Detroit has it all!..come early, stay late - experience our city!

In 2006, Detroit was only the second city to host a Super Bowl and World Series in the same year after San Diego in 1998. Detroit is home to five major professional sports teams: Detroit Tigers baseball, Lions football, Red Wings hockey and Pistons and Shock (WNBA) basketball are musts for sports fans. Detroit’s three casinos are expanding and adding new 400-room hotels.

From stunning cultural institutions like The Detroit Institute of Arts, The Henry Ford and Cranbrook, new hotels and stadiums, theatre, entertainment, symphony and the arts, Detroit is an intriguing destination with much to offer. More than 30 new restaurants have recently opened.

The New Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), opened in 2006, and it features the edgiest new art in the region. Campus Martius Park is a 1.6 acre park downtown and a centerpiece of the city’s revitalization. Modeled after the world’s best public parks, it’s a beautiful urban space, where people can relax, eat, see concerts in summer or ice-skate in winter.

Another major transformation features a $500 million development project on the east riverfront. Its centerpiece is the General Motors Renaissance Center, boasting a renovated Marriott Hotel and a Wintergarden, a five-story glass atrium that overlooks the river offering shopping and dining.

A network of parks will enhance the Detroit International Riverfront, including the 31-acre Tri-Centennial State Park and Harbor, Michigan’s first urban state park. General Motors opened a half mile of RiverWalk and the $25 million GM Plaza and Promenade behind the Renaissance Center. 

For people who just love great design, Detroit’s automotive past, present and future distinguishes it from other destinations. From auto baron homes, such as Henry Ford’s Fair Lane estate in Dearborn, the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores and Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester; to the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, GM World in Detroit, Henry Ford Museum and Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, metro Detroit is a car-lover’s dream.

The Motown Historical Museum and the Motown sound are distinctively Detroit producing artists from the Supremes to Stevie Wonder. Kid Rock, Bob Seger, Eminem and The White Stripes come from Motown, and Detroit has been a centerpiece of jazz and blues since the mid-20^th century. In the 21^st century, great sports bars and nightclubs continue to open and attract visitors from across metro Detroit to these hip hangouts where visitors can go casual and grab a locally-microbrewed beer or get glamorous for a night at a wine bar. 

Detroit and Windsor offer a “Two-Nation Vacation.” Windsor, Ontario in Canada is directly across the Detroit River from Detroit. Detroit is also home to diverse ethnicities and accompanying traditions and restaurants including Greektown, Mexicantown and Hamtramck (Polish). Dearborn is home to a large Arab American population, and its new Arab American National Museum opened in 2005.

More outstanding shopping and recreation activities are spread across metro Detroit. Among them are quaint suburban downtowns with funky, edgy shops, outlet shopping, upscale malls with high-end department and specialty stores. A few miles north of downtown Detroit Palazzo di Bocce is home to another indoor sport--bocce balls--that can entertain visitors in their free time as well as Kart 2 Kart go-cart racing in Sterling Heights, or feather bowling at Detroit’s Cadieux Café. The Garden Bowl’s “Rock ‘N’ Bowl” at the Majestic of Detroit Entertainment complex comes with 16 lanes of glow-in-the-dark fun, live DJ’s and disco lights. Don’t miss these distinctly Detroit twists on sports and entertainment. For details, go to www.visitdetroit.com or call 1-800-DETROIT.