Things to Do in Detroit

Detroit rewards visitors who come with a specific list rather than expecting a conventional tourist experience. The city’s top attractions are genuinely world-class — the DIA collection, the Motown Museum, Eastern Market, and Belle Isle — and they sit within a compact geography between downtown and Midtown. Everything below is within approximately 5 miles of each other.

The Detroit Institute of Arts

The DIA at 5200 Woodward Ave is among the six largest art museums in the United States. The permanent collection covers 100 galleries and spans Egyptian antiquities through 20th-century American and European work. The anchor is the Diego Rivera Detroit Industry Murals (1932–33): 27 fresco panels covering all four walls of the Rivera Court, commissioned by Edsel Ford and depicting the Ford River Rouge Complex in full industrial operation. They are among the most significant examples of Mexican muralism in existence, and seeing them in person — at 45 feet wide and surrounded by the din of the museum — is a substantially different experience from photographs.

General admission approximately $14 for adults, $9 for children 6–17, under 6 free (as of 2026). Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb county residents enter free with ID. Open Tuesday–Sunday 9am–4pm; Fridays until 10pm with a late-night program. Allow 2–3 hours minimum for the full collection.

Motown Museum (Hitsville U.S.A.)

The house at 2648 West Grand Blvd where Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959 is preserved largely as it was. Studio A — the recording space where “My Girl,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” and hundreds of other tracks were made — has the original equipment, the original echo chamber (a converted bathroom), and the original handwritten session notes still taped to the walls.

Tours are guided and run approximately 60 minutes. Admission approximately $15–$20 for adults as of 2026. Open Tuesday–Saturday 9am–5pm (until 7pm on Saturdays); closed Sunday–Monday. Book at motownmuseum.org — weekend slots sell out by midweek during summer.

Eastern Market

Eastern Market at 2934 Russell St is a wholesale and retail public market operating since 1891, covering approximately 43 acres across six sheds. The Saturday retail market (6am–4pm year-round) is the main event: 250+ vendors selling fresh produce, meat, fish, flowers, cheese, and specialty food. Shed 2 is the permanent shed and runs Tuesday–Friday as a wholesale market, but retail vendors operate there on Saturdays alongside the others.

The surrounding blocks — Russell, Riopelle, and Gratiot — have an independent bar and restaurant district that is busiest Thursday and Saturday evenings. Supino Pizzeria (2457 Russell St) serves Neapolitan-style pizza from a wood-fired oven; cash only, lunch and dinner except Mondays. Eastern Market Brewing Company (2515 Riopelle St) brews on-site with a large taproom.

Belle Isle Park

Belle Isle is a 982-acre island in the Detroit River, accessible from Jefferson Ave via the MacArthur Bridge. It became Michigan’s 102nd state park in 2014. The vehicle entry fee is approximately $17 per vehicle per day for a Michigan Recreation Passport (as of 2026) — an annual pass costs approximately $11 for Michigan residents.

The Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory (free entry) is one of the oldest continuously operating public conservatories in the United States, with a glass dome housing palms and a seasonal flower display. The Belle Isle Aquarium, reopened in 2005, is the oldest public aquarium in the US (built 1904) and is free to enter. The perimeter of the island is a 2.5-mile loop road popular with cyclists and runners; rental bikes are available at the main park entrance.

Detroit Riverfront and The Dequindre Cut

The Detroit RiverWalk runs 5.5 miles from Gabriel Richard Park east of the Ambassador Bridge to Gabriel Richard Park east of the Renaissance Center. It is flat, paved, and largely off-road, passing Rivard Plaza, Milliken State Park, and Chene Park Amphitheatre. The Dequindre Cut is a 1.5-mile below-grade greenway built in a former Grand Trunk Railroad right-of-way, connecting the Riverfront to Eastern Market. The Cut is lined with murals and runs through one of the most extensive public art corridors in the city.

Sports

Detroit fields professional teams in all four major North American leagues, and they play within a few blocks of each other downtown.

Little Caesars Arena — 2645 Woodward Ave. Home to the Detroit Red Wings (NHL) and Detroit Pistons (NBA). The arena opened in 2017 and is unusually integrated into its streetscape, with covered streets connecting it to surrounding blocks. Tickets from approximately $40 for regular season games.

Comerica Park — 2100 Woodward Ave. Detroit Tigers (MLB) stadium opened in 2000. Known for the Ferris wheel and carousel in the outfield concourse. Tickets from approximately $12 for upper deck seats.

Ford Field — 2000 Brush St. Detroit Lions (NFL) indoor stadium. Tickets from approximately $80 for regular season games; significantly more for playoff or prime-time games.

Michigan Central Station and Corktown

Michigan Central Station (2001 15th St) reopened in 2024 following Ford’s $950 million restoration. The 18-story Beaux-Arts station, vacant from 1988 to 2018, now houses a Ford innovation campus with a public food hall, events space, and exhibition areas. Entry to the ground-floor public areas is free. The Corktown neighbourhood around it — Michigan Ave and the streets running north — has a cluster of bars and restaurants worth an evening: McShane’s Irish Pub (1534 Michigan Ave, cash only), Ottava Via (1400 Michigan Ave, Italian), and the Green Dot Stables (2200 W Lafayette Blvd, sliders from approximately $3 each).

Detroit Historical Museum

The Detroit Historical Museum (5401 Woodward Ave, across from the DIA) covers 300 years of city history across 250,000 square feet. The Streets of Old Detroit exhibit — a recreated 19th-century streetscape — and the Auto Industry section with original production-era assembly equipment are the highlights. Admission free to Detroit residents; approximately $8 for non-residents as of 2026. Open Tuesday–Sunday 9:30am–5pm.