Doing Detroit

If you’re thinking of Doing Detroit AKA The D; the least expensive way to start your Motor City adventure is by taking the Smart Fast bus from the airport to downtown. The bus costs $2 and takes about 1-1/4 hours. Upon arrival, you can take a D Dot Bus or jump on the People Mover to get around. Detroit is a pretty compact city and can be easily walked or cycled.

Most of Detroit’s cultural venues are downtown, such as the Detroit Institute of Arts and MOCAD. A lot of museums are closed on Monday so check before visiting. Detroit offers some good freebies to look at or up in awe of while oohing and aahing such as the Guardian building, Hart Plaza, Detroit Historical Museum, Pewabic Pottery and the Detroit Public Library.

If music is your thing, take the Dexter bus over to Motown AKA Hitsville USA where Marvin Gaye, The Temptations and many others recorded their legendary Motown sounds.

COFFEE AND A BET

Corktown is an up and coming section next to the downtown area on Michigan Avenue, known for its unique shops, restaurants, coffee joints and bars. Astro Coffee is a cool place with no Wi-Fi but great coffee and conversation. The Detroit Institute of Bagels is a light airy space where you can chill out, get some work done while enjoying one of many flavored bagels like Everything or Pretzel Jalapeño. A few streets from there is Lucky Detroit-Coffee & Espresso, a cozy coffee shop on top of a modern barbershop. They have tons of little macarons with more unique flavors than I’ve ever seen in Paris such as Lavender, Pop Rox and Cookie Dough.

To add some risk and excitement to your stay are Detroit’s three casinos: MGM Grand, Greektown Casino and Motor City. Unlike Las Vegas or Atlantic City, where casinos are all in a heap, in Detroit, they are spread out. The MGM Grand is close to the Rosa Parks Transit Center in Corktown. It has tons of slot machines to try your luck on, starting from a penny. If you win, you can spend your prize money on a steak at Wolfgang Puck. Otherwise, the food court offers good selection of tasty food outposts.

If you’re a sports fanatic you can watch the Lions play football, the Pistons play basketball, the Tigers play baseball and the Red Wings play hockey.

FOODIE DETROIT

Greektown offers much more than just the casino as there are Greek restaurants and a few tavernas where you can enjoy traditional Greek cuisine such as gyros, grape leaves and lamb chops. A visit to the Astoria Pastry Shop on Monroe Street will expose you to about 100 different sweets/pastries ranging from sweet and sticky Greek baklava in flavors such as pistachio, chocolate or plain/traditional to cookies, cinnamon buns, cakes, muffins, macarons and ice cream.

Another foodie-centric area in the D is the Eastern Market, a large outdoor farmers market on Russell Street between Mack and Gratiot Avenues. Mexicantown also offers all types of Mexican cuisine on Vernor Hwy and Bagley Ave.

INNOVATIVE DETROIT

A little bit outside of the D in nearby Dearborn is the must-see Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and the Rouge Plant Factory Tour. The blue and white Ford logo present on cars and trucks zipping by is a big part of Detroit (Michigan) life and the global auto market so when in Detroit “Do Ford.”

A Smart Fast bus will get you there from downtown in about 30 minutes with a quick change at the Dearborn Transit Center. Allow about two hours for the plant tour and two to three hours for the museum. At the factory plant, you can see Ford F150 trucks assembled on both a manual and precision automated assembly line—an intriguing experience!

No matter how you Do Detroit you’re in for a good time and WOW air can get you there. WOW air offers cheap flights to Detroit from all over Europe four times a week. Find your flight at wowair.com