Campus Martius Park

Every city claims to have a heart; Detroit can point to the medallion. Campus Martius sits on the literal Point of Origin — the spot the Mile Roads are measured from, so when you’re standing by the Woodward Fountain, 8 Mile is exactly eight miles that way. We spent an afternoon here and the shape-shifting is the whole charm: an outdoor stage and a sandy beach in the summer, and come November the plaza freezes over into an ice rink nearly twice the size of Rockefeller Center’s, with the city’s Christmas tree looming over it. USA Today has named it the best public square in the country, and for once the award feels earned rather than lobbied.

What we liked most is that it never asks anything of you — no ticket, no agenda. Bring a coffee, claim a chair by the fountain, watch downtown go by, and leave whenever you feel like it. When you’re ready to upgrade the afternoon, BrisaBar pours drinks on the beach all summer, and Parc sits right in the middle of it all when the occasion calls for tablecloths.