Start your Detroit tour at DIA, the city's crown jewel. The Detroit Institute of Arts opened at its current location, near downtown, in 1927, during the post–World War I auto-industry boom that made Detroit one of the world's wealthiest cities. The museum's Beaux Arts building is massive, with more than 100 galleries, but if you choose carefully among the collections, you can be in and out in two hours. Check out the works by Degas and Cézanne and the collection of pieces by African-American artists; also, definitely see Diego Rivera's expansive mural known as Detroit Industry. Finally, spend a few moments to reflect in the Kresge Court, an inner courtyard and café.

DIA locates you in the center of Detroit's cultural scene, and there are other museums worth visiting in the area, notably the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, which houses the world's largest exhibit on African-American culture.

For lunch, walk — yes, people walk in Detroit, at least in this neighborhood — to a popular creperie nearby, Good Girls Go to Paris, or check out Wasabi Korean & Japanese Cuisine in the same building.

• 1. Detroit Institute of Arts
  5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Mich. 48202; 313-833-7900 42.359115-83.065277 dia.org
• 2. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
  315 Warren Ave. East, Detroit, Mich. 48201; 313-494-5800 42.3560942-83.0661063 maah-detroit.org
• 3. Good Girls Go to Paris
  15 East Kirby St., Detroit, Mich. 48202; 877-727-4727 42.3605-83.0659 goodgirlsgotopariscrepes.com
• 4. Wasabi Korean & Japanese Cuisine
  15 East Kirby St., Detroit, Mich. 48202; 313-638-1272 42.360539-83.065946 wasabidetroit.com