43 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in Detroit - Atlas Obscura

Unusual
Attractions
in Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Grande Ballroom

Abandoned concert venue legendary for its rock counterculture.

Allison

Added by Allison

Detroit, Michigan

St. Agnes Church and School

This Detroit ruin was once a gothic bastion of its community, but now it stands as a haunting ruin.

hrnick

Added by hrnick

Detroit, Michigan

John K. King Used & Rare Books

This sprawling bookstore spans four floors and has more than a million books in stock.

AbiInman

Added by AbiInman

Detroit, Michigan

Belle Isle Aquarium

The Beaux Art aquarium boasts a vast collection of saltwater and freshwater fish on an island in the Detroit River.

ronin

Detroit, Michigan

Michigan Central Station

A Beaux-Arts triumph set to become Ford's innovation campus

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

Detroit, Michigan

Heidelberg Project

One man's attempt to create an artistic wonder on a run-down block in Detroit.

Dylan

Hamtramck, Michigan

Hamtramck Disneyland

A wacky two-story folk-art assemblage of carved and found objects, with lights, motion, and sound now in need of financial support.

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit Children's Zoo

The bones of an old zoo crumbling in the shadow of a new one.

Added by zackofalltrades

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Atlas Obscura Itineraries

Detroit: A Weekend Guide for the Curious Traveler

Find secret vistas, labyrinthine bookstores, and eclectic public art.

Atlas Obscura Itineraries

Detroit: A Weekend Guide for the Curious Traveler

Find secret vistas, labyrinthine bookstores, and eclectic public art.

View this Itinerary

Lee Rentz/ Alamy (Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle)

Unique
Food & Drink
in Detroit

Boston Cooler

Gastro Obscura

Boston Cooler

Detroit's signature soda shake blends Vernors ginger ale with vanilla ice cream.

Gastro Obscura

City Chicken

Gastro Obscura

Meats & Animal Products

City Chicken

The Midwestern mock-poultry classic is fading away.

Gastro Obscura

rachelrummel

Added by rachelrummel

Vernors Ginger Soda

Gastro Obscura

Vernors Ginger Soda

The Detroit favorite is one of the oldest sodas in the United States.

Gastro Obscura

Added by markgrenzicki

Detroit-Style Coney Dog Pizza

Gastro Obscura

Detroit-Style Coney Dog Pizza

A greasy crossroads of history and culture.

Gastro Obscura

matthewtaub

Added by matthewtaub

See all 6 things to eat in Detroit See all 6 things to eat in Detroit

Explore Detroit, Michigan

Launch Map

Recent Detroit Activity

MrFlats wants to go to Fisher Body Plant 21

MrFlats wants to go to Detroit Industrial Gallery

ArchiTiti has been to Lincoln Street Art Park

ArchiTiti has been to Giant Boxing Arm of Joe Louis

ArchiTiti has been to Eight Mile Wall

Stories
About Detroit

The exhibition recreates the neighborhood through layered photographs.

Revisiting Detroit's Black Bottom Neighborhood, Decades After Demolition

A new installation at the Detroit Public Library conjures a lost community.

by Jessica Leigh Hester

January 24, 2019

The one, the only, coney.

Why Michigan's Favorite Hot Dog Has a New York Name

How did Coney Island get to Detroit?

A rendering of the Container Globe in action.

Staging Shakespeare in Shipping Containers

The "Container Globe" project wants to use modern materials to bring back some of the Bard's 17th-century zing.

October 24, 2017

Take a book, leave the planet.

Detroit Now Has a TARDIS-Shaped Library

Dr. Who would be proud.

by Eric Grundhauser

A section of Woodward Avenue circa 1910.

When Cyclists, Not Drivers, Led the Charge for Better Roads

In the 1800s, American roads were bad.