The two must-see museums are the Henry Ford (in nearby Dearborn) and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

The Henry Ford contains acres of indoor and outdoor American history, focusing on great inventions and American know-how. You can see the first Model T, the actual Wright Brothers’ bicycle shop where they invented the airplane, Edison’s laboratory, the limousine in which John F. Kennedy was shot, and Edgar Allen Poe’s writing desk. The museum also has perhaps the finest historical car collection in the world. The complex (20900 Oakwood Boulevard, Dearborn, 313-271-1620, www.thehenryford.com) also contains an IMAX theater, and it is the starting point for new tours of the nearby Ford Rouge Plant, which makes the Ford F-150 pickup.

Located in Detroit’s university cultural district, the Detroit Institute of Arts (5200 Woodward, 313-833-7900, www.dia.org) is undergoing a massive renovation through 2007. The advantage of the construction for busy travelers is that this fine arts museum, the fifth largest in the country, has temporarily consolidated all of its best holdings in only a few rooms. You can take in Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Picasso, Bruegel and other old masters in about an hour, then visit the most famous attraction, the gigantic Diego Rivera murals called Detroit Industry, which take up an entire hall. With their panoramas of muscle and steel on the assembly lines, Rivera painted these works as a tribute to the American auto industry and the working man. In this age of globalization, some may see the murals as a poignant elegy.

The small but mighty Motown Museum (2648 West Grand Boulevard, 313-875-2264, www.motownmuseum.com) is housed in the original “Hitsville USA” building Berry Gordy, Jr. lived in when he started the Motown record label in the early 1960s. Artifacts from the Temptations, Supremes, all the Motown singers—even Michael Jackson’s celebrated white glove—are here. Also preserved is Gordy’s little apartment over the studio, and the studio where so many hits were recorded. It’s hard to believe that an idea so big started so small.

Architecture buffs should look out for the bright arts and crafts Guardian Building (500 Griswold Street), a 1928 downtown skyscraper that was recently remodeled and is a darling of preservationists. You also can’t miss the round towers of the 72-story Renaissance Center, aka Ren Cen, General Motors headquarters. Runners should try jogging on the Riverwalk, behind the Ren Cen.

Baseball fans may want to pause at the empty Tiger Stadium, still looking as fresh as it did when it closed in 2000. And truly hidden, but popular among European tourists, is the Heidelberg Project (on Heidelberg Street between Mack and Vernor, in a run-down neighborhood on Detroit’s east side; www.heidelberg.org). Artist Tyree Guyton put gigantic dots on rotting buildings and abandoned cars, then assembled junk and thousands of dolls to make a statement about poverty and despair in crumbling neighborhoods. The city dismantled parts of it in 1991 and 1999 after the neighbors complained, but it came creeping back as Guyton’s artistic fame grew.

There is not much shopping downtown, but you can find good gifts at Pure Detroit (500 Griswold Street); original ties at Pangborn Design (400 Renaissance Center); collectible pottery at historic Pewabic Pottery (10125 East Jefferson Avenue); stylish hats at Henry the Hatter (1307 Broadway Street); and used books at the enormous John L. King Used and Rare Books (901 West Lafayette Boulevard).