One of America’s Super Cool Cities
Expedia ranked Grand Rapids one of America’s Super Cool Cities on the strength of this midsize metropolis’ culture, accessibility, and friendliness.
Food, beer, art, music, and outdoor recreation are cornerstones of the city’s cultural life. Home to one the world’s prime agricultural regions and one of America’s best culinary school, Grand Rapids has been named Best Food City. The Grand Rapids Downtown Market celebrates the art of local food and drink, with 20+ artisan vendors, restaurants, cooking classes and events that highlight the city’s earth-to-table mastery. The Market and scores of local restaurants source ingredients from nearby family farms, which also supply area breweries, cideries and distilleries. Nationwide polls have designated Grand Rapids “Beer City USA”, “Best Beer Town” and “Best Beer Scene” – and visitors can commemorate their trip with a Beer City Brewsader® t-shirt earned by checking into eight of the 40+ breweries on the Beer City Ale Trail.
The city offers endless opportunities for creative exploration, from two distinctive art museums and numerous public art installations to ArtPrize, held every autumn.
Music-lovers can choose from a wide range of live-music venues – many of them downtown, where 200+ entertainment venues, restaurants and museums are located within a 10-minute walk of hotels.
Endless outdoor recreation options include hiking, biking, swimming, golfing, and boating – all as close as five minutes from the city center. Grand Rapids is also just 30 minutes away from the sugar-sand beaches, towering sand dunes and spectacular sunsets along Lake Michigan
