Heading to Detroit this weekend?

Come on, you know you've been thinking about it.

We're talking 205 miles, as the crow flies, a mere 205 miles between Pittsburgh and Detroit, only 205 miles between you and possible Steelers Nation nirvana.

Think of the hoopla, the merriment, the magic.

This is the closest a Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl has ever been to the 'Burgh and, like Halley's comet, it may be quite some time before it comes this close again.

So, if you decide to make the pilgrimage to Motown this week -- as some 100,000 people from around the world are expected to do -- here are some things you need to know:

"There still are accommodations available," Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau spokeswoman Carolyn Artman said.

Trying to find accommodations for just the weekend? Expect to pay $60 to $275 a night to stay an hour or more away, in places like Toledo and Perrysburg, Ohio, or Howell and Frankenmuth, Mich.

If you can handle a four-night minimum stay (Thursday through Monday), the lodging options are more numerous and closer to Detroit, but pricier. Expect to pay $60 to $350 a night. As of yesterday, rooms were available in suburbs bordering Detroit for upward of $180 a night.

Rooms also were available as close as Windsor, Canada, which is only a couple of miles from Ford Field, but the nightly rate was about $298 at a Days Inn. That's right, a Days Inn. Two forms of ID, including a valid driver's license, passport or original or certified birth certificate, are required to cross the border between Canada and Detroit.

Also, be advised that anyone with a criminal record, including a drunken driving conviction, may be excluded from Canada, according to the American Consular Services Web site. For more information about Canada entry requirements, visit www.amcits.com/entry_ca.asp.

For Super Bowl lodging information, visit www.sbxl.org or call 1-866-783-7240 for individual rooms and 1-800-699-5370 for groups of 10 or more.

For general visitors information, visit the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, www.visitdetroit.com, or call 1-800-338-7648.

Once you've got a place to rest your head and hang your Terrible Towel, there's plenty of fun to explore in the Detroit metropolitan area.

The NFL Experience at Cobo Center in downtown Detroit is 800,000 square feet of football theme park featuring more than 50 interactive games, football instruction clinics and NFL Coaches Chats. It's open tomorrow through game day. Tickets, available on site and via www.ticketmaster.com, are $15 for those 12 and older and $10 for children 3 to 12. For more information, visit www.superbowl.com/features/nfl_experience.

If you've scored tickets to the big game, good for you. If you're like most of the other 6.5 billion people on the planet who didn't, find a spot at a bar.

Two Detroit-area bars that are part of the Steelers Nation are Spectadium, 2511 Livernois Road, in Troy, and the Sunrise Sunset Saloon, 15222 Charlevoix St., in Grosse Pointe Park.

"I've never gotten so many calls from Pittsburgh in my life," Spectadium general manager Kim Rose said Friday. "In the last two days, I've probably gotten a dozen calls."

A couple of busloads of Steelers fans already are planning to be there. The newly renovated sports video bar will have new plasma TVs, drink and food specials, balloons and giveaways.

"We're very excited," Ms. Rose said. "It's going to be great."

Over at the Sunrise Sunset Saloon, they'll have drink specials, giveaways and a complimentary half-time buffet. They're even planning to import some Iron City beer.

"We're Steeler fans," said Angela Lasher, the bar's owner. "We've put up about 13 TVs. We even have TVs in the ladies' and men's rooms."

For more information, visit www.spectadium.com or www.metrodetroit.com/sunrise.htm.

And given that it's Super Bowl weekend, just about every other bar and tavern in town will be honorary Steelers bars since Steelers fans are expected to outnumber Seattle fans in Motown 100 to 1.

Coach Insignia restaurant, on the 72nd floor of the GM Global Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, will offer a four-star steak house menu and brunch at 1 p.m. on game day. After the Super Bowl, for a $25 cover charge, fans can enjoy an afterglow party from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. and dance to the R&B/Top 40 band Hidden Agenda starting at 10 p.m.

For more information visit www.uniquerestaurants.com/urc/superbowl.asp.

In fact, every Detroit nightclub and restaurant will be showcasing the best it has to offer this weekend. Be sure to check out the Greektown section of Downtown.

Despite unseasonable temperatures, Detroit's free winter festival, the Motown Winter Blast, is still on track. It wraps around Campus Martius Park and spans 14 blocks in downtown. The city was even making snow last week to add some white stuff to the winter carnival.

"If the weather cooperates, we'll have two 200-foot-long snow slides, dog sledding and snowshoeing," Ms. Artman said.

Even if the temperatures stay above freezing, the festival will still have Model T rides, an artists' market, ice-skating rink, a Taste of Detroit, where people can sample Detroit-area restaurant cuisine, and music -- lots of it -- on five different stages, including concerts featuring Clint Black, Smash Mouth and Kem. For more information visit www.motownwinterblast.com.

Cultural attractions also abound in the Detroit metro area.

The Detroit Institute of Arts, current exhibitions include "Camille Claudel and Rodin: Fateful Encounter" through Sunday and the " 'Super Bowl' Show: Still-Life Prints, Drawings, Photographs, and Vessels," through April; www.dia.org or 1-313-833-7900.

The Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village and Ford Motor Co.'s Rouge plant tour; www.hfmgv.org or call 1-800-835-5237. Henry Ford Museum exhibits include "With Liberty and Justice for All," a look at civil liberties from the Revolutionary War up through the civil rights movement.

The Detroit Historical Museum, exhibits include "Reflections: The Mary Wilson Supreme Legacy Collection," which features more than 50 Supremes costumes and other memorabilia; www.detroithistorical.org or call 1-313-833-1805.

Motown Historical Museum, www.motownmuseum.com or call 1-313-875-2264.

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, current exhibits include "Gridiron to Greatness: African Americans in Professional Football," through March 26; www.maah-detroit.org or call 313-494-5800.

Care to spend some time chasing Lady Luck? With the Greektown, MotorCity and MGM Grand Detroit casinos in downtown Detroit as well as Casino Windsor across the Detroit River in Canada, there could be plenty of chances to win the money to buy overpriced Super Bowl tickets. For more information, visit:

www.greektowncasino.com or call 1-888-771-4386.

www.motorcitycasino.com or call 1-877-777-0711.

http://detroit.mgmgrand.com or call 1-877-888-2121.

http://www.casinowindsor.com or call 1-800-991-7777.

For information about the Super Bowl Park & Ride shuttle bus service into downtown, visit http://www.detroitmi.gov/ddot/index.html or call 1-313-933-1300.

For information about the Detroit People Mover, an elevated light-rail train that loops through downtown, visit http://www.thepeoplemover.com or 1-313-962-7245.

For an interactive map of Detroit, visit www.mapdetroit.com.

For a rundown of other bars, visit Detroit.com's nightlife listing at www.detroit.com/nightlife/index.html.

For General Visitors Information about Windsor, Canada, visit www.visitwindsor.com/main.htm or call 1-800-265-3633.