48 Hours in Detroit

Detroit was recently named one of the world’s 50 greatest places in 2022, by TIME Magazine. Detroiters have always known how great this city is, but what separates Detroit as such an extraordinary place this year in particular?

Like other destinations on the list, Detroit has shown resilience throughout the pandemic (and over the last decade). This resilience is paying off with many new and exciting developments this year, including a range of restaurant and hotel openings, an expansion of the much-loved Motown Museum, and construction underway on the United States’ first electric vehicle charging road.

1. DAY 1: A Taster of Detroit
2. DAY 2: Detroit Icons

If you are taking TIME Magazine’s advice and visiting Detroit in 2022 (or if you’re a Detroiter staycationing in your hometown), you may be wondering where to start. Check out this 48-hour itinerary that will take you through the city’s newest developments that landed it on this prestigious list, as well as some iconic Detroit activities. Note: Many of the businesses featured in TIME’s article are opening later in 2022. Read below for opening dates and plan your trip accordingly.

1. DAY 1: A Taster of Detroit

Shinola Hotel, Nicole Franzen

Check into your (brand new) hotel

Over 500 hotel rooms are currently in development in Detroit with nearly half of these opening later in 2022.

The Cambria Hotel is opening in late 2022 and will have 158 rooms with touches of luxury, modernity, and Detroit quirkiness (think: Bluetooth mirrors in the bathrooms, a golf simulator, and Detroit Taco Company Bodega in the lobby).

Roost Apartment Hotel – a short-stay apartment-hotel concept with impeccable interior design – will open in early 2023. It is part of the multi-use redevelopment of the Book Tower, a historic Italian Renaissance skyscraper in downtown Detroit.

Want to visit Detroit sooner than those openings? We don’t blame you. Book a room at existing Detroit favorites like Shinola Hotel, Aloft at the David Whitney, Trumbull & Porter, or The Siren Hotel.

Dinner at Midnight Temple

One thing that puts Detroit on the map in 2022 is the diverse range of restaurant openings across the city. Begin your time in Detroit with some delicious food at Midnight Temple, a new Indian gastropub featured in the TIME’s article.

Midnight Temple, owned by Detroiter Akash Sudhakara, is located in Eastern Market and opened this spring (if you have time, explore the Eastern Market area before your meal). Start your meal with deep-fried pakoras and samosas, before devouring their south Indian masala dosas, Indo-Chinese hakka noodles, and more.

Drinks at Detroit City Distillery

If you aren’t too full, grab a drink from next door Detroit City Distillery after dinner. This popular Detroit distillery offers artisanal spirits (including whiskey, gin, bourbon, and vodka) in a cozy, brick-lined tasting room in Eastern Market.

If you fall in love with their cocktails and spirits, you can always schedule a distillery tour at their Whiskey Factory location (offered Saturday mornings and afternoons).

2. DAY 2: Detroit Icons

The Hudson Café

Breakfast at a Detroit Classic

If you’re still stuffed from last night, have a light breakfast at your Detroit hotel. Otherwise, head out into the city to eat. Have your pick from some of the best breakfast joints in Detroit: Hudson Café (downtown Woodward Avenue location with must-eat chunky monkey pancakes) or Dime Store (a famously Detroit boozy American-style brunch bar) are two top picks.

Visit the Motown Museum

Detroit is known as the birthplace of Motown music, and the Motown Museum pays homage to Motown’s past and present. The Motown Museum is one of the best museums in Detroit to visit but has been closed due to ongoing construction on phases 1 and 2 of its historic $55 million expansion project.

Plan your trip to Detroit to align with the grand reopening of the Motown Museum this summer. This includes the premiere of a brand new outdoor plaza and performance space.

Lunch at Basan

Basan, a Japanese robata restaurant, is another new restaurant opening in the fall of 2022 in the Eddystone building. The Asian street food-inspired menu will feature a selection of items cooked over an open flame.

If you visit Detroit before Basan’s opening, don’t worry. This just gives you a chance to dine at one of the other restaurants owned by Four Man Ladder Hospitality, the restaurant group developing Basan: Grey Ghost or Second Best.

Get to know the motors of Motor City

Another reason Detroit landed itself on TIME Magazine’s list of the world’s greatest places in 2022? Detroit was recently named home to the United States’ first ever electric vehicle charging road – a move that is very fitting to the city’s history as Motor City.

While the road itself won’t open until 2023, there are other ways to experience the automotive past – and present – in Detroit. Two popular options are visiting the GM Renaissance Center (the city’s most modern and recognizable skyscraper, home to General Motors’ global headquarters), or the Henry Ford (a collection of three museum experiences: Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, Greenfield Village, and the Ford Rouge Factory Tour).

Dinner

Make your final dinner stop in Detroit at another of the city’s new restaurants. 2022 is a particularly big year for Chef Maxcel Hardy, a Detroit chef who won Hour Detroit’s 2021 Restaurateur of the Year.

Hardy has multiple projects opening in 2022: Rosemary, a café with a rosemary forward menu; Byrd, a cigar lounge attached to Rosemary (both opening July 15); and What’s Crackin’, a seafood-boil restaurant that will feature fish caught in the Great Lakes (opening in September).