GR Makes List Of Places To Go ‘Before The Crowds Hit’

Apparently Jetsetter.com feels a bunch of crowds are about to descend on Grand Rapids soon. And with ArtPrize firing back up, they may be right.

Travel web site Jetsetter put Grand Rapids on their list of '7 Places To Go in 2020 Before The Crowds Hit'.

In fact we're number one on that niche list, outranking places like Hokkaido, Japan; Montenegro, Croatia and Hood River, OR.

You may be asking yourself, 'What crowds?' but keep in mind, ArtPrize returns to full speed this fall, and Jetsetter includes that in their assessment of Beer City, USA:

Midwestern cities are having a real moment, but somehow, Grand Rapids has managed to fly under the radar. Art hounds should swing by in the fall (mid-September to early October), when ArtPrize, a massive public art show, takes over the entire city. Yes, the crowds will be thick, but you can also escape to the world-renowned Grand Rapids Ballet, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Meyer May House, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, just outside the city. You can also arrange for a private tour of the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s archives for a better understanding of the area’s role in the creation of mid-century modern furniture. After seeing the art, foodies can kill an afternoon snacking and dining at Downtown Market, which serves as an incubator for budding chefs, or imbibe in one of the dozens of local breweries like New Holland, Atwater, Founders, and Harmony Hall. The relatively flat land also offers biking and golf, along with guided paddling excursions in area waterways with operators like GR Paddling.

Wow. They just talked about ArtPrize like it was a good thing. They've never tried to drive up Monroe during rush hour with thousands of pedestrians walking around aimlessly, have they?

Anyway, it's always nice to get recognized in a positive way, and with international travel about to get tight, this may send a few folks our way.