DETROIT, TRAVERSE CITY AND MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN
Located on the banks of the Detroit River between Lake Erie and Lake St Clair, Detroit's industrial disasters culminated in it filing for bankruptcy in 2015. But that was then; this is now. Detroit today is a vibrant waterfront city that Lonely Planet voted ‘one of the hottest to visit' and Time Magazine rated in 2022 as one of the world's top cities.
Along the Detroit riverfront, which used to be dominated by ageing warehouses, the four-mile Detroit RiverWalk (recently voted the No 1 riverwalk in the country for the second year in a row by USA Today), is now enhanced by parks, plazas and pathways, giving access to a variety of outdoor activities, including walking, running, biking and fishing. It also offers great views across the water to Canada.
Many new businesses – such as the tech and clothing industries – are booming and they, along with new, top-quality restaurants, craft brewers, hotels, shops and art galleries are attracting a new younger crowd of residents and visitors.
But Detroit is still best-known for its motor industry, which has now been adapted to changing times by focusing more on electric vehicles, and for the Motown Museum at Hitsville USA, which has produced such stars as the Supremes, the Jackson Five and the Temptations and which is currently being expanded.
Around 255 miles way to the north-west, Traverse City, overlooking Grand Traverse Bay, which feeds into Lake Michigan, has been voted one of the Ten Most Beautiful Towns in the World by Select City Magazine as well as being listed among the US's Top Ten Summer Trips and Top Five Foodie Towns. Among its dining options are a number of restaurants and cafes with picnic tables overlooking Grand Traverse
Bay, and the surrounding region not only has 60 miles of sandy beaches but also numerous wineries, two distinct wine trails and about a dozen microbreweries, brewpubs and tap rooms.
The port city of Marquette, the largest community on Michigan's scenic Upper Peninsula, has such attractions as Presque Isle Park, jutting out into Lake Superior and featuring a marina, walking trails, picnic tables and barbecue pits, two popular beaches, a lighthouse, America's largest wooden dome, The Superior, hosting football matches and other events, and a ski mountain.
GETTING THERE: Delta (delta.com) flies to Detroit from Heathrow year round and also flies on to Traverse City.
DETROIT TODAY IS A VIBRANT WATERFRONT CITY THAT LONELY PLANET VOTED ‘ONE OF THE HOTTEST TO VISIT' AND TIME MAGAZINE RATED IN 2022 AS ONE OF THE WORLD'S TOP CITIES.