10 Best Sights in Detroit, Michigan

The Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History, the largest museum of its kind in the world, tells the story of the black experience in America through exhibits and audiovisual presentations; there's also a theater, research library, and store.

Midtown's top cultural attraction, with more than 100 galleries, is the Detroit Institute of Arts. The DIA displays 5,000 years of art treasures, including works by van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Renoir. Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry, four immense frescoes, is a must-see.

Among Belle Isle's other attractions is the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, with one of the largest orchid collections in the country.

Belle Isle, 3 mi southeast of the city center on a 1,000-acre island in the Detroit River, is reached by way of East Jefferson Avenue and East Grand Boulevard. Here you'll find woods, walking trails, sports facilities, a 9-hole golf course, and a ½-mi-long beach. Like many other urban parks, Belle Isle is best visited during the day.

At the far end of Belle Isle, the Belle Isle Nature Zoo offers family nature programs on weekends focused on Michigan flora and fauna.

The Detroit Historical Museum hosts numerous exhibits exploring the region's history, its ties to the automobile, and the city's rich legacies in music and sports. Other worthwhile exhibits are Motor City and Streets of Old Detroit—a walk through the city's long history.

Also on Belle Isle, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum includes a Gothic Room taken from a 1912 Great Lakes luxury liner, and the pilot house from the S.S. William Clay Ford, a Great Lakes freighter. You can also listen to ship-to-shore radio messages and view the river and city through a periscope.

At Pewabic Pottery, founded in 1903, you can see where the brilliantly glazed ceramic Pewabic tiles found in buildings throughout the nation—including the Detroit Public Library and Washington National Cathedral—are made. The pottery now houses a ceramics museum, a workshop, a store, and a learning center.

Second Baptist Church of Detroit, organized in 1836, is Detroit's oldest black congregation. The church was an important stop on the Underground Railroad, and African-Americans gathered here to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation.

Located 2½ mi from Downtown via Woodward Avenue, the University Cultural Center, also known as Midtown, is a collection of art, history, and science museums and institutions clustered throughout some 40 city blocks near Wayne State University.