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!

Great venue. The beers were okay for the group I was with. I didn't have any so that comes from my…read morefriends. The service was slow and hard to get ahold of, the only issue we encountered. Great for a large group to play games and enjoy the venue. Would come back.

We really enjoyed our tour of Detroit breweries. Amy did a great job coordinating our 4 stops. The…read moreshort bus was clean and comfortable. Ben dropped us at the door and was there for pick up when we were ready. We did 2 behind the scene tours at Atwater and Brew Detroit (very impressive). We had VERY generous beer samplings at each brewery. I highly recommend!!

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!

I had a terrific experience with Scholarly Sojourns on their Scotch Whisky tour! Things went very…read moresmoothly and it was just the right balance of time with the group and time alone! Lead by the incomparable Ronnie Berrie, we got to visit and learn about the best distilleries, with many a dram along the way. Thoroughly enjoyable trip and lodgings were superb as well. Shoutout to Barry from Customer Service, what a helpful guy! :)

I have been an independent traveler for years, but signed up for Scholarly Sojourn's guided tour…read moreAnglo-Saxon England because of my interest in the topic, and because it was led by Mike Drout, whose Modern Scholar lecture series I had listened to, on the same topic. It was everything I had hoped for. We visited special sites associated with the Anglo-Saxon period of history, beginning with a magical night on Holy Island. Prof. Drout presents the history of the sites and the people who lived there, and was able to connect together all of the locations that we visited. The hotels were small and individual, and very much the type I would choose if I were traveling on my own. The trip was well organized, and the other participants interesting to get to know. While I will continue traveling independently, I hope to be able to take another Scholarly Sojourns tour.

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.

Gordon was amazing! Stopped at all the right places and all the right times for pics and danced…read morewith us and had we had so much fun! Definitely recommend!

I booked this for my coworkers as a fun summer outing! We got lucky with a beautiful day and great…read moreweather! It was on a Thursday, the tigers game was just getting out and it wasn't even too busy, yay! Our driver River, was so great with us! We had a great time and will be back again. Maybe next time we will add on another hour, 2 hours went by way too quick!

Our tour was wonderful. We had 14 women, 3 tour stops and lunch. It all worked out perfectly…read more Thanks to our hostess from Luv to Taste for making everything go smoothly. She was very accommodating and helped us put together the perfect day. We didn't have to handle the logistics, which made the day that much more enjoyable. I would definitely suggest Luv to Taste's services and would use them again.

My girlfriends and I had a wonderful time on our wine tasting tour with Luv To Taste. Our host was…read morevery punctual, knowledgeable and accommodating. We would definitely do another tour.

How cool it was to have a volunteer event here…read more I have only been to the parade maybe once, but watched the floats many times on TV. It's quite something to be so up close and a get to be a part of the small section of the float. It's located at a warehouse, was told to wear grubby clothes and to dress warm from other colleagues that have done this event before. The entrance to the gated parking lot for the parade company is just passed the guard gate. There's a sign for the Parade company at the guard gate and the fence and gated entrance is right after the guard gate on the left. Keep an eye out for the extremely color blovkdftbuilding, that's where you'll be parking near. You enter by ringing the doorbell and the reception will let you in and guide you to the room for your team. They will soon be opening up the Saturday volunteer events for family members, and The Lake. They also suggested previous volunteers to come after hours uncertain days through the week as well to help out. The team was working on seven floats for the Thanksgiving parade this year. They will often repair and refurbish older floats to use again. I think Russ said their oldest float is from the late 90s. Russ works in the paint department. You can definitely see some very distinct characteristic floats, and heads throughout the warehouse. It's really large warehouse with big skylights that can make it very hot if it's warmer outside. Today was a perfect day inside, since it was only about 74° outside. It's really a fun event to do with your team members at a corporation or anywhere. They do provide gloves, aprons, paint brushes, and rolling pins. I think it would probably make sense to use nicer, rolling pins and paint brushes, since they get a little gunk up and messed up, which then can cause some clumps and junk as your paint. At the end of your volunteer event, the team will go through and rinse off all the rollers, paint brushes, and are asked to put back any unused paint into the main paint pale. I would definitely come again, it was my first time participating in making a section of a parade float. There are other corporations represented, most likely from my same company.

This was THE best tour I have ever taken. Our tour was with Steve. He was amazing. Our tour was…read moresupposed to last a couple hours and it was extended. We were not complaining. Every question was answered, tremendous facts were given and the entire experience was stellar. I highly recommend going and supporting them. They are also in the throws of building a new place. Help them out. They deserve it. If I ever get back to Detroit again, I would def. Go on this tour again The parking lot is difficult to find, but a call to the front desk and we were helped immediately.