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.

Detroit History Tours does this guided one and a half hour walking tour through the main floor of…read moreMichigan Central Station. It's AMAZING to see the architectural details and the craftsmanship mixing old with the new. Our tour guide was a preservationist and gave us a lot of details on the buildings history. Hard to believe it sat abandoned for 30 years. There's a coffee shop, gift shop with Michigan Central items and another store with unique gift's. Highly recommend this tour!

Today my friend and I had the pleasure of being on a guided tour of Eastern Market. Our tour…read moreguide's name was Gail. As described, it was a two hour walking tour. We had the opportunity to learn more about the history of Detroit, the various ethnicities that made up the city of Detroit and the Eastern Market area dating back to the 1700's. It was inexpensive and we thoroughly enjoyed this experience. It was a unique experience getting to learn more about this Detroit.

We took the Historical Eastern Market tour and thoroughly enjoyed it. Interesting info about the…read moremarket and how it originally started. I highly recommend this tour!

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.

Absolutely wonderful! Relaxed, informative, informal, personalized, nothing could have made it…read morebetier. Highly recommend Pat as a tour guide.

This tour is a Detroiter's delight! Pat took the time to find out what our interests were…read morebeforehand. For us, it was architecture and those wonderful ArtDeco features all over the city! We got the history, and updates in recent development downtown, and in some cool neighborhoods. Her van is super comfortable & clean, with a giant moonroof for viewing the landmarks & details she points out. We were impressed to see the train station renovation! We stopped for coffee, stepped into some of my favorite buildings to see the gorgeous lobbies, as well as Third Man Records and Shinola! Pat's knowledge of and love for Detroit is evident, & helped me share my beloved hometown with my husband. The tour was the highlight of our trip and worth every penny. Thanks Pat!

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!

Meghan, our guide was one of the best we have ever toured with anywhere! We were in a group of 22…read morepeople including several (well behaved...thanks parents) children. For anyone interested in architecture and Art Nouveaux designs, this one hour tour MUST be on your list!

Friendly staff! Located inside the Guardian Building, it's a cute shop with all the touristy swag…read moreyou would ever need. Clothing, hats, food, candles, magnets, etc...you name it they probably got it here. I was able to snag a lively Detroit magnet for the fridge.

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.

Well worth the time and money whether you live nearby or are visiting from afar…read more My husband and I decided to spend a vacation day in Ann Arbor rather than take a road trip. We are foodies and where a bit overwhelmed by all the places to try when we found this food tour online. The founder, Ani, was our guide and told us a ton about Ann Arbor, past and present, the culture and each venue and tasting. We even learned about the adorable fairy doors along the way. Some places don't open until later but Ani provided recommendations about which ones are worth visiting later on and why. One our favorite stops wasn't a restaurant, it was Fustini's oil and vinegar shop. We also loved the soft porkbelly buns at Miss Kim's. Oh, and a delicious chorizo "burger" at Frita Banditos. Locations vary, so don't have your heart set on an itinerary but I doubt you'll be disappointed! Ani's passion for the business is delightfully contagious so he is great to get to know and spend time with tasting and learning. He sets the standard for other tour guides too. There were a few places that didn't seem quite ready for us, despite Ani arranging ahead, but they pulled it together quickly and everyone treated us well. Oh, and be also gave us cool souvenir hats. Yep, worth it all the way! Give it a whirl!

From the owner: By The Sidewalk provides guided walking food tours in public and private settings…read more Get on our flagship tour "Classic Ann Arbor By The Sidewalk" to explore the thriving culinary scene of the Tree Town along with its history, culture, educational insights into the food scene, fun trivia and great recommendations. Whether you are a local or visiting Ann Arbor for the first time we ensure you will walk away with new culinary perspectives, broad smiles, satisfied taste buds, full tummies and the confidence to continue exploring the neighborhood by the sidewalk! Attributes that set us apart: - There's a surprise in store for everyone. - We take pride and cherish creating moments of unexpected discovery. - We offer tastings within 2 minutes of entering a place, so say goodbye to waiting times. - Small groups ensure personalized attention. - We strive to make sure it's the most delicious stroll you have ever taken. - All you need is the wish to discover, leave the planning to us! Who should

2gather is the best venue by far!!! My husband and I just got married yesterday on May 19th. When…read moreI tell you they went above and beyond they did exactly that. We were their first circle ceremony with a guest count of 225. From the ceiling decorations to the all elegance of their venue, and the staff are a dream. Kim and Jennifer thank you for the heart and soul you poured in us and our day along with what you do! Your passion truly shows!!! You guys book with them you will not be sorry!!! Warmly the Szpanelewskis!!!!

Very beautiful setting for a wedding! Spacious rooms and chapel. Ample parking as well.read more