Detroit named one of many Midwest’s coolest cities by Travel & Leisure

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Travel & Leisure journal praises Detroit’s arts, meals, inns and riverfront in a brand new record highlighting town’s rising attraction.

“Incredible art, great dining and river views.” That’s a part of the outline main off a Travel & Leisure article, calling Detroit an “underrated” metropolis that everybody ought to go to as soon as.

“You can’t keep Motor City down for long,” the article follows.

The City of Detroit’s inns, “thriving restaurant scene,” and structure get main kudos in a March 1 Travel & Leisure story from Iona Brannon.

Brannon wrote that Detroit, Michigan’s hottest metropolis, is “slowly building a reputation as one of the coolest places to visit in the Midwest, with a thriving culinary scene, gorgeous outdoor spaces, and a rich history to boot.”

The city is “blossoming once more,” Brannon writes.

“In other places, people try to recreate this authenticity, and in Detroit, we just have it,” Jeanette Pierce, founder and president of City Institute, a company that specializes in educational walking tours of Detroit, told Travel & Leisure.

The article gave Detroit the usual nods to auto manufacturing and being the birthplace of Motown, where legendary performers like Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Temptations got their start. It’s also known for venues where many Blues greats, like John Lee Hooker, performed. The city is also a center for R&B, gospel, hip-hop and techno.

Detroit was also noted for its riverwalk and the restored Michigan Central Station, as well as its “rich arts and culture scene,” specifically the Detroit Institute of Arts’ Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals, Motown Museum and Eastern Market.

Hotels mentioned include the boutique Siren Hotel that “feels like stepping into Hollywood’s Golden Age,” noting that its Bar Chenin is worth visiting. Bar Chenin made the 2026 Detroit Free Press/Chevy Detroit Top 10 New Restaurants & Dining Experiences list.

More: Looking back at every Free Press Restaurant of the Year

Other highlights mentioned include legendary Cliff Bells jazz club, Motorcity Wine Bar, Spkerbox and Father Forgive Me.

Restaurant-wise, Brannon included popular Detroit favorites Ladder 4 Wine Bar, Roses Fine Food, Baobab Fare, Marrow and Warda Pâtisserie, all in different areas of the city. Several were named Restaurant of the Year or a Top 10 New Restaurant by the Detroit Free Press.

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow her on X, previously Twitter: @SusanMariecooks. Subscribe to the Free Press. Subscribe to the Eat Drink Freep newsletter for insider scoops on meals and eating in metro Detroit.