Detroit
The world's motor capital, which lost more than half its population in sixty years, is coming back to life around its Art Deco skyscrapers, a 1913 railway station restored by Ford and an art museum where Diego Rivera painted the factory in frescoes. Facing Canada, a riverside promenade links downtown to an island park designed by Olmsted.
By PierrickLocal Guide ★8 · 14M+ views on Google MapsBy PierrickLocal Guide ★8 · 14M+ Maps views
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Detroit · Photo Bruno Storchi Bergmann / Pexels
Things to do in Detroit in 4 days
Day 1
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One of America's largest art museums, with some 65,000 works, centred on Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry murals of the River Rouge plant, plus Bruegel, Van Gogh and Matisse.
💡 Start with the Rivera court before the groups arrive, then the European galleries on the first floor. The museum is closed on Mondays. Entry is free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties and charged for other visitors: buy your ticket online. Price: $20, about €17, adults; $8, about €7, ages 6 to 17; free for residents of the three counties.
Michael Barera / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)Learn moreMore
Midtown's museum of African American history follows the journey from African kingdoms through the slave ship, slavery and the Great Migration to 1960s Detroit, Motown and civil rights.
💡 The museum is closed on Mondays and open until 7pm on Thursdays. Combine it with the DIA on the same day, as both are on the QLine streetcar route. Price: $15, about €13, adults; $12, about €10, ages 6 to 17 and 62 and over.
Michael Barera / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Day 2
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America's largest historic public market district, where Michigan growers, butchers and maple syrup sellers fill the 1891 halls every Saturday among giant murals, with the Dequindre Cut leading to the river.
💡 Come on Saturday between 7am and 10am, before the crowds, and have breakfast in one of the district's restaurants. The Saturday market opens from 6am to 4pm all year round. Price: free entry.
Michael Barera / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)Learn moreMore
The 1929 Art Deco "cathedral of finance", whose soaring banking hall glows with Pewabic and Rookwood ceramics, mosaics and Native American motifs: the finest Art Deco interior in the city.
💡 Enter from Griswold Street on a weekday, when the lobby is open, then continue the Art Deco walk to the Fisher Building, in New Center, 5 km north by streetcar. Price: free.
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A riverside promenade running several kilometres from downtown to the eastern parks, past the Renaissance Center, gardens and urban beaches, facing Windsor's towers and passing Great Lakes freighters.
💡 Hire a MoGo bike-share bike, ride down the Dequindre Cut from Eastern Market, then follow the river east to Robert C. Valade Park and Belle Isle. Come at sunset, when Windsor lights up. Price: free.
TheWxResearcher / CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Day 3
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A 400-hectare island park on the Detroit River designed by Olmsted, with Albert Kahn's 1904 aquarium and conservatory, a monumental fountain, a marble lighthouse, a beach and woods.
💡 Pedestrians and cyclists enter free over the MacArthur Bridge; by car, you must buy the Michigan state parks entry permit at the gate, $12, about €10, a day for a car registered outside Michigan. Hire a bike and ride around the island, 9 km of flat road. Price: free on foot or by bike, state park permit by car.
TracieMichelle / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)Learn moreMore
The 1913 Beaux-Arts station in Corktown, abandoned in 1988 and symbol of Detroit's decline, restored by Ford and reopened in 2024 with its Guastavino-vaulted waiting hall open to the public.
💡 The hall is open every day from 8am to 5pm, except when closed for events: check the website before you come. 90-minute guided tours, run by Detroit History Tours, tell the story of the restoration. Then have lunch in Corktown, the oldest district in the city. Price: hall free to enter, guided tours charged.
Albert duce / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Day 4
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In Dearborn, America's story told through objects, from Rosa Parks's bus to Kennedy's limousine and the Model T, with Greenfield Village next door and a tour of the Rouge factory.
💡 The museum opens every day from 9.30am to 5pm; the Rouge factory can be visited Monday to Saturday and Greenfield Village only in season, on the days posted on the website. Buy online, it is cheaper. Price: museum $34-39, about €29-34; Rouge Factory Tour $24, about €21; parking $10, about €9.
ajay_suresh / CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)"Book" (hotels) and "via GetYourGuide" (activities) are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide). Prices, times and distances are approximate.
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Good to know before you go
🍽️ Must-try food
Burgers and barbecue
brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl
the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
Mexican food
tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
Pancakes and weekend brunch
a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
Dishes to look for in the good places: Detroit.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
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The little details that make all the difference once you're there.
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