Top Ten Things to do in Texas
The Lone Star State has it all! Amusement parks, historic cities, space-age technology, live music… Experience Austin: the “live music capital of the world,” stroll San Antonio’s River Walk, watch an Austin City Limits live-taping, or pet the bottlenose dolphins at Sea World or the Texas State Aquarium. Don’t let Texas’ history pass you by! Check out San Antonio’s missions and the Alamo. If you have a pioneering spirit, you will want to explore these and other popular Texas attractions!
- River Walk – San Antonio
- Johnson Space Center – Houston
- Remember the Alamo! – San Antonio
- Austin City Limits Taping
- The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza – Dallas
- Sea World – San Antonio
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
- San Antonio Missions National Historic Park
- Aquariums – Corpus Christi and Houston
- Stockyards – Fort Worth
This is one of the most popular of Texas attractions. The San Antonio River flows through downtown San Antonio and has created a boom of culture and hotspots along the river! Join in San Antonio’s famous River Walk and you will be fascinated – along with many tourists before you – at how the river and the city seem inseparable – each bending to each others’ wishes.
The River Walk is the location of famous festivities in San Antonio including the Corona Coffins on Parade – where decorated coffins float down the river in celebration of Halloween, the Ford Fiesta de las Luminarias, and the Ford Holiday River Parade – the day when over 122,000 lights form a canopy to illuminate this beautiful, tree-lined walk. If you are visiting in the off-season – don’t despair! You can take a boat ride, river taxi or a dining boat – hosted by a local restaurant – where you can eat on the river in style! For these and more River Walk activities visit: http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/.
The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is operated by NASA and is a fully-functional aeronautic research, training, and test facility in Houston. The visitor’s center at Johnson Space Center was designed to educate the public on human space flight. The Center is a not-to-miss Texas attraction. The visitor’s center archives and houses past space shuttles and hardware and operates a Living in Space module which gives people the opportunity to experience what space flight is like. Additionally, take a NASA Tram tour to explore various official, functioning space buildings. To learn more about Johnson Space Center visit: http://www.spacecenter.org/.
Another one of the most popular Texas attractions is this historic Texan battle site that was originally a San Antonio mission. This museum commemorates the thirteen-day battle fought between a dozen courageous Texans and the Mexican Army during the Texas Revolution. Among the brave Texans were James Bowie and Davy Crockett – whose names would go down in infamy. The Alamo has come to represent courage and bravery that is still a large part of the American spirit. To see more about this emblem of frontier courage go to: http://www.thealamo.org/.
This Austin attraction is a must-see! Austin City Limits is unfortunately taped in a studio and not on the hillside like the footage would suggest. However, if you are industrious, you can score some free tickets to the taping. This PBS broadcasted concert series is a favorite of top-performing musicians because Austin City Limits really spotlights the performer. If you are in Austin during late September be sure to pop by the Austin City Limits Music Festival held in Zilker Park over a fantastic music-filled three days. Over 130 bands join together for the festivities. To see more about this most exciting of Texas attractions visit: http://www.austincitylimits.org/.
John F. Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963 shocked the country that saw Kennedy as a forerunner in social change. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza honors JFK, who was killed there in 1963. The museum’s mission is to educate and inform the public about the life and death of John F. Kennedy through interactive and heavily-researched exhibits. The museum’s permanent exhibit: “John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation,” chronicles the panic-stricken hours before and after our beloved 35th president was assassinated – and aims to educate the public on the impact this event had on our country and how we can learn from his legacy. To learn more about this important Texas attraction visit: http://www.jfk.org/.
Sea World’s San Antonio location is among one of the most fun things to do in Texas. Ride the Rio Loco or the Texas Splashdown or visit the marine life at Dolphin Cove – where you can feed and touch the bottlenose dolphins! Check out the shark aquarium for a peek at a coral reef and the ocean’s most ferocious predator. To blow off some steam head over to Boardwalk Games and play some Skee-ball or win a stuffed Shamu! Don’t forget to stop by the Lost Lagoon Waterpark for state-of-the-art splash rides. To see these and more Sea World attractions visit: http://www.seaworld.com/sanantonio/default.aspx.
For more fun things to do in Texas, explore the Texan wilderness at Guadalupe Mountains National Park! This park boasts over 80 miles of challenging hiking, biking, and horseback riding trails. At Guadalupe Mountains National Park you will get to take a peek at the world’s most prominent fossilized reef as well as take advantage of the store of information at their outdoor laboratory. You will also get a chance to check out some famous Texas historical sites: the Pinery Ruins and the Frijole Ranch will offer you a blast from the past as well as provide you with interesting historical information. To see more about the Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Texas’ only “legally designated” wilderness, visit: http://www.nps.gov/gumo/index.htm.
San Antonio, Texas is a major center of Spanish colonial missions, which includes the famous site of the Alamo. These missions are connected in this national park by roads; so, you will need to provide your own transportation or utilize the public transportation system VIA – though it will not take you to ALL of the missions. It is well worth the transportation hassle! Each mission – and its church – is historically preserved. During the week there are guided tours, movies and demonstrations available. Also, within easy reach of Mission San Jose there is a well-preserved gristmill and irrigation system. The San Antonio Missions National Historic Park Visitor’s Center also offers a museum and bookstore. This not-to-miss Texas attraction will transport you back to 18th century Texas. Learn more about San Antonio’s missions at: http://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm.
Be sure to squeeze an aquarium visit into your busy vacation! It will surely be one of the most fun things to do in Texas. The Texas State Aquarium is the official state aquarium, located in Corpus Christi. Sign up for the Deckside Dolphin Encounter and pet and feed a real-live dolphin! The Texas State Aquarium also offers Behind the Scenes Tours so children can learn how the aquarium personnel take care of and train the animals. The Flower Gardens exhibit is a way-cool reconstruction of an actual coral reef off the Gulf of Mexico. The Sting Ray Flats, the Amazon, and the Floating Phantoms (jellyfish) exhibits are sure to impress! Not to mention the Texas State Aquarium is a rescue and rehabilitation not-for-profit organization. To see the Texas State Aquarium go to: http://www.texasstateaquarium.org/.
If you have time, check out Downtown Aquarium in Houston. This aquarium straddles 6 acres in Houston’s downtown region. One of the highlights is the dining: you can eat in a room separated from a 200,000-gallon tank by a thin – but sturdy – layer of glass! Indulge in a Blue Marlin Aqua Martini while watching your favorite creatures swim by. Check out the Downtown Aquarium in Houston’s page at: http://www.aquariumrestaurants.com/downtownaquariumhouston/flash_content/index.html.
Check out the cultural district of Fort Worth, “Where the West Begins.” This historic site was a major cattle throughway until the city took steps to keep the business in Fort Worth. This vestige of the Old Wild West boasts shops, restaurants, saloons, and daily cattle-drives, all in the style of Old Texas charm. There are museums along the route as well as an historic photography studio called Jersey Lilly Old Time Photo Parlor – where you can get your Old West photo taken. Billy Bob’s Texas is a number-one honky-tonk and rodeo arena. So, check out some bull-riding, the Texas Longhorn cattle drive, and an old time saloon at the Stockyards, one of Fort Worth’s premier Texas attractions. To learn more about the Stockyards visit: http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/.
Bonus Attraction:
- Six Flags over Texas – Arlington
Six Flags is always a family favorite. This most thrilling of Texas attractions is located in Arlington, Texas. The theme park has rides and entertainment for everyone: thrill rides, family rides, and kid’s rides. Among the rides are: Mr. Freeze, Titan, the Gunslinger and the Texas Giant – the world’s top wooden roller coaster that travels at a whopping 62 mph! The IMAX Theater offers the best films on movie-theater-size screens. For the little ones there is Looney Tunes USA where they can interact with a number of Looney Tunes-themed rides and Texas attractions. Book your visit today at: http://www.sixflags.com/overTexas/index.aspx.