Detroit

Detroit was founded July 24, 1701 by the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, on the bank of the Detroit River across from what's now Windsor, Ontario. The nickname Motor City reflects its status as the heart of the automotive world, and that industry is still the reason most road trips through Michigan pass through here. What surprises a lot of first-time visitors is how compact and walkable downtown and Midtown have become — Comerica Park, Ford Field and Little Caesars Arena all sit within blocks of each other, which means a baseball afternoon and a hockey night in the same trip barely requires a car.

The music history runs as deep as the car history. Motown Records started as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, ran out of the house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard through 1968, and built a roster that included the Supremes, the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Marvelettes and the Jackson 5. The label moved its operations to Los Angeles in 1972, but the Hitsville U.S.A. house never moved, and it's a working museum today built around the actual Studio A where those records were cut.

Detroit is also a genuine sports town in a way few American cities can match — Tigers, Lions, Pistons and Red Wings all play within the city, and three of the four venues (Ford Field, Little Caesars Arena for both the Pistons and Red Wings) are close enough to walk between on a doubleheader weekend. The food culture runs on the same local-pride energy: the Coney dog, a natural-casing wiener under a beef-heart-based chili sauce, mustard and chopped onion, is a Detroit invention defended block by block.

The Motown Museum is the anchor. It's built around Hitsville U.S.A., the house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard that was Motown's headquarters from 1959 to 1968, including the original Studio A where the label's biggest hits were recorded. When guided tours run, the museum's home page says they include Studio A.

The Coney dog is the Detroit food experience, and the debate over where to get one starts at two restaurants that share a wall. American Coney Island was founded in 1917 by Greek immigrant Constantine “Gust” Keros; his brother opened Lafayette Coney Island next door in 1924. Both serve a natural-casing wiener topped with a beef heart–based sauce, mustard and chopped onion.

Beyond the Coney dogs, Detroit-style pizza is a square pie. Buddy's Pizza says on its own site that the style began in 1946 at Buddy's Rendezvous Pizzeria at Six Mile and Conant on Detroit's east side, baked in steel pans borrowed from local automotive plants, and describes it as recognizable by its square shape and crunchy, cheesy corner slices.

15 breweries within 10 miles of Detroit, 8 of them brewpubs with a kitchen.

Brewpub locations from Open Brewery DB (MIT)

10 more Highway Heads places lie within about 180 miles of Detroit in a straight line — far enough that most are a night away rather than an afternoon.

• Sandusky (Cedar Point)Ohioabout 65 mi
• LansingMichiganabout 80 mi
• ClevelandOhioabout 90 mi
• Rock & Roll Hall of FameOhioabout 90 mi
• Pro Football Hall of FameOhioabout 130 mi
• Fort WayneIndianaabout 140 mi
• Grand RapidsMichiganabout 140 mi
• EriePennsylvaniaabout 150 mi
• ColumbusOhioabout 160 mi
• South BendIndianaabout 170 mi

• Heidelberg ProjectFolk art / sculpture gardenDetroitabout 2 miles away

  Cost to see it

  Free

  When you can see it

  Any time — outdoors, visible from the road

  Nearest road

  I-94 / I-75

  Block-long outdoor art environment of painted houses and found objects.

  • Fine for most children, but look it over before you let them loose

  Read on the page we checked

• Hamtramck DisneylandFolk art / sculpture gardenHamtramckabout 5 miles away

  Cost to see it

  Free

  When you can see it

  Any time — outdoors, visible from the road

  Nearest road

  I-75

  Retiree's whirligig-covered backyard towers, now kept by a foundation.

  Read on the page we checked

• Anatomy of Death MuseumQuirky museumMount Clemensabout 20 miles away

  Cost to see it

  Costs something — we did not find the price published

  When you can see it

  Only while it is open, and we did not find its hours published

  Nearest road

  I-94

  Small museum of real medical skulls and skeletons.

  • Fine for most children, but look it over before you let them loose

  Read on the page we checked

These are things you can go and look at, not a recommendation of any of them. Oddities move, get sold and quietly disappear more than anything else we list, so check anything you are driving a long way for. Where this list says we did not find a price or opening times published, that is exactly what we mean. A blank is not “free” and not “always open”. Some sit on private land and can only be seen from the road — please do not go onto anyone’s property. Every entry links the page we read it off.

Two full days covers Motown, downtown sports venues, Midtown and a Coney lunch; add a third for Dearborn or Ann Arbor.

Motown Museum tickets are for a specific date and time and, the museum says, cannot be rescheduled or refunded. We were unable to confirm the fees for the current season because guided tours are paused; check the museum's official site for pricing when they resume.

Downtown game-day parking: the Tigers' site describes the general lots near Comerica Park as first come, first served, with advance booking offered through the team's preferred partner. The Lions' site says street closures and traffic routing limit drop-off and pick-up locations on game day. The official pages reviewed do not say how quickly lots fill, so check each team's event page before planning a downtown evening.

*Fees subject to change, please check mlb.com for updated information.

Motown Museum

Address

2648 W Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI 48208

Hours

The museum's Book a Tour page says guided tours at Hitsville U.S.A. pause from January 20, 2026, with reopening planned for Spring 2027

Price

See official site for current ticket pricing

Link

motownmuseum.org

We checked closures, operating status, reservations, opening hours, fees and seasonal opening on 2026-10-15. These change without notice — confirm with motownmuseum.org, wxyz.com, visitdetroit.com, cbp.gov, canada.ca, dwtunnel.com, mlb.com, detroitlions.com, easternmarket.org, belleisleconservancy.org and thehenryford.org the week you travel.

Straight-line distance from Detroit, not drive time.

• Coleman A. Young Municipal (DET) — 6 miles
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW) — 18 miles
• Willow Run (YIP) — 26 miles