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
History · One day
Techno 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.
Techno was born in Detroit in the mid-1980s, shaped by three friends from Belleville, Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, and from here it headed out to conquer Europe. This day runs from museum cases to an unmarked label headquarters, down Techno Alley to the riverfront festival grounds, and after dark to the places where it still plays: Detroit's clubs. Do it on a Saturday, when the Submerge record shop is open.
10:00
Midtown
Start where the city tells its own story: after its 2012 renovation the museum put Kevin Saunderson's mixing board on display, and Eddie Fowlkes's handprints in Legends Plaza honor him as a techno pioneer. You also get quick context on the city this music grew out of.
Short drive north to East Grand Boulevard.
11:30
Detroit – New Center
An unmarked 1910 brick building that insiders just call Somewhere in Detroit: home base of Underground Resistance and Submerge. The main floor is Exhibit 3000, the world's first techno museum, full of sleeves, flyers and artifacts; the basement is a record shop. Mike Banks still runs it all from here.
Short drive south to Gratiot Avenue, at the edge of Eastern Market.
13:00
Detroit – Eastern Market
Derrick May opened Transmat here in 1986, and this stretch of Gratiot earned the nickname Techno Alley, with Juan Atkins's Metroplex and other early labels working nearby. This is where the Detroit sound shipped out to Europe. Spot it by the colorful chevron brick base.
Eastern Market is a few minutes away for lunch; then a short drive downtown to Broadway Street.
15:00
Downtown (Broadway St) · Closed – archive entry
Where it stood: from May 1988 to November 1989, 1315 Broadway was home to the Music Institute, the first real Detroit techno club. A juice bar instead of booze, a single strobe, and Derrick May's harder Friday sets. At the final party he played 808 State's Pacific State. The club is long gone, but it helped spark techno's second wave.
Walk down Woodward to the river.
16:00
Detroit – Downtown
Opened in 1975 and shaped largely by Isamu Noguchi, this riverfront plaza sits near where Cadillac's expedition landed in 1701. It's Movement's home: Carl Craig co-created the original festival, Derrick May gave it the Movement name, and Richie Hawtin played here as Plastikman in 2010.
After dinner, drive or catch a ride to Grand River Avenue.
22:00
Midtown (Grand River Ave)
TV Lounge bills itself as Detroit's longest-running nightclub, and its huge outdoor party patio is the signature. Depending on the night, it's techno and house or hip-hop, R&B and afrobeats, and it's a fixture of Movement weekend afterparties.
Short ride over to Holden Street.
00:30
Holden Street / New Center area
Marble Bar is a club-bar built around electronic nights and DJs on Holden Street, open since 2015 in the former Detroit Eagle space. Each night has its own listing and ticket, so check who's playing before you go.
Still going? Ride over to Milwaukee Junction.
02:00
Milwaukee Junction
Tangent Gallery is a sprawling space with a white gallery room and mezzanine plus a dark ballroom, where techno, house and ghettotech parties often run toward sunrise. Find dates and tickets on Resident Advisor.
At dawn, catch a ride back to your hotel.
8 stops
Tour Detroit: A Weekend of Guided Tours, From Skyscrapers to the Model TAlbert 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.
10 stops
Look up! A day with Detroit's most jaw-dropping buildingsA sailors' church, Yamasaki's first skyscraper, Art Deco lobbies and Albert Kahn's New Center: a whole day spent looking up.
8 stops
How to spend a whole day on Belle IsleA bridge over the river, a green-tiled aquarium, a palm house, a leaping gazelle, a marble lighthouse and hydroplane history.We built these plans from our own checked place pages. Hours and prices change, so check each place’s page before you go.
