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
Classic · Weekend
Art Deco tile, the Fist, the RenCen, the free People Mover and QLINE, Rivera's murals, the reborn train station and Belle Isle: Detroit's big classics in a weekend.
Your first Detroit weekend isn't about hidden corners; it's about the places everyone wants to see, for good reason. Saturday you cover downtown on foot and by People Mover, all the way to the river. Sunday the QLINE takes you to Midtown, then Corktown and Belle Isle round out the afternoon. Both rail lines are free, but a car helps for the back half of Sunday.
09:30
Downtown
Start in the middle of downtown: Campus Martius goes back to the city plan drawn after the 1805 fire, and its rhythm shifts completely between workdays, weekends and event days. Look for the Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, and the skating rink in winter.
A 5-minute walk to Griswold Street.
10:00
Downtown
Wirt C. Rowland's Art Deco skyscraper, finished in 1929, is brick outside and marble, ceramics and wild color inside, with Pewabic tile in the lobby and on the facade. The lobby is open to visitors, the office floors aren't, so this is where you look up at the ceiling.
Two minutes on foot to Woodward Avenue.
10:45
Downtown
Marshall Fredericks' green bronze has sat outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center since 1958, a golden sphere in one hand and a small family, standing for human relationships, in the other. Get close to feel the scale, then step back to see it with the building.
One minute to the Jefferson Avenue intersection.
11:00
Downtown
Robert Graham's 1986 monument, an arm and fist suspended in the air, channels Joe Louis's power, and its meaning reaches well beyond the ring. It stands at a busy intersection, so take your photos from the marked crossings and pedestrian areas.
Three minutes down to the river.
11:15
Detroit – Downtown
Hart Plaza opened in 1975 near where Cadillac landed in 1701, and Isamu Noguchi designed much of it, Horace E. Dodge Fountain included. It's free, open around the clock, and home to the city's biggest festivals.
About 6 minutes east along the river to the Renaissance Center.
12:00
Downtown
The RenCen opened in 1977, and its center tower, at 727 feet (221.5 meters), is Michigan's tallest building. It's being reimagined: under Bedrock and GM's plan, two towers would come down, apartments would join the hotel in the middle tower, and the river would get a park and a marina. Follow it live on our RenCen page.
A few minutes out to the water.
13:00
Riverfront
The Riverwalk gave the river back to the city: promenades, parks and places to pause, with Windsor and Canada across the water. It's a route, not a single sight, so pick a comfortable stretch and leave time to linger.
Back to the RenCen and the People Mover's Renaissance Center station, Level 2 of Tower 200.
15:00
Downtown
One full lap in the air: the 2.9-mile loop circles 13 stations in about 15 minutes, free. Every station is a little museum, with Pewabic tile, Venetian glass mosaics, bronzes and a neon sculpture. Launched in 1987 and long mocked as the train to nowhere, it's now a downtown symbol.
10:00
Downtown
Board the QLINE on Woodward: 12 stops, 3.3 miles from the river to New Center, a car about every 15 minutes, and free. Rail came back to Detroit's main street in 2017 after a 61-year gap, running on batteries without overhead wire on most of the line.
Get off at Ferry Street, the line's museum stop; the DIA is a few minutes' walk.
10:30
Midtown
In Rivera Court, the Detroit Industry murals put factory workers and industrial power at the center of the museum. The collection runs from ancient civilizations through African and Asian art to American and European painting, so wander into an unfamiliar gallery too, not just the famous canvases.
About 10 minutes by car to Corktown.
14:00
Corktown
Opened in 1913 and empty for decades, the station reopened to the public in 2024 after Ford's restoration. The waiting room's scale and stone surfaces recall the ambition of early rail travel; today it's an innovation and public hub, and no scheduled trains leave from here.
About 20 minutes by car east and over the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle.
16:30
Belle Isle
A whole island in the Detroit River, about 982 acres: woods, shoreline, an aquarium, a conservatory and the James Scott Memorial Fountain. Late afternoon is prime time for the skyline view; just remember the island's attractions keep their own hours.
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.
9 stops
The Dad weekend: cars, barbecue, bowling and a little luckThe Model T's birthplace, a ballpark, whiskey, barbecue, bowling and The Henry Ford: two days Dad will be talking about for years.
9 stops
Hop on, hop off: a whole day riding the QLINEFrom the riverfront to New Center along Woodward: a statue, public squares, a movie palace, modern art, city history, Art Deco and Motown.We built these plans from our own checked place pages. Hours and prices change, so check each place’s page before you go.
