Family · Weekend

Spring Break in the D: A Two-Day Family Plan

Hands-on science, old Detroit's streets, Diego Rivera, a free ride above downtown, penguins, an indoor waterfall, a green-glass aquarium and square pizza.

stops: 10
length: Weekend
areas: 6

Spring in Detroit can still be chilly, so this plan leans on indoor wonders while leaving room for fresh air. Day one is Midtown's museum district, with the QLINE and the People Mover in between; day two is the Detroit Zoo, the riverfront DNR Outdoor Adventure Center and Belle Isle, ending with Detroit-style pizza where it was invented in 1946.

Day one: Midtown and downtown

09:30
Michigan Science Center
Midtown
Science you get to touch: interactive stations, live demonstrations, a planetarium and big-screen films. The kids run the experiments; you try to keep up.

A few minutes' walk west to Woodward.
12:00
Detroit Historical Museum
Midtown
Walking through the Streets of Old Detroit, kids get how this town became the Motor City. Great context for the rest of the weekend.

Just cross the street: the DIA is on the other side of Woodward.
13:30
Detroit Institute of Arts
Midtown
Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry murals in Rivera Court are packed with machines, furnaces and workers, so play a game of spot-the-machine. Then pick a gallery or two instead of trying to see it all.

QLINE from the Ferry Street stop down to Campus Martius.
16:00
Campus Martius Park
Downtown
Downtown's living room, where the kids can run around before the train ride. The park changes with the seasons; check the Downtown Detroit Partnership site for what's on.

A few minutes' walk to the People Mover's Cadillac Center station.
16:45
Detroit People Mover
Downtown
Driverless cars gliding above downtown, free, in a loop of about fifteen minutes; for kids it's basically a ride. Go around twice if they want.

Get off at Financial District and walk a few minutes to Lafayette Boulevard.
17:30
American Coney Island
Downtown
Dinner is a coney dog, the Detroit hot dog classic on Lafayette Boulevard. American Coney Island is still run by the Keros family, with its big rival, Lafayette, right next door.

Walk or take a short ride back to your hotel.

Day two: zoo and Belle Isle

09:30
Detroit Zoo
Royal Oak
The Detroit Zoo is up in Royal Oak, and its Arctic and penguin habitats are among its best-known features. There's lots of walking, so start early and give it the whole morning.

Drive south to the riverfront, to Atwater Street.
13:30
DNR Outdoor Adventure Center
East Riverfront
Michigan's outdoors, indoors: walk behind a waterfall, reel in a fish from a boat and hop on the mountain bike and snowmobile simulators. The Michigan DNR runs it in the historic Globe Building, where a young Henry Ford apprenticed as a machinist from 1880 to 1882. Last admission is 3:30.

East on Jefferson Avenue, then over the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle.
15:45
Belle Isle Aquarium
Belle Isle
Under the green glass-tile vault of this little aquarium, opened in 1904, it feels like you're underwater. It closed in 2005 and volunteers reopened it in 2012; the Belle Isle Conservancy runs it today. Not huge, but truly one of a kind.

Drive north to Conant Street.
17:15
Buddy’s Pizza – Original Conant
East Side
Gus Guerra baked the first Detroit-style square pizza here in 1946, and the original Conant Street restaurant still serves it. A fitting finale for a Detroit weekend.

Drive back to your hotel from here.

Good to know

Planetarium and film programs at the Michigan Science Center can need separate reservations: check showtimes and pick what fits your kids' ages.
The DNR Outdoor Adventure Center is open Wednesday to Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4 p.m., last admission 3:30; it's closed Mondays, groups-only on Tuesdays and closed all of September.
Belle Isle Aquarium opens only on selected days, and driving onto the island requires a Michigan Recreation Passport; check current info before you go.
Give the Detroit Zoo a full morning and expect lots of walking.