The Ford Rouge Factory tour is an excellent experience and one worth taking if you are a car…read moreenthusiast or simply a history buff. If for nothing more, you can appreciate this tour for its showcase of manufacturing history. After all, the Ford vehicle is the father of automotive history. On the tour you'll learn about much of the owner's early labor standards and America's rich automotive industry history including defining moments like the establishment of labor unions, integrating technology on the assembly line, and community engagement. What makes this tour special is the building is not just a museum, but a real working truck factory located at the Ford Motor Company's Dearborn Truck Plant. On the tour you'll be able to view the vehicle assembly area. I recommend purchasing tour tickets online to see if discounts are available. Overall, a very good tour worth taking.

An interesting, EPCOT-like factory tour…read more Bought a combination for the Ford Rouge Factory Tour and the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. My favorite part of the tour was talking to the security guard who gave more insight into the assembly line. Took a 15 minute bus ride from the museum to the factory. Check the schedule as the buses do run on time. The factory tour has five stations. A movie, a laser Ford truck assembly show, the observation deck, the factory, a smallish room filled with a collection of Ford cars over the past century. The movie glossed over the beginnings of Henry Ford's inventions with an emphasis on the creation of an assembly line to cut down the time to build a car from 12 hours to 93 minutes. The moving part assembly line in Highland Park was super efficient. By breaking down the process to 84 steps and having stationary workers build each car, it really streamlined the process. This dropped the price of the Model T from $850 in 1908 to $260 in 1925 making the luxury vehicle affordable for an average family in America. Workers were paid $2.50 a day, but as the company became more profitable (and many workers were quitting due to boredom with monotonous tasks) the wages were increased to $5 a day. Ford had many conflicts with the Automobile Unions (UAW). Fights were physical and bloody. Graphic images released in the news in the 1930s turned public opinion against Ford. In the 1940s, he held out signing a Union contract until his wife Clara Ford threatened to leave him unless he signed a contract to stop the bloodshed. The 1941 UAW gave the workers the best benefits and wages at the time. The "assembly" laser 360 movie show was very EPCOT-like. Interesting, but not informative. The guide at the observation deck was very good. This is one of two places where photos were allowed. The elevated walk over the assembly line was self guided. Since they are very behind on construction, shift work is done on the weekends. Interesting to see the F-150s being assembled station by station. Spoke to a security guard who gave us insight into the safety gear needed, the energy efficient design of the building and how strikes and the union still advocate for workers salaries, working conditions and benefits. Otherwise, it would have been more like walking through another area with labels but limited explanation. No photos allowed here. The building is very interesting. No air conditioning, but the high ceilings allow heat to rise and the green roof with living plants make the building more climate controlled and energy efficient. Teams work in groups of 8 at each station. Lunch breaks are taken at the same. Key to know if you want to see the assembly line in action. The latest strike brought back more benefits. Workers wear eye protection and hearing protection. So interesting to learn more after asking questions. The last part of the self guided part of the tour brings you back to the main building for a view of cars like the Model A, the Thunderbird and the Mustang. Make sure to check the schedule to get a bus to go back to the Museum after the Ford Rouge Factory Tour is completed. An interesting tour, but not the best factory experience that I have taken.

As someone who grew up in Detroit, touring Michigan Central Station was something I had been…read morelooking forward to for a long time, and it absolutely exceeded my expectations. The restoration work is incredible. It's hard to put into words how amazing it is to see such an iconic Detroit landmark brought back to life after sitting vacant for so many years. Our tour guide, Joe, was fantastic. He was knowledgeable, engaging, and clearly passionate about both the history of the station and the city itself. He shared a great mix of historical information, restoration details, and stories that made the experience even more memorable. Whether you're a lifelong Detroiter, a former resident like me, or just someone interested in architecture and history, this tour is well worth your time. Seeing the transformation of Michigan Central Station firsthand was truly special, and I highly recommend it.

We toured Michigan Central Station. The guide was very knowledgeable and personable. She added…read moreher own flair to the tour. It was fun having a few trivia questions. We liked the fact that we had ear pieces to amplify her voice since there were many visitors to the station as well as big open spaces. Lots of history. It's a beautiful structure inside and outside.

Wow this place- Eloise- we finally got to check it out. I'm glad we went for the haunted houses!!…read moreIt was amazing- they were the longest and coolest ones I've ever walked through. They utilized the hospital in most of the attraction, which made the whole experience even more creepy! I went for a private event, but it opened this weekend. I recommend everyone to go check out this historical site. So much has happened here in the past, you can feel the grounds energy as you pull into the parking lot. Looking up at those old windows, you can just feel someone or something peering from one! Go check out Eloise Asylum! The best haunted attraction in the state of Michigan!

I'm not much for haunted houses but I have to say- I really enjoyed myself here. The pumpkin patch…read moreis a nice edition.

Took a tour last week and had such a great time…read more The staff is always so friendly and excited when you're hopping on the boat. They offer snacks, alcoholic beverages and drinks. Definitely recommend.

I've been on a private river "cruise" on one of the DIamond Jack boats twice now. They're a fun…read moreevent, but the boats could really use a little bit of an upgrade. They are OLD and I don't think any upgrades have been made in well over 50 years. It wouldn't take much to spruce them up a little bit. All things aside, the Detroit River still provides some amazing views. It's pretty amazing how close the boats get to hitting the Belle Isle bridge when they pass under it. As you're approaching, it looks as if the boat is going to hit the bridge. Makes for a bit of a thrill. From reading other reviews on here, it appears they do historical tours. I'd love to give one of these a try next summer!

I was a little sticker shocked at first. $55 to visit three bars on an old school bus. While on the…read morebus, we learned that our $55 was actually supporting transportation for kids to school and after school programs. Definitely changed my tune. Our tour guide was able to share the history of prohibition in Detroit as well as shared the unique history at each of our stops. I would definitely recommend to try this tour.

My 1st experience with The Detroit Bus Co. was unforgettable! Boy, do they know how to entertain…read moreyou! We had 3 stops on this tour and music/trivia on the bus between each stop! Check-in was easy and the bus was packed. We met at Checker Bar to start the journey. It was a well lit area, with paid street parking. A part of each ticket sold helps provide bus rides for students in Detroit that could use the support. Take a look at their planned events and get on board!

We just spent a fantastic couple of hours with Joe, who is funny, smart, insightful, wry and…read morepassionate about the city where he'd lived in and around his entire life. Our two hour tour went by too quickly and we wished we'd taken the four hour option instead! Joe was not only a terrific tour guide, he worked with with our schedules. We really appreciated getting a real insider's glimpse of a fascinating, complicated city. Cannot recommend Joe and Backseat Detroit tours more highly!

My husband, sister-in-law, niece, and I (age range 7-31) took a tour with Joe of Backseat Detroit…read morein January of 2014 and the experience was unforgettable for all of us! Joe served as a treasure trove of knowledge regarding the city as he provided interesting facts, historical data (and even hilarious jokes) while we traversed neighborhoods such as the affluent Boston Edison District, historic Corktown, the colorful Heidelberg Project, and many, many more. The best part was that though Joe had a planned route, he offered to customize our tour on the spot to meet our varied personal interests--a service that Joe said he provides to all his guests. For instance, Joe said that if we were interested in a particular theme, such as the Motor City's vibrant music history, he would include Hitsville USA and other prominent music sights within the city. My seven-year-old niece said she was interested in toys, which made us laugh due to its randomness, but alas, Joe guided us through the aforementioned Heidelberg Project (a neighborhood in which the houses are adorned with colorful polka dots and teddy bears) and even led us into the Fisher where we gazed upon a stunning detailed Lego replica of the skyscraper in which we were standing (see pics). Whatever your specific interests are, Joe will ensure that you leave satisfied! We also appreciated that Joe provided a well-rounded and as-unbiased-as-possible perspective of the long-troubled, yet vibrant city. For instance, when we asked Joe a specific question regarding the politically-polarizing Detroit mogul Matty Maroun, he was sure to note when his facts ventured into opinion territory. This perspective proved invaluable to the sights as well: Most visitors will have heard of and/or seen photos of Detroit's tremendous blight, but Joe also showed us breathtaking extant structures from Detroit's grandiose past and he was sure to also point out new developments in the city; we visited the decrepit remains of Michigan Central Station, but Joe also took us into the spectacular Guardian Building (Wait until Joe tells you the story about the building's roof--you'll be astonished), and Joe even showed us the wonderful new Beethoven Cafe on Third Avenue where we purchased delicious coffee and pastries. Of course, any smartphone could provide both navigation and a web browser set to Wikipedia that could guide visitors on a tour of Detroit, right? WRONG! For starters, Joe is a long-time resident of Detroit, so he provided a unique and authentic perspective of life in the city. Moreover, Joe maintains an active role in Detroit city politics and stays current on city planning; therefore, Joe provided us with fascinating information regarding the city's past, present and future that we likely could not have obtained through the internet. And if you require further proof that Joe's tour provided invaluable information, consider this: out of our group of four, all of us were born and raised in the Metro-Detroit-area and all four of us have lived in the city at one point in our lives; yet Joe still showed us new sights and provided us with a wealth of new knowledge regarding our former home. Book a tour with Backseat Detroit. You will not be disappointed!

We took a private tour of the Detroit River on the Diamond Jack's River Tours and it was positively…read morePERFECT; from beginning with making our plans with the office to the excellent time everyone one of our participants had. The boat was clean and comfortable, the food was great, the staff was outstanding. Definitely deserve 5 stars plus! And we will be back.

I love sightseeing with water views. The Diamond Jack River Tours are an option. The tours are…read moreaffordable and they have several boarding times from Thursday to Sunday during the summer. I will be doing another one before the summer is over!

The holland trip was extremely overpriced. There were problems with the bus and the escort. I will…read morenever book a trip with this company again

Went on a bus trip to the Tulip festival with my family and it was fantastic. Bus was on time and…read moreclean. Also, the driver and escort were very nice and friendly. Wonderful experience. Have been back for more local trips to the casinos with them.

I had the privilege of joining the First 313 Tour on March 13, thanks to an invite from a community…read morefriend. We began at the historic Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, where a lineup of impactful speakers shared insights on their organizations, our community, and the cemetery's rich history. The group then traveled by bus to Fort Wayne for more educational exploration. I learned so much--insights I'm still unpacking today (March 21). The narrators from City Institute, Outlier Media, and others were phenomenal, making history come alive. I look forward to supporting these organizations and joining future tours. I highly encourage everyone to invest their time in these experiences. A huge thank you to my friend for sharing the invite!

If I could give them "0" stars I would. And here is why.... to start, there were 6 of us total for…read morethis tour. That's $52/person. So here is the breakdown of what that got us. This is a long story of epic fails. - a generic meet up point on a gps map, to which when we got there, there were no signs or anyone in a blue DFX shirt standing in the open waiting for us. We had to basically talk out loud and then a guy sitting down near us wandered over and realized we were his group. He did have a dfx shirt on, but hidden underneath another long sleeve button up shirt. -No bus. See photo. It was raining, and we are expecting to be driven around. My girl ran a 10K that morning with the distinct impression she wouldn't be walking around Detroit. -We start out a block from the coney places, but for some reason were guided to the furthest away place first. To which we are walking in greektown to Pizza Papalis. The guide walks us past the place until one of our crew states we are at the end of greektown near the freeway. To which the guide replied "sorry, I was looking at my phone". Keep in mind it is drizzling and we are all hungry. -We then turn around and finally get to the first stop "Pizza Papalis" to which we are seated and basically told that it takes 45min for their signature deep dish to be cooked. So basically we figured out that this should've been the last stop. So we have to settle on a thin crust pizza which isn't their best signature food... so what's the point? Our guide ordered two larges, so basically we eat about 1, and then now have to carry full carryout boxes of pizza to the next stop. -next is the Golden Fleece, also in greektown. We walk 5 buildings down stomachs absolutely full of pizza and sit down. The waitress stated that we were early. 45 minutes early, so nothing was prepared. Which got us "looks" from the guy cutting the lamb. Which reconfirmed we were going in the wrong order. The food here was great, but our tour guide spilled an entire water on the table in front of me. There will be another section later about the guide. So we are full on pizza and only eat a few gyros and again I now have multiple FULL carryout boxes I'm carting around Detroit in the rain. -the last stop is lafayette coney island. On the way we are like, I wonder which is better american or lafayette, we shouldn't have to choose right? See pic, well our guide made us choose as we were walking. So we go to Lafayette. These coneys are good! However our guide pays then comes back to the table and says that's it, tour is complete. So we never even went to american which is literally attached next door!!! -Our guide was out of place. He was a nice person, but he literally had ZERO facts about any of the places we went to. He had a lack of awareness of where we were walking to. He had to continuously look at an email on a piece of paper to try and figure out what we were supposed to be doing. He mistakenly took us on the tour backwards. He left our group multiple times at each food place for 10 minutes at a time to go smoke cigarettes. He spilled pizza and water on our tables. He actually got up from our table at Lafayette for so long that someone else took his seat. Then he tries to sell us on DFX at the end and just leaves with his food. Are tour guides supposed to leave with multiple boxes of food that the customer pays for??? This is probably an enigma tour in comparison to everything else I've seen or read about with DFX. But my major concern is this, we were all from the Detroit surrounding areas, and I got the impression our guide thought this gave him a "lazy pass". Maybe he was hungover, maybe he wasn't the normal guide, maybe he was disgruntled because he had plans that Saturday and now had to be in rainy Detroit, who knows.... BUT If we were out of town tourists, there would be a horrible feeling of being taken advantage of that would make you never want to come back. That pisses me off as a Michigan/Metro Detroit resident of 30+ years. It was bad representation of the turnaround the city is trying to accomplish and we felt like we had gotten fleeced out of our $52 per person. Nothing was learned, nothing was gained except a bloated stomach, an indecision of which coneys are better, and some sore wet feet.

I spent a fabulous day & 1/2 touring Detroit with Becky. We started with the murals near the…read moreEastern Market and concluded with a fantastic Lebanese brunch in Dearborn. Others in my small group went on to tour downtown Detroit and the Canal District. Becky's passion for Detroit is evident. She thoughtfully combined our interests with contacts that she has to really round out our experiences by sharing stories about Detroit's music and food culture. Without Becky's insights I would not have been able to see as much of what makes Detroit such a vibrant city. I could not have asked for a better guide and I am looking forward to a return visit!

Went to the Capital Park Strolling Brunch tour and have to say the strolling brunch part was a…read morestretch. The tour part was food and why I gave it 4 stars but the brunch part left a lot to be desired. When you arrive you got a handful of peanuts with a cup of coffee and some cold spinach pie that was cut into 1/5ths. After a little tour of some buildings surrounding the park we were served a very small portion of pizza margherite and a little bit of a charcuterie board with small bottled water. We then toured more of the city attractions and ended at Cannelle pastry shop back in capital park for portions of eclair and almond croissants which were very tasty. You did not go home hungry nor would I say satisfied but the tour was fun. It was a good experience if you didn't know much about the city which wasn't the case with us but still enjoyable. If you're looking for a good brunch this is not for you. If your looking for a fun tour then don't worry about the brunch part. Overall we enjoyed it.