Detroit is the largest city on the United States and Canada border, it invented the mass-production motor industry and the modern middle class along with it, it produced Motown, and it has been through a collapse and a partial recovery that are both more complicated than the headlines about either. It is also a genuinely rewarding place to visit, and the reasons are mostly indoors.
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What Is Here
THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS HOLDS DIEGO RIVERA'S DETROIT INDUSTRY MURALS AND THEY ARE THE BEST REASON TO COME. Twenty-seven fresco panels wrapping an entire courtyard, painted in 1932 and 1933 after Rivera spent months watching the Ford Rouge plant, and he called them the best work he ever did. The DIA is one of the most significant art collections in the United States, with a Van Gogh self-portrait that was the first to enter an American public collection. WHEN THE CITY WENT BANKRUPT IN 2013 CREDITORS PUSHED TO SELL THE COLLECTION, and a coalition of foundations, the state and the museum raised the money to prevent it, which is why the paintings are still on the walls. Residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties get in free; everyone else pays. WE HOLD NO PHOTOGRAPH OF IT.
THE MOTOWN MUSEUM IS THE LITTLE HOUSE ON WEST GRAND BOULEVARD, AND IT IS ALSO ABSENT FROM OUR IMAGES. Hitsville U.S.A. is an ordinary two-storey house where Studio A operated almost around the clock from 1959, producing the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and the Temptations. The studio is preserved. IT IS SMALL, TOURS ARE TIMED AND IT SELLS OUT: book ahead rather than turning up. It has been expanding, so check what is open.
THE JOE LOUIS FIST IS THE SECOND IMAGE AND IT IS NOT A SPORTS MONUMENT. A twenty-four foot bronze arm and fist suspended on a pyramid frame at Jefferson and Woodward, dedicated in 1986 to a boxer who grew up here and who in 1938 beat Max Schmeling in front of the world. It is deliberately ambiguous and it has been argued about since the day it went up, which is the point of it.
THE HERO IMAGE IS THE RENAISSANCE CENTER, the glass cylinders on the river that were built in the 1970s as a statement about the city's future and became General Motors' headquarters. GM has announced it is moving out, and the complex's future is being decided, so what is open to the public there changes: check rather than plan around it.
THE RIVERWALK IS THE BEST THING THE CITY HAS BUILT THIS CENTURY AND IT IS FREE. Several miles of landscaped riverfront with a carousel, repeatedly voted the best riverwalk in the country, looking across at Canada. It connects to the Dequindre Cut, a former railway line turned greenway, and to EASTERN MARKET, a six-block public market from 1891 whose Saturday market is the largest historic market district in the United States.
YOU LOOK SOUTH TO CANADA AND THAT IS NOT A MISTAKE. Because of the river's course, WINDSOR, ONTARIO IS SOUTH OF DETROIT, and it is the only place where you travel south from the United States into Canada. You cross by the Ambassador Bridge or the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. CARRY A PASSPORT: this is a real international border with full checks in both directions, and queues at peak can be long.
THE THIRD IMAGE IS A QLINE TRAM IN THE RAIN, which is the honest street-level picture. The QLINE runs 3.3 miles up Woodward Avenue between downtown and New Center, and the PEOPLE MOVER is an elevated loop round downtown. Both are small; the city is built for cars.
HENRY FORD'S MUSEUM AND GREENFIELD VILLAGE ARE IN DEARBORN, twenty minutes west, and together they are one of the largest history museums in the country, holding the bus Rosa Parks sat in and the chair Lincoln was shot in. Dearborn also has one of the largest Arab American populations in the United States and the best Lebanese food in the Midwest.
When to Go
June to September for the riverwalk, Eastern Market and the festivals, with September the best.
October for colour in the Metroparks and comfortable walking.
DECEMBER TO MARCH IS COLD AND GREY WITH LAKE-DRIVEN SNOW. Detroit does not get Cleveland's extreme lake effect bands, but it is cold, windy and snowy, with temperatures regularly below minus five Celsius and a wind off the river and the lakes that makes it feel much worse.
Spring is slow, wet and cold until late April.
Several major draws are indoors, which makes this a better winter city than its reputation suggests: the DIA, the Henry Ford, Motown and the market halls all work in any weather.
Getting There
By air, Detroit Metropolitan is about 30 minutes west and is a Delta hub. THERE IS NO RAIL LINK; take the airport bus or ride-hailing.
By train, Amtrak's Wolverine runs from Chicago to the New Center station several times a day, which is genuinely usable, unlike most Midwestern Amtrak services.
By car, on Interstates 75, 94 and 96.
From Canada, the tunnel bus crosses from Windsor, which is the easiest way to do the border without a car.
YOU WILL WANT A CAR OR A RIDE-HAILING BUDGET. The QLINE and People Mover cover a narrow central corridor, the bus network is thin, and Detroit is physically enormous with long empty stretches between districts. This is the single biggest practical difference from a European city of the same population.
Is Detroit Safe for Women?
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States and no country-level warning. Its guidance concentrates on the practical differences a British visitor meets: entry requirements and ESTA, the cost of healthcare without insurance, extreme weather including hurricanes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts between June and November, and wildfires, which the FCDO describes as a danger in many dry areas, particularly in canyons, hills and forests.
HERE IS THE HONEST VERSION, BECAUSE EVASION WOULD BE WORSE THAN SPECIFICITY. Detroit has had one of the highest violent crime rates of any large American city for decades, and the numbers have fallen substantially in recent years to their lowest in more than half a century. That crime is overwhelmingly concentrated in particular residential neighbourhoods, is largely not directed at visitors, and is separated from the visitor districts by geography rather than by luck. WHAT THREATENS A TOURIST IS PROPERTY CRIME AND CAR THEFT.
STAY AND SPEND YOUR TIME IN DOWNTOWN, MIDTOWN, CORKTOWN, GREEKTOWN, EASTERN MARKET, NEW CENTER AND THE RIVERWALK, OR ACROSS THE WATER IN WINDSOR. Those districts are busy, policed, and entirely ordinary for a woman alone in daylight. The crucial point is that Detroit is a very large, low-density city and THE GAPS BETWEEN DISTRICTS ARE LONG, EMPTY AND POORLY LIT, so the rule is not to wander on foot between them: use a car or ride-hailing for anything that is not within one district. That is different advice from a compact European city and it is the thing visitors most often get wrong.
CAR THEFT AND BREAK-INS ARE THE REALISTIC RISK. Use attended garages rather than surface lots, leave nothing visible at all, and do not load a boot in public.
WINTER COLD AND WIND ARE THE PHYSICAL HAZARD. Exposed skin is at risk in a river wind below minus ten Celsius, and the downtown blocks channel it.
The Detroit River is cold, fast and busy with freighters, with unfenced stretches along parts of the waterfront outside the Riverwalk proper.
Carry your passport for the border, and expect real checks both ways.
The Detroit Packing List
A hard continental winter, a river wind, and a lot of time indoors and in cars.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the foundation of a Detroit winter bag, because the pattern here is short cold walks between heated buildings and cars, which is exactly where wool beats cotton: it does not hold the sweat you generate in an overheated museum and then chill you in the car park. From November to March add a heavyweight merino base layer.
A Columbia Powder Lite hooded jacket for winter over a Columbia Fast Trek II fleece, and in summer the fleece alone for over-cooled interiors.
A merino beanie and insulated winter gloves, covering ears, because the river wind takes those first.
Insulated waterproof snow boots from December to March, for slush at kerbs and unshovelled stretches.
Not linked and worth packing: YOUR PASSPORT, because Windsor is a ten minute crossing and a real border; A SCARF OR NECK GAITER THAT COVERS YOUR FACE, which we give unlinked because the only such entry in our affiliate register has an unconfirmed product identity; A RIDE-HAILING APP SET UP BEFORE YOU ARRIVE, which is a practical necessity here rather than a convenience; YOUR TIMED MOTOWN MUSEUM BOOKING; and A LARGE WATER BOTTLE. The US is almost entirely card-based and tipping is expected at 18 to 20 per cent.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Detroit
Emergency numbers: 911 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile. Calls are answered locally and dispatchers will stay on the line. For non-urgent police matters many cities also run a 311 information line.
The useful safety information here is geographic and it is different from a compact city's. Detroit has had one of the highest violent crime rates of any large American city for decades, with the numbers now at their lowest in more than fifty years, and that crime is heavily concentrated in particular residential neighbourhoods and is not aimed at visitors. WHAT THREATENS A TOURIST IS CAR THEFT AND BREAK-INS. STAY IN AND MOVE BETWEEN DOWNTOWN, MIDTOWN, CORKTOWN, GREEKTOWN, EASTERN MARKET, NEW CENTER AND THE RIVERWALK, and note the structural point: THIS IS A VERY LARGE, LOW-DENSITY CITY AND THE GAPS BETWEEN DISTRICTS ARE LONG, EMPTY AND BADLY LIT, so use a car or ride-hailing for anything outside a single district rather than walking between them. Use attended garages, not surface lots, and leave nothing visible. WINDSOR, ONTARIO IS SOUTH OF DETROIT, the only place you go south into Canada, crossed by the Ambassador Bridge or the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel: CARRY A PASSPORT and expect full checks both ways. WINTER COLD AND RIVER WIND put exposed skin at risk below about minus ten Celsius, and downtown blocks channel it, so cover ears and face. THE MOTOWN MUSEUM IS SMALL, TIMED AND SELLS OUT, so book ahead. THE RENAISSANCE CENTER'S FUTURE IS BEING DECIDED as GM moves out, so check what is open. THE QLINE IS 3.3 MILES and the People Mover a downtown loop; there is no airport rail link. The Riverwalk and the Dequindre Cut are free. The Detroit River is cold, fast and carries freighters.
US State Department travel advisory: there is none, and this is not an omission. The State Department issues travel advisories for other countries, not for the United States itself, so no US advisory for this destination exists to link. In its place, the Government of Canada advice for the United States gives an equivalent third-country assessment.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits. The FCDO names no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States. The same advice also covers Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Main hospital: Detroit Receiving Hospital on St Antoine Street is the region's Level I trauma centre with a 24 hour emergency department, and Henry Ford Hospital on West Grand Boulevard is the other major central option. Dial 911 for police, ambulance or fire, and note that if you have crossed into Windsor, 911 works in Canada too. This is the single biggest practical difference for a visitor: there is no public health system, an emergency room visit without insurance can run into thousands of dollars, and an ambulance is billed separately and is not free. Comprehensive travel insurance with a high medical limit is not optional in the United States, and you should carry your policy number and the insurer's 24 hour number somewhere you can reach them. Urgent care clinics handle anything short of an emergency far more cheaply and quickly than an emergency room, and are the right choice for a sprain, an infection or stitches.
Official health authority: the CDC travellers' health pages, the US federal health authority for visitors, covers the US public health guidance, with the National Weather Service the authority for wind chill and winter storm warnings
Embassy contact: the United States is the host country, so there is no US embassy to contact. Your own country's embassy is in Washington DC, with consulates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Miami and Boston. Find yours before you travel and save the number.
Official tourism authority: Brand USA, the national tourism marketing body, covers Detroit and Michigan visitor information, the QLINE and People Mover and the Eastern Market trading days
Takeaways
Go for the Rivera murals at the DIA. They are the reason.
Do not walk between districts. The gaps are long and empty.
Book Motown ahead. It is a small house and it sells out.
Carry a passport. Canada is south of here, ten minutes away.
Solo women safety assessment: Detroit rewards a visitor who understands how it is shaped, and the honest account matters more here than in most places. The city has carried one of the highest violent crime rates of any large American city for decades, and those numbers are now the lowest they have been in over fifty years; the crime is concentrated in specific residential neighbourhoods, it is not directed at tourists, and the districts a visitor actually uses are a different world. Downtown, Midtown, Corktown, Greektown, Eastern Market, New Center and the Riverwalk are busy, policed and completely ordinary for a woman on her own in daylight, and eating alone in any of them is unremarkable. THE STRUCTURAL POINT IS THE ONE PEOPLE GET WRONG, and it is about density rather than danger: Detroit is physically enormous and thinly populated, so the distance between two pleasant districts can be a mile of empty, unlit, half-vacant blocks. The rule is therefore not which neighbourhood but which mode: walk inside a district, and take a car or ride-hailing between them, including in daylight. Have the app set up before you arrive. What actually happens to visitors is car theft and break-ins, so use attended garages rather than surface lots and leave nothing at all visible. 911 REACHES POLICE, AMBULANCE AND FIRE free from any phone and works across the border in Windsor; Detroit Receiving Hospital on St Antoine Street is the Level I trauma centre. THE UNITED STATES HAS NO PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE FOR VISITORS and insurance is essential. In winter the physical risk is cold: a river wind below minus ten Celsius puts exposed skin at risk within a few blocks and the downtown streets funnel it, so cover your ears and face.
Reading On
Detroit is the Great Lakes border city and the Cleveland packing list covers the other great lakeside industrial city two and a half hours east, which shares the winter wind and much of the history. South, the Cincinnati packing list covers the Ohio River and a far older street pattern. West, the Chicago packing list is the capital of the Midwest and is reachable by a usable Amtrak service from here, with the Minneapolis packing list covering the coldest major American city. Across the river, the Toronto packing list is four hours into Ontario and the Niagara Falls packing list about the same, with the Canada packing list covering the country you can see from the Riverwalk. For the country, the United States travel guide for women carries the transport, the health insurance question and the regions in full. For why wool handles short cold walks between overheated buildings, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
