Things to do in  Michigan

Named the number one thing to do in Detroit by TripAdvisor reviewers, the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is home to one of the largest and most significant art collections in the US. The DIA features more than 100 galleries that showcase 65,000 works, from prehistory to modern day, including Diego Rivera’s 1930sDetroit Industry Murals.

Enter a world of creativity at LEGOLAND® Discovery Center Michigan. Located in Auburn Hills, this interactive LEGO®-themed entertainment park offers the ultimate indoor adventure for kids and features attractions and activities including rides, games, build-and-play areas, workshops, and a 4D cinema.

It may look modest from the outside, but the Motown Museum in downtown Detroit—known as Hitsville, USA—created a tidal wave of a legacy in the music industry whose impact is still felt today. Visitors can step inside legendary Studio A, the spot where songs like the Supremes’ “Stop in the Name of Love” and other chart-toppers were recorded.

Detroit’s Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation—part of the Henry Ford, the largest indoor and outdoor museum complex in the US—traces the Industrial Revolution and rise of the automobile in history. Notable artifacts include the chair where Abraham Lincoln sat when he was shot and the bus where Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat.

While Mackinac Island may be known for its car-free streets and fudge shops, most of the island is in nature. Mackinac Island State Park offers visitors adventure along high limestone bluffs and rocky trails, through verdant forests to historical landmarks, including one of the country’s few surviving American Revolutionary War forts.

Running for 42 miles (68 kilometers) along the southern shores of Lake Superior, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was the first designated national lakeshore in the United States. While it’s known and named for the striped sandstone cliffs that jut out of Superior’s clear-blue waters, this land also offers adventure along beaches, sand dunes, forests, waterfalls, and some of the wildest shorelines in America.

Greenfield Village is the 80-acre (32-hectare) outdoor portion of the Henry Ford, the largest indoor and outdoor museum complex in the United States. The sound and smell of the village steam train signals that you’re stepping back through 300 years of Detroit and American history, with more than 80 historic structures.

On the Detroit River, Belle Isle Park is a 985-acre (399-hectare) island with amazing views of Michigan and Canada. This state park has a network of walking trails snaking across the island, leading to beaches, historic sites, attractions, museums, and more. Though most attractions are open seasonally, Belle Isle Park is a year-round space for enjoying the riverside scenery.

This small park in the heart of downtown Detroit is a meeting place and hub for all kinds of activity. It features an ice rink and light displays in the winter, a sandy beach in the summer, and other seasonal and social events. Whenever you’re in town, stop by to see what’s happening in the park.

The Detroit Tigers bid farewell to their Corktown stadium and relocated to Comerica Park in 2000; since then, fans have celebrated the team’s American League pennants and Central Division championships. The ballpark also draws crowds for concerts, but no matter the event, it always offers great views of the Motor City’s skyline.

No matter your age, you can indulge your curiosity and discover the wonders of science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. Exhibits are so entertaining, kids won’t even realize how much they are learning.

Learn about the Motor City’s automotive heritage at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, one of the world’s oldest surviving car factories, where the Model T was developed and assembled. At this National Historic Landmark, you can marvel at the collection of rare antique cars, see Henry Ford’s office and workshop (aka the Secret Experimental Room), and walk the original assembly floor.

Once the historic Traverse City State Hospital, the Village at Grand Traverse Commons is now a community that centers on design and the human experience. Home to residences, shops, and restaurants connected by trails and gardens, the village rethinks how America looks and lives.

Mackinac Bridge (aka “Big Mac” or “The Mighty Mac”) has earned its nickname: It’s one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. Connecting the Upper Peninsula with mainland Michigan, from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace, this engineering marvel spans 8,614 feet (2,625 meters). It’s a destination in its own right, and attracts both birders and photographers.

Set along the Detroit Riverwalk in the heart of the city’s downtown, Hart Plaza is one of the most vibrant open-air cultural hubs in Detroit. The space and its futuristic Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain (known locally as Dodge Fountain) were designed by artist Isamu Noguchi in the 1970s, and its two open-air amphitheaters and wide square host festivals and performances for thousands of attendees each summer.