Would definitely recommend!

Had a good time on tour. Wished it was a little longer but was very informative. It does hit all the main stops. Learned a lot from our guide. Would definitely recommend over biking or walking if going with small kids or elderly. Love that there are no reservations so its first come first serve.

Boring as all hell. Unless you love nature, I would not advise you to go on this stupid ride. Spent an hour touring some stupid woods and listening to a tour guide talk about a woodpecker

I would 100% recommend a private tour. You can choose from 1 hour, 1.5 hours or 2 hours. Each tour gives a basic ride around the island and historical information provided by the personal guide. However the private tours offers opportunities for additional questions and stops. The difference in time for the private tours (besides cost) is where all the carriage will stop or go to to in that time. Our guide, Stephanie, was very knowledgeable and friendly. The horses, Sonny and May, were fun to watch as apparently Sonny is a bit lazier and needed to be coaxed to work lol. We chose the 1.5 hour tour which was the perfect amount of time to see all of the island-old Victorian homes and history, shops, Grand Hotel, Arched Rock, cemeteries, etc and to end at the fort. We additionally stopped at the Grand Hotel s carriage house and got to see all of the old carriages - very interesting look at how transportation options have changed. Considering the amount of walking or biking needed to get around- would highly suggest the carriage tour to see the majority of the what the island has to offer!!

We were married on the island August 1st. I contacted Mackinac island carriage to transport my guests and to go on a private tour after our ceremony. Every taxi and carriage were right on time. My guests were so surprised and excited to be taxied to their destination by horse and carriage. My groom even more excited (my gift to him) for our personal tour, and although our private tour became very public with an hour of people clapping and cheering and congratulating it was so very special and meant so much to us of the kindness that was shown on our special day. Our celebration became Mackinac celebration and it will forever live in our hearts. Our driver was so kind and informed when we asked questions. This was the best hour ride we have ever had, and the carriage so vintage, which matched our entire wedding theme. Thank you again for making our special day like a fairy tale. John and Nicole Sims.

If you call MICT to schedule a tour or request a taxi and are greeted by a rather gruff sounding female on the phone do yourself a favor and hangup and call back later. I had fantastic luck in scheduling 3+ taxis this past weekend by calling the number on the side of the carriages. Each of those times a very friendly man spoke with me and sent me a taxi quite promptly. But on two occasions, one while trying to schedule a private carriage tour for 12, I spoke with a woman that had the most awful customer service I've experience in quite some time. It was really quite bad. She offered no alternatives, no help, was not friendly and ultimately made me not want to spend any money with this company. Unfortunately, they are the only game in town for taxis on the island. My family had a wonderful weekend on the island. It's just a shame that someone employed to deal directly with potential customers in a 100% tourist destination can be so rude. If you are able bodied bring your bike. Or contact a taxi by walking up to one. It works...in-spite of what their website says.

Disappointing. Carriage ride through town was about 15 minutes with a few stories of interest which you could only hear from the first 3 rows due to the poor quality of the sound system (and our guide talked too fast). Lots of cheesy jokes. Then they dropped us off at an ice cream-and-merchandise depot to wait for a carriage change, in hopes that you would buy a T-shirt to relieve your boredom. It was poorly stocked with uninspiring merchandise. Then you rode for an hour through the woods, saw 2 scenic overlooks, a few historic stories, more cheesy jokes - at least you could hear them this time as there was a better sound system on this carriage. From here they would take you back to the merchandise depot for another carriage change back to town (but no more narration), or you could get out and walk 5 minutes back to town. We got out. If you are very sedentary with absolutely nothing else to do, you might enjoy this; otherwise, I found it overpriced and underwhelming.

Get off the strip. Bikes are probably a fun option if you have the entire day but if you are a little short on time this is a must.

The ride and the facts were the best part of this facility. The drivers were very nice in their own way. The had some gokd jokes but about half of them were really dull. The carriage s are very comfortable and the trip is kjnd of bad for kids because they will get bored quick and will get kind of squrmy. Overall gokd trip but not quite the best

Eva was a great driver, as was Harvey. They both made the part of the ride with them very pleasant and enjoyable. Harvey was especially jovial and made his part of the tour very informative and enjoyable.

Great tour. Our guide Eden was excellent. She is really entertaining and nice to listen to. Thanks for a great experience.

Packed like sardines I actually refused to go. Offered our ticket to someone else, already paid for, they didn't want it so it went on the ground for someone else to pick up maybe. No thanks, caught the next boat out.

Sad tour.. really not worth 30$. The island itself doesn't have anything great. The 1 st museum visit itself was so sad.. it was a shop .they show u cementry ...the skull cave which doesn't look like a skull. And the other things like butterfly pavilion macinaw fort were all paid and again not worth paying. Everything was made business.. everything was over priced...

My tour guide - Kendra - was awful. She was talking non stop for an entire hour and still did a poor job of providing information on important places of interest. Her sense of humor was horrible, she did not give us a chance to stop and look at or take photos of important points of interests and she humiliated a guest in front of the entire group. Management was made aware of how she handled her tour and assured me I would receive a follow-up phone call regarding the situation and that has not happened. The tour is way over priced for what you get. You might better walk or ride a bike and be able to spend more time and enjoy the few things the tour takes you on and the sites are not that far from main street. They guides do not add that much information for what it costs. I would not recommend the carriage tours to anyone.

I would 100% recommend a private tour. You can choose from 1 hour, 1.5 hours or 2 hours. Each tour gives a basic ride around the island and historical information provided by the personal guide. However the private tours offers opportunities for additional questions and stops. The difference in time for the private tours (besides cost) is where all the carriage will stop or go to to in that time. Our guide, Stephanie, was very knowledgeable and friendly. The horses, Sonny and May, were fun to watch as apparently Sonny is a bit lazier and needed to be coaxed to work lol. We chose the 1.5 hour tour which was the perfect amount of time to see all of the island-old Victorian homes and history, shops, Grand Hotel, Arched Rock, cemeteries, etc and to end at the fort. We additionally stopped at the Grand Hotel s carriage house and got to see all of the old carriages - very interesting look at how transportation options have changed. Considering the amount of walking or biking needed to get around- would highly suggest the carriage tour to see the majority of the what the island has to offer!!

I felt really bad for the horses having to pull people all day back and fourth, up and down the hills but our tour guy gave Sarah and Jamie plenty of breaks. They even gave them a bucket of water once we stopped at the Arch Rock. I wish we could have given them a snack like some carrots, apples or something like that. I think the water guy should have some snacks ready for them when they take their 10 minute break or at least a quick little brush out. I m sure the horses would really love that.
Our tour guy said that Sarah and Jamie were roughly around 12 and 13 of age and he has been working with the same horses for six years now.

Had an awesome tour with this company! They were so patient with my mom you needed a little extra help!

My favorite activity on Mackinac Island. I never tire of it. Informative and a good way to see some of the island highlights.

Second time to Island so this time we did carriage tour, another unique way to check out the island

Great experience!! The tour was informative and fun especially since it was the first time on the island for my family, it was a good way to start off the day and see the main points. It took about an hour and a half, and we only stopped/got off at the Arch for a couple minutes. Our tour guide, Nick, was nice and funny. In terms of COVID precautions, they require masks while boarding and had plastic dividers to separate the rows, so I felt safe since my family all sat in one row.

They swap out the carriages with padded seats only 30 minutes into the tour and you spend the next hour on hard benches. Would not have done it if I had known. Guides were entertaining.

Great people, interesting information, great way to get around Mackinac Island!

we to tours both were very good both our guides were very knoledgeble and funny great time

Good way to get some history and sights in of the island. Best feature is they drop you off at top of Fort Mackinac and you don't have to climb that mountain to get to the entrance. Confused? You'll know what I mean when you see it. It's also a big bonus for the kids if they get to see the horse leave a road apple.

This carriage ride is so worth it. Explore the island on carriage. Then get drop off at the fort and explore. After the fort, take the next carriage back to the start.

If you can;t walk long distance, this is an great option. It is hop on hop off horse carriage

It was a nice experience, but was a little confusing. We didn't know the taxi's cost anything, let alone cash only because no one mentioned it and it wasn't on the card. It was a little awkward when we had to pay and had no cash. Luckily it was worked out but maybe make a point of telling people.

Cleanliness - Good
Customer Service - Good
Internet Connection - NA
Convenience to highways - NA
Value $ - Great
Food Options - Fair

The tour was a very nice tour with pleasant drivers - they tell you enough about the island but there could be a lot more history included - the horses are all well kept and you can tell the drivers love their job - I think it's worth it and is a good way to see the island if you don't have a lot of time there - they were very efficient with time - all of the lines moved very quickly.

Good tours don't waste your money on a private tour they suck

We had such a great time . It's was are family first carrggie ride every. I was blast last Sunday. Had such so wonderfully time . The driver was really sweat . The hores were so beautifully too.

On time relaxing transportation with friendly drivers

No visit to Macinaw island is complete with a carriage trip!

The tour guide was pretty rude about people being quiet in the carriage ride. Made the whole carriage stop. I didn t like that. He pointed out that it needed to be quiet but how are you telling people to be quiet when people are discussing the history of the island. If the people want to talk they should be able too. The speaker is so loud anyways so even if people are talking you can definitely hear it through the super loud speaker in the carriage.