All eventsConcerts, festivals and markets, tonight and this weekend
Annual festivalsJazz, techno, cars and parades: Michigan’s year, festival by festival
Holidays & seasonsPumpkin season, Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, the Fourth
Sports: games & scoresLions, Red Wings, Pistons, Tigers: live scores and trophies
ItinerariesReady-made day plans, stop by stop
Places to exploreMuseums, parks, neighborhoods and icons
Metro Detroit mapWhat Metro Detroit is, and what every town is about
The Henry FordRosa Parks’ bus, Greenfield Village and the Ford Rouge Factory
RenCen: live trackerThe Renaissance Center’s past, present and future, up to the minute
Gordie Howe BridgeThe new bridge to Canada: live waits, tolls, and yes, you can walk it
ToursBy boat, by bike or on foot, with a local guide
Escape roomsOne hour, one lock and your crew
Plan a meetingVenues, hotels and what’s on in town on your dates
Detroit A–ZFrom limos to chambers of commerce: every business and service in one place
ShoppingDetroit-made brands, markets and shopping streets
Detroit with kidsZoo, science center and rainy-day ideas
Motor City cultureFactories, museums and car events
Wellness & rechargeA riverside sauna, spas, yoga and running trails
History · Weekend
Albert Kahn's skyscrapers, lunch in an old ticket office, the restored train station inside, a dinner cruise, the Model T's birthplace, the Fisher, the DIA, a ghost walk.
Nobody shows you Detroit like the people who live here and know the stories. This weekend you go with local guides: Friday is downtown's skyscrapers, Michigan Central and an evening on the river; Saturday covers auto and art history, from the Model T's birthplace through the Fisher Building to the DIA, plus a spooky downtown walk after dark. At Ford Piquette you'll also follow two Hungarian engineers, József Galamb and Eugene Farkas.
10:00
Downtown
A two-hour downtown walk with local historian David R. Webb past the skyscrapers Albert Kahn's firm designed before the 1929 crash: the Book Tower, the Hotel David Whitney and the Guardian Building, stories included. You meet at the Edison Memorial Fountain in Grand Circus Park.
The walk ends downtown; a few minutes' stroll down Woodward.
12:30
Downtown
Lunch in a former railway ticket office: the building's story goes back to 1905, and the vaulted interior still carries that old-time feel. A perfect warm-up for the afternoon's train station tour.
Drive or ride west to Corktown.
15:00
Corktown
Detroit History Tours' 90-minute tour takes you inside the 1913 station's restoration and what comes next. It starts in the Graffiti Foyer, caps at 25 guests and is fully accessible; expect some noise and dust from the ongoing work.
Drive back to the downtown riverfront near Hart Plaza.
18:00
Downtown riverfront (near Hart Plaza)
A five-deck dinner riverboat on the Detroit River, billed as the largest in the Midwest. DJ dinner-and-dance cruises, Motown revues, live bands or murder mysteries, with the Detroit and Windsor skylines rolling by. Check the cruise schedule and boarding times on the official site.
After docking, walk or ride back to your hotel.
10:00
Detroit – Milwaukee Junction
Ford's 1904 factory and the birthplace of the Model T. From 1907, in a closed experimental room on the top floor, Hungarian engineer József Galamb drew the new car while Eugene Farkas designed the tools to build it; the first production Model T was finished here on September 27, 1908. Take the 10 a.m. guided tour to see the recreated room.
Short drive to New Center and the Fisher Building.
13:00
New Center
A free, hour-long interior tour of the Fisher Building, Albert Kahn's 1928 showpiece, through spaces you couldn't get into on your own: marble, mosaics, gilt. It leaves from Pure Detroit's shop on Saturdays at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.; reserve ahead.
Short drive, or the QLINE to the Ferry Street stop, for the DIA.
15:00
Midtown
The DIA's own docents lead highlights tours through the collection in Paul Cret's 1927 Beaux-Arts building. After this morning at Piquette, Rivera Court's Detroit Industry murals hit differently. Check tour times on the DIA's site.
QLINE back downtown to Campus Martius.
19:30
Downtown
Close with Detroit History Tours' spooky downtown walk, Dastardly Detroit, built around the city's darker stories. Most downtown tours meet at 1 Woodward Avenue; you'll see the exact time when you book.
After the walk, it's a short stroll or ride back to your hotel.
8 stops
Where Techno Was Born: A Detroit Techno Day and NightTechno artifacts at the history museum, the world's first techno museum, Techno Alley, the first techno club's address, Movement's plaza and real Detroit clubs.
14 stops
Detroit in 48 hours: the classics and the brand-new citySaturday market, the riverfront, Art Deco lobbies and the newest Detroit: a two-day plan you can mostly do on foot.
10 stops
Where's Detroit's art? A whole weekend's worthRivera's murals, a bead-covered sculpture garden, houses turned into art and big street murals: a weekend from museum halls to alleys.We built these plans from our own checked place pages. Hours and prices change, so check each place’s page before you go.
