Columbus to Detroit road trip: Distance, drive time & best stops
The distance from Columbus to Detroit by car is 203 miles, with a 3h15m driving time. The best road trip stops on the Columbus to Detroit drive are the Wyandot Popcorn Museum, the National Museum of the Great Lakes and the Henry Ford Museum.
Planning a Columbus to Detroit road trip itinerary
A Columbus to Detroit road trip takes you from the capital of Ohio to the biggest city in Michigan.
In Columbus, a three day attractions pass covers most of the top sights. These include the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. For other Columbus experiences, try scavenger hunts, a town tour aboard the Trolley Pub and the Legoland Discovery Center.
Top things to do in Detroit include the excellent architecture walking tours, the Sealife Michigan Aquarium and the Legoland Discovery Centre. The Motown Museum and Ford Piquette Avenue Plant are great, too.
Columbus to Detroit distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Columbus to Detroit is 203 miles. That makes for a driving time of around three hours and 15 minutes. The quickest route goes along the US-23, then the I-75.
The best stops on a Columbus to Detroit road trip itinerary are the Wyandot Popcorn Museum, the National Museum of the Great Lakes and the Henry Ford Museum.
Columbus to Detroit road trip stops: Wyandot Popcorn Museum
Marion, Ohio, plays host to a rather unusual attraction which should bring nostalgia flooding back for many.
Under a circus-style big top tent, the Wyandot Popcorn Museum has collected scores of popcorn machines, carts and other popcorn-related paraphernalia. Many are from Wyandot Inc, the Marion-based snack company, and some of the carts are more than 100 years old.
Things to do between Columbus and Detroit: National Museum of the Great Lakes
The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio, really embraces the scale and scope of its subject. The aim is to show how the Great Lakes have shaped America’s cultural, economic and political history, covering everything from the Underground Railroad to Prohibition-era rum-runners.
The highlight of the visit is the Col. James M. Schoonmaker, once an iron ore freighter plying its trade on the lakes, now a museum ship.
Other Toledo experiences include Toledo Zoo.
Columbus to Detroit drive: Henry Ford Museum
A slight detour off the route in Dearborn, Michigan, the Henry Ford is arguably the most astonishing museum in the United States.
The Henry Ford is home to an incredible haul of modern history. The bus on which Rosa Parks made her world-changing civil rights protest is there, as is the car JFK was assassinated in.
The Greenfield Village outside has remarkably transported buildings such as the courthouse in which Abraham Lincoln practiced law and the bike shop where the Wright Brothers made the first plane brick by brick.
You can very easily spend a full day here.
More Columbus road trips
Akron to Columbus | Columbus OH to Ann Arbor | Columbus OH to Atlanta | Columbus to Buffalo | Canton OH to Columbus OH | Columbus OH to Chicago | Columbus to Cincinnati | Columbus to Cleveland | Dallas to Columbus | Dayton to Columbus | Columbus to Indianapolis | Lexington to Columbus | Columbus to Louisville | Nashville to Columbus | Columbus to Philadelphia | Columbus to Pittsburgh | St Louis to Columbus | Toledo to Columbus.
More Detroit road trips
Detroit to Atlanta | Detroit to Baltimore | Detroit to Buffalo | Detroit to Chicago | Cincinnati to Detroit | Cleveland to Detroit | Dallas to Detroit | Dayton to Detroit | Fort Wayne to Detroit | Grand Rapids to Detroit | Houston to Detroit | Detroit to Indianapolis | Kalamazoo to Detroit | Detroit to Knoxville | Lansing to Detroit | Louisville to Detroit | Memphis to Detroit | Detroit to Milwaukee | Detroit to Nashville | Detroit to Niagara Falls | Philadelphia to Detroit | Pittsburgh to Detroit | Detroit to St Louis | Toledo to Detroit.