Location: Detroit
Top Things to do in Detroit
Top 10 Museums in Detroit, Michigan (MI)
With a vibrant, revitalized downtown, it’s revival time in Detroit. Renowned
as the birthplace of Motown and techno, the city boasts one of the largest
theater districts in America — as well as four pro sports teams, set just blocks apart. The city’s transformation includes a dynamic culinary scene, featuring everything from high-end dining with international tastes to Coney dogs. Visitors also love Detroit’s outstanding shopping, exciting outdoor activities, and world-class cultural attractions.
Restaurants in Detroit
1. International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2 reviews
2. Inner State Gallery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
3. Detroit Gallery of Metals
4. Detroit Institute of Arts
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2,928 reviews
Considered to house one of the best art collections in the United States, the Institute showcases everything from mummies to modern art and African masks to Monets in its outstanding collection of over 65,000 works. Don't miss the General Motors Center for African American Art, a part of the DIA which showcases 400 pieces, in various media, by African American artists.
Reviewed By MidwestKathM - Detroit, United States
We love the DIA! As longtime members, we visit several times a year. And attend the Friday Night Live often as well as talks, senior activities, and films every month. Lots of terrific art to see in their permanent collection...including the Diego Rivera murals, Caravaggio, Italian Renaissance, John Singer Sargent, Whistler, Van Gogh, John Singleton Copley, Kehinde Wiley, Abstract Expressionists, African-American works, Asian antiquities, and Egyptian mummies. And then there are the excellent temporary exhibitions and the special exhibitions. During these COVID times, we wanted to show our support after the museum reopened. The DIA is perhaps the safest art museum we've visited in the last 4 months. Advance timed tickets, masks required, temperature check, contactless entry, social distancing, galleries grouped with one entrance, one exit, hand sanitizer.
5. The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 538 reviews
Experience the Original Model T Factory Visiting the Piquette Avenue Ford Plant is a unique experience-it's the oldest auto plant open to the public anywhere in the world. Almost unchanged since Henry Ford's day, the plant is a three-story New England-style mill building. Each floor is divided into sections by the original metal fire doors, complete with the shadows of Henry Ford's "Positively NO Smoking" stencils. The old plank floors are worn from the 12,000 Model Ts built on them, so wear appropriate shoes for your visit. The plant is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a designated National Historic Landmark and a Michigan State Historic Site. Walk the worn wood floors and touch the brick walls where Henry Ford and his team of automotive pioneers developed the car that led to an automotive and social revolution. See Henry Ford's office as it was in 1908 when he was on the cusp of fame. And learn why it still matters today. See a selection of rare Detroit-built cars from the first decade of the 20th century and learn their fates.
Reviewed By HughC239 - Toronto, Canada
From the outside its a small, somewhat unassuming museum but the magic lies inside with the superb tour guides who bring the place to life with their impressive knowledge of the stories, vehicles and history of Henry Ford, the Ford motor company, the Piquette plant and the birth of the auto industry. By far our favourite and most memorable tourist attraction during our visit to Detroit. We left with a profound new respect for Henry Ford and all that he accomplished. Kudos to the hardworking and dedicated staff at this little gem.
6. Dabl's Gallery
7. Russell Industrial Center
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
The Russell Industrial Center in Detroit, Michigan, is a complex of seven buildings that cover 2.2 million square feet with studios, lofts and shops and serves as a professional center for commercial and creative arts. By contrast, Chicago's Merchandise Mart covers over 4 million square feet. But the RIC, as it is known locally, is an example of Detroit's urban development with more than 150 tenants, including architects, painters, clothing designers, photographers, musicians, filmmakers and art galleries. Located at 1600 Clay Street, it was designed and built by the noted architect Albert Kahn in 1915 for the Murray Body Corporation, supplier of bodies for the Ford Motor Company and the third largest auto-body company in the United States. In 2003, Dennis Kefallinos purchased the property and converted the space into art studios and lofts as part of Detroit's revitalization and urban renewal. The RIC is a popular destination for people seeking original or unique merchandise in an indoor marketplace. It's a fascinating place to browse and observe craftsmen at work. Or listen to budding musicians. Among the tenants are designer Stacey Ellis of B. Black Apparel, artist Madeline Stillwell of the Detroit Industrial Project, Russell Gallery, Helderop Pipe Organs and Motor City Movie House. There are booths for architecture, antiques, woodworking, clothing, furniture, sewing, photography, printing, candles, performing arts, health food, music and kitchen and bath remodeling.
8. Detroit Industrial Gallery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
Studio Gallery tour of Detroit artist Tim Burke. Tims Sculpture Garden is created with parts of salvaged material from 15 Historic landmark Buildings that have been torn down in Detroit over the last 30 years,an amazing array of sculpture made with metal from the J.L Hudson's building the Detroit Collage of Law and ten tons of Granite from the renovation of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
9. Detroit Children's Museum
10. Detroit Historical Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 447 reviews
The Motor City Exhibition, where visitors see how a Cadillac is assembled, is just one of the many interesting displays at this museum dedicated to telling the story of Detroit.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
The Detroit Historical Museum is to Detroit what the Chicago History Museum is to Chicago. Located at 5401 Woodward Avenue in Detroit's Cultural Center Historic District in Midtown Detroit, it chronicles the history of the Detroit area from cobblestone streets to 19th century stores to the automobile assembly line to toy trains to fur trading in the 18th century to Motown music to Detroit's development as a major industrial center and the Automobile Capital of the World. The original museum opened in 1928 in a one-room suite on the 23rd floor of the Barlum Tower, now the Cadillac Tower. The current museum was dedicated on July 24, 1951, the 250th anniversary of Detroit's founding. Today, it houses over 200,000 items. Among the most interesting exhibits are The Motor City exhibition, which traces Detroit's development in the auto industry and includes an operating assembly line; the Frontiers to Factories exhibit, which depicts Detroiters at work in the city's first 200 years, from 1701 to 1901, as it grew from a French fur trading post to a major industrial giant; and The Streets of Old Detroit exhibit, a recreation of the old cobblestone streets and shops and stores dating to the early 1900s. Also Doorway to Freedom: Detroit and the Underground Railroad, which allows visitors to simulate the journey of a runaway slave traveling through Detroit to Canada. And Detroit: Arsenal of Democracy, which explores the city's role in World War II. If you've never visited Detroit before and you don't have much knowledge about the city's history, the Detroit Historical Museum is sure to give you a good education.
