Detroit

Detroit, Michigan, is one of America's most remarkable urban stories — a city that was the wealthiest in the country in the 1950s, declined catastrophically through deindustrialisation and white flight, filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history in 2013, and has since undergone a genuine if uneven renaissance driven by artists, entrepreneurs and civic investment. The Detroit Institute of Arts is one of America's finest art museums — its collection of Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals (commissioned by Edsel Ford in 1933) is one of the greatest public art commissions in American history. The Motown Historical Museum, in the original "Hitsville U.S.A." studio on West Grand Boulevard, is moving and essential — the tiny Studio A where Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross all recorded is extraordinarily intimate. The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and the Greenfield Village outdoor museum in nearby Dearborn are outstanding. The Mexican Village along Vernor Highway is one of the finest concentrations of authentic Mexican culture and restaurants in the Midwest. Eastern Market on Saturday mornings is one of America's largest and best fresh food markets. Corktown (the oldest surviving neighbourhood) is the most vibrant bar and restaurant district. The Detroit Riverwalk along the river facing Windsor, Canada, is excellent. Detroit-style pizza (square, Sicilian-influenced, with sauce on top of the cheese) is excellent at Buddy's Restaurant. Belle Isle Park (an island in the Detroit River with a remarkable art deco aquarium) is free.