Detroit Travel Guide
For details of what to do and see in Detroit check out our Detroit guide to car hire in Detroit.
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One the one hand, Detroit ought to be one of the top city destinations in the USA for travellers visiting the country: the once wealthy city has long been the home of the Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler car manufacturers and revels in the nickname of "Motor City", but that's not the end of it either. In the 1960s and 1970s Detroit was the cultural centre of the musical world: birthplace of the Motown sound forged by Berry Gordy Junior, and his many acts such as the Temptations and Marvin Gaye.
However, Detroit, saddled with vast unemployment in the 1970s and 1980s lost its way somewhat, and was, until very recently was a place that travel agents only recommended to difficult customers. But now, after a long and painful period of regeneration,Detroit is well and truly back on its feet, and the heavy industry that floated away is finally returning and bringing jobs that don't require the misuse of a chemistry degree.
Detroit's urban renewal has seen large areas of the city redeveloped as leisure areas, and the city now has a nightlife that it can be proud of, as well as a number of unique museums and plenty of other interesting sights for tourists to see.
Detroit's city fathers cleverly made sure that all of the museums and galleries in town such as the Taft Collection, and the Detroit Museum of Art are all located conveniently together in the so-called Cultural Centre, which is thankfully, pretty much crime free. The Henry Ford Museum is also worth visiting, as it includes many different exhibits including every single car made by the company. If all the history gets to be too much for you, then a trip around Detroit Zoo is well worth the entry fee.
Founded in 1959, Motown grew from a back room in Berry Gordy Jr's house in northern Detroit into being the largest independent record label in the world with artists such as Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and The Jackson 5 amongst many others topping the charts everywhere.
The house, which still has the unique "Hitsville USA" sign above the porch has now been converted into a museum dedicated to the music and musicians who combined to create the Motown sound, and almost any visitor to the city with a bit of sparkle in their soul should make the trip north from downtown in order to see the museum, if only to hear the glorious music that is piped into every room, and has people dancing in the streets outside.
