Texas Travel Guide
The River Walk, San Antonio. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Texas is a country-sized state with four great cities, each with its own personality. Austin is the live-music capital and tech boomtown. San Antonio keeps the Spanish colonial heart: the Alamo and the River Walk. Houston is the space city with world-class museums and food. Dallas-Fort Worth is big business, big art and the Stockyards.
Beyond the cities: Big Bend's desert mountains on the Mexican border, the Hill Country's swimming holes and wineries, the Gulf beaches of South Padre Island, and Marfa's desert art installations. Texas barbecue is a pilgrimage cuisine; plan around it.
Destinations in Texas
The Alamo and San Antonio River WalkThe 1836 mission shrine and the winding river of restaurants below street level.
Big Bend National ParkDesert mountains on the Rio Grande; some of the darkest skies in America.
Austin live musicSixth Street, the Continental Club, ACL; the self-declared live music capital of the world.- Space Center HoustonNASA's Johnson Space Center visitor complex with Mission Control tours.
- Texas Hill CountrySwimming holes, German-settled towns like Fredericksburg, and 50+ wineries.
- Fort Worth StockyardsTwice-daily cattle drives through the historic stockyards district.
- Dallas arts and the Sixth Floor MuseumThe JFK assassination museum at Dealey Plaza plus the Dallas Arts District.
- South Padre IslandThe Gulf's best Texas beach town, with sea-turtle releases.
- MarfaMinimalist art in the high desert and the mysterious Marfa Lights.
- Guadalupe MountainsTexas's highest peak and the great El Capitan cliff face.
Hover a state to explore it. Click a city pin to open its guide.
Top Cities & towns in Texas
Regional food
- Texas BBQ brisket (smoked low and slow; the state religion)
- Tex-Mex (fajitas, queso, breakfast tacos; born in Texas)
- Chicken-fried steak (with cream gravy)
- Blue Bell ice cream (the Texas-born brand)
Getting there
Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH) and Austin (AUS) are the main gateways; San Antonio (SAT) and El Paso (ELP) cover the regions. Texas is enormous: Dallas to El Paso is a 10-hour drive. Fly between cities, drive within regions.