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
Free museum daysFlip the calendar: when museums let you in for free
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
TransitBuses, trains and ferries with live departures
Driving in MichiganLicenses, rental cars, the rules and the yellow school bus
Lanes and left exitsKeep right? Here people pass on the right and exit on the left
Road work and potholesOrange barrels, detours, 45 mph: driving Michigan’s work zones
Mile roads: mile zero and 8 MileWhere the city counts from, and which Mile you’re standing on
People MoverThe free elevated loop above downtown
QLINE streetcarThe free streetcar on Woodward Avenue
DTW airportRed or blue terminal? We’ll show you.Your license in MichiganRental carsSpeed limitsMiles, gallons, MPGThe Michigan left and the rulesSchool busesTraffic lights, a Detroit inventionPulled over by policeDrinking and drivingWinter drivingWildlife on the roadGas and parking
Metro Detroit Wayne County City
The core the whole metro orbits: downtown, the riverfront and Belle Isle
01 / Why it matters
Whenever you see “Metro Detroit” on a sign, this is the city in the middle of it. Detroit sits on the Detroit River, right across from Windsor, Canada, and it's been here since 1701, when French settlers started it as a fort. The downtown skyline, the stadiums, the big museums and the oldest neighborhoods are all inside the city limits.
This is where the auto industry grew into a global business, hence Motor City, and where Motown and techno were born. The late 20th century was rough: in July 1967 days of unrest shook the city, and in 2013 Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. It came out the other side in December 2014, and old theaters, high-rises and train stations have been coming back to life ever since.
Most of the metro is suburban, but the heart of Detroit is dense and walkable. The RiverWalk takes you along the water from downtown to the bridge to Belle Isle, a streetcar runs up Woodward, and old neighborhoods like Corktown and Eastern Market each have their own personality. If you only have one day in the area, start here.
02 / Known for
Motor City and Motown: the home of the American auto industry and the Motown sound, and the birthplace of techno.
The seat of Wayne County, and the city that gives the whole Metro Detroit region its name.
The city motto, Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus (“We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes”), dates from the Great Fire of 1805 and is credited to Father Gabriel Richard.
Named a UNESCO City of Design in 2015.
03 / What’s on
Sep 10, 2026, 6:00 PMFreeSwords Into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery · (sub)surface, a fully accessible group exhibition for people with visual impairments, runs Thursday, September 10 through Saturday, October 24 at Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery in Detroit during Detroit Month of Design. Free admission; the gallery is open Fri–Sat 1–6 p.m.
Sep 19, 2026, 6:00 PMOffice Space Gallery · Mosaic Productions’ collaborative exhibition (Interpretation Show #9) runs Saturday, September 19, through October 17 at Office Space Gallery in Detroit, with the opening reception on Saturday, September 19, at 6 p.m. Photographers shot from their cars and artists reinterpreted the images—40+ participants, curated by Tim Tonachella and Billy Hunter.
Oct 9, 2026, 11:00 AMDetroit Artists Market · Detroit Artists Market presents a group exhibition curated by Sydney Frakes from Friday, October 9, through Saturday, October 31, in Detroit. Installation, fiber, and painting probe nostalgia and longing; gallery hours are Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Oct 11, 2026, 10:00 AMBelle Isle Beach (cedar sauna trailer west of the Beach House) · SOMi Sauna's wood-fired cedar sauna sets up on the sand at Belle Isle Beach in Detroit on Sunday, October 11, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the skyline across the river. A 75-minute session is $29.50, booked online.
Oct 11, 2026, 11:00 AMGary L. Bryce Field/WSU Softball Stadium · Wayne State softball hosts Oakland Community College on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at 11 a.m. at Gary L. Bryce Field/WSU Softball Stadium in Detroit. Ticket info is on wsuathletics.com, Wayne State’s official athletics site.
Oct 11, 2026, 11:00 AMMasonic Temple Detroit · Masonic Temple Detroit hosts a tour on Sunday, October 11, at 11 a.m. at Masonic Temple Detroit in Detroit. Walk through the building; all ages welcome.
Oct 11, 2026, 12:00 PMWheelhouse Detroit · Wheelhouse Detroit public bike tours hosts an Architecture Tour on Sunday, October 11, at 12 p.m. at Wheelhouse Detroit in Detroit. It runs three hours.
Oct 11, 2026, 1:00 PMElmwood Cemetery · Historic Elmwood Cemetery hosts a fall tree walk on Sunday, October 11, at 1 p.m. at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit. A knowledgeable local arborist guides you through the certified arboretum.
Oct 11, 2026, 1:00 PMBeacon Park · Cider in the City hits Beacon Park on Sunday, October 11, 2026, from 1–5 p.m. in Detroit. Expect fresh hot cider, pumpkins and caramel apples from Blake’s Farms, live entertainment and family activities; you can pre-order items online by Friday at noon for pickup.
Oct 11, 2026, 2:00 PMDetroit Public Theatre · A progressive elementary school, a mumps outbreak and a community that can't agree on what's true. Detroit Public Theatre stages the Michigan premiere of Jonathan Spector's Tony Award-winning, bitingly funny Eureka Day on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at 2 p.m., at 3960 Third Avenue in Detroit. The run has 22 performances.
Oct 11, 2026, 3:00 PMOrchestra Hall · The Detroit Symphony Orchestra plays Orchestra Hall in Detroit on Sunday, October 11, at 3 p.m., with Peter Oundjian conducting and rising star Paul Huang soloing in Bernstein's Serenade. Tickets are available online.
Oct 11, 2026, 3:00 PMMarygrove Conservancy · Sonic Memory Circles, a community-centered program, runs Sunday, October 11, 2026, at 3 p.m. at Marygrove Conservancy in Detroit. With Sophiyah E. and community members, expect a guided talk, sound-based demo, and an interactive exhibition; free with RSVP.
04 / Places
ACLU of Michigan – Nancy Katz & Margo Dichtelmiller LGBTQ+ Project2966 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201
Alpino1426 Bagley St, Detroit, MI 48216
American Coney Island114 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI 48226
Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory4 Inselruhe Ave, Detroit, MI 48207
Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre2600 Atwater St, Detroit, MI 48207
Atwater Brewery — Detroit Tap House237 Jos Campau St, Detroit, MI 48207
BARDA4842 Grand River Ave, Detroit, MI 48208
Bad Luck Bar1218 Griswold St, Detroit, MI 48226
Baker's Keyboard Lounge20510 Livernois Ave, Detroit, MI 48221
Baobab Fare6568 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48202
Basan2703 Park Ave, Detroit, MI 48201
Batch Brewing Company1400 Porter St, Detroit, MI 4821605 / What to do
A nearly 1,000-acre island park in the Detroit River, run as a state park since 2014. You get an aquarium (opened in 1904), a conservatory, the James Scott Memorial Fountain and the only marble lighthouse in the country.
Official site ↗About 4.75 miles of riverfront path from near the Ambassador Bridge to the bridge to Belle Isle, with parks along the way and the Dequindre Cut greenway. On the west end, the 22-acre Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park opened in October 2025.
Official site ↗Detroit's market has been here since 1891, and at 43 acres it's the largest historic public market district in the country. The Saturday market runs year-round, surrounded by more than 150 shops and food businesses.
Official site ↗The city's great art museum. Its heart is Rivera Court, where Diego Rivera's 27 Detroit Industry fresco panels (1932–1933) show the workers of Ford's River Rouge plant; they've been a National Historic Landmark since 2014.
Official site ↗Berry Gordy bought the house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in 1959 and set up Motown's first studio, Studio A, inside. It's been a museum since 1985.
Official site ↗06 / History
On July 24, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and Alphonse de Tonty, with more than a hundred settlers, began building a fort on the river's north bank: Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit.
On June 11 a fire leveled almost the entire town by afternoon, though no one died. The city motto was born from the rebuilding.
Berry Gordy bought the house on West Grand Boulevard and started Motown inside it.
On July 23 a police raid on an unlicensed after-hours bar on 12th Street set off unrest that lasted until July 28. Forty-three people died and more than 400 buildings were destroyed. Many now call it the Detroit Uprising.
On July 18 Detroit filed for bankruptcy with $18–20 billion in debt. It exited on December 11, 2014, and the “Grand Bargain” that made it possible kept the Detroit Institute of Arts collection from being sold.
On June 6 Michigan Central Station reopened. The last train had left in 1988; Ford bought the building in 2018 and restored it.
07 / Born here
Mitt Romneypolitician, businessman · 1947
Francis Ford Coppolafilm director, screenwriter, producer · 1939
Charles Lindberghaviator, military officer, author · 1902
Diana Rosssinger, actress · 1944
Alice Coopersinger, songwriter · 1948
Steve Ballmerbusinessman, investor, NBA team owner · 1956
Ellen Burstynactress · 1932
Ralph Bunchediplomat, political scientist · 190408 / People
Population and area are Census Bureau figures (Detroit city).
Change since 2020, per the Census Bureau estimate: +1.5 percent.
