Detroit to Buffalo road trip: Best stops, drive time & distance
The best road trip stops on the Detroit to Buffalo drive are Cedar Point, Cleveland and Presque Isle. The distance from Detroit to Buffalo by car is 362 miles, with a 5h31m driving time.
Planning a Detroit to Buffalo road trip itinerary
A Detroit to Buffalo road trip takes you through America’s Rust Belt from Michigan to north-western New York State.
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.
Buffalo is often written off as the gateway to Niagara Falls, but there’s more to the city than that. Cultural highlights include Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House, the Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.
The waterside Buffalo Harbor State Park, meanwhile, offers paddleboard and kayak rentals plus a beach and playgrounds.
Good experiences in Buffalo include Best of Buffalo double decker bus tours, a history of chicken wings food tour and the Theodore Roosevelt Inauguration National Historic Site.
For excellent places to stay in Buffalo, try the historic landmark Richardson Hotel or the charming Hotel at the Lafayette.
Detroit to Buffalo distance and driving time
The quickest route from Detroit to Buffalo goes through Canada. This guide assumes you’re staying within US borders, however, and travelling along the I-75 and I-90.
By car, the distance from Detroit to Buffalo is 362 miles. That makes for a driving time of around five hours and 31 minutes.
The road trip can be broken down into sections: The Detroit to Toledo drive, the Toledo to Cleveland drive, and the Cleveland to Buffalo drive.
For more detail and more ideas for road trip stops, go to these individual section guides. The best three stops on the Detroit to Buffalo drive, however, are picked out below.
Detroit to Buffalo road trip attractions: Cedar Point
Cedar Point near Sandusky, Ohio, is one of the world’s great theme parks – particularly if you’re a rollercoaster fan. Unlike other amusement parks, which maybe have one or two good rollercoasters and plenty of filler, Cedar Point has an extraordinary collection of top grade thrill rides.
Steel Vengeance is the fastest, longest and tallest hybrid coaster, but there are five coasters that top the 200ft height mark here.
Best stops between Detroit and Buffalo: Cleveland
There are many strong attractions in Cleveland, including the Cleveland History Center. But the big stand out is the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. It’s an extremely reverent trawl through rock ‘n roll history, looking at the origins and development of the genre. There’s a massive amount of memorabilia, with sections devoted to several Hall of Fame inductees.
The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is dense, detailed and capable of sucking up the best part of a day.
Alternatively, Cleveland tour options focus on neighbourhood food scenes, the city’s best craft breweries and Downtown’s public art.
Detroit to Buffalo drive: Presque Isle
Presque Isle offers an altogether different experience to the industrial city of Erie which it neighbours. This 3,200 acre peninsula bends into Lake Erie and is a hotspot for migrating birds.
There’s more to do than birdwatching, however. The Tom Ridge Environmental Centre teaches visitors about the local ecosystems, and there are several walking trails that range from quick strolls to challenging full day hikes.
The beaches, though, tend to be the main draw card.
More Detroit road trips
Detroit to Atlanta | Detroit to Baltimore | Detroit to Chicago | Cincinnati to Detroit | Cleveland to Detroit | Columbus 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.
More Buffalo road trips
Albany NY to Buffalo | Buffalo to Atlanta | Boston to Buffalo | Chicago to Buffalo | Cincinnati to Buffalo | Cleveland to Buffalo | Columbus to Buffalo | Dallas to Buffalo | Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale | Houston to Buffalo | Ithaca to Buffalo | Nashville to Buffalo | Buffalo to Pittsburgh | Rochester to Buffalo | Syracuse to Buffalo | Buffalo to Tampa.