40 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

Michigan Central Station

A Beaux-Arts triumph temporarily saved from demolition, but with an uncertain future.

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

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

Detroit Children's Zoo

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

Added by zackofalltrades

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

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

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Atlas Obscura Itineraries

Detroit: A Weekend Guide for the Curious Traveler

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

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

Cherry Burger

Gastro Obscura

Cherry Burger

When life gives you cherries, puree them in burgers.

Gastro Obscura

Alex Mayyasi

Added by Alex Mayyasi

Vernors Ginger Soda

Gastro Obscura

Vernors Ginger Soda

One of the oldest sodas in the United States is little known outside the Midwest.

Gastro Obscura

Added by markgrenzicki

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PeachAssassin wants to go to Belle Isle Aquarium

eisenzimmerlady wants to go to Heidelberg Project

eisenzimmerlady wants to go to Grande Ballroom

dwhansen2 has been to John K. King Used & Rare Books

Beetlenthebard83 wants to go to Baker's Keyboard Lounge

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.