Rebecca Engel
Texas is so big that you can drive for more than ten hours and still not reach the other side. That size is what makes it so much fun to plan, because one state holds desert mountains, cypress swamps, wild beaches and some of the best food and music in the country.
This Texas travel guide rounds up twenty one bucket list places to visit in Texas, from the River Walk in San Antonio to the dunes and dark skies out west. They’re listed in the order you’d reach them on a loop around the state, and there’s a planning section at the end with drive times, the best seasons and the parks that sell out.
1. Walk The San Antonio River Walk After Dark
The San Antonio River Walk is a network of paths that follows the river through the middle of downtown, one level below the city streets. It stretches about 15 miles in all, but the busy loop by the hotels and restaurants is the best place to start.
Come after dark, when the patios along the water fill up and the river glows. From late November into early January, holiday lights hang in the cypress trees too. A narrated river barge ride is an easy way to see the whole downtown stretch without walking it.
Head north along the Museum Reach and it gets much quieter, with public art under the bridges and the Pearl, an old brewery turned into a market and dining district, waiting at the end.
2. Visit The Alamo And The San Antonio Missions
The Alamo is where a small group of Texan defenders held out for 13 days before it fell to the Mexican army in 1836. It sits right in the middle of downtown San Antonio, and the grounds are free to walk.
Going inside the church is free too, but it needs a timed ticket, so reserve one online before you go. Restoration work around the site is ongoing, so expect some construction.
The Alamo was one of five Spanish missions built along the river, and the other four now make up San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Together they’re a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Mission San José is the one to see if you only have time for one. A paved trail along the river links them, and it makes a great bike ride.
3. Go Underground At Natural Bridge Caverns
Natural Bridge Caverns sit a short drive north of San Antonio, and they’re the largest known commercial caverns in Texas. The name comes from the natural limestone bridge that spans the entrance.
Four college students found the caves in 1960 while exploring what they thought was a small cave on a ranch. Guided tours now lead you down past huge rooms filled with formations.
It stays around 70 degrees underground all year, which makes it a smart pick for a hot Texas afternoon.
4. Two Step At Gruene Hall
Gruene Hall opened in 1878 and calls itself the oldest continually operating dance hall in Texas. It’s still a wooden hall with long tables and a worn dance floor, and live music is on the calendar almost every day.
The little historic district around it is full of shops and restaurants, and Gruene is part of the city of New Braunfels now.
In summer, a night at the hall pairs perfectly with floating the Guadalupe or Comal River on a tube. For more small towns with German roots, see these German towns in Texas.
5. Climb Enchanted Rock
Enchanted Rock is a huge dome of pink granite rising out of the Hill Country north of Fredericksburg. The Summit Trail is short but steep, and the view from the top stretches across miles of rolling hills.
The name comes from the creaking and groaning sounds the rock makes at night as it cools, which people have told stories about for centuries.
This is one of the Texas state parks that fills up and turns people away, especially on weekends. Buy a day pass online before you go, since they go on sale 30 days ahead.
6. Taste Your Way Down Main Street In Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg was founded by German settlers in 1846, and its Main Street is still lined with old stone buildings, bakeries, beer gardens and shops.
It’s also the heart of Texas wine country, with tasting rooms in town and wineries spread along the highways outside it. Book a driver or a wine tour if you plan to visit more than one.
History fans shouldn’t miss the National Museum of the Pacific War, which is here because Fredericksburg is Admiral Chester Nimitz’s hometown. Luckenbach, the tiny dance hall town from the Waylon Jennings song, is about 10 miles away.
7. Watch The Bats Fly From The Congress Avenue Bridge In Austin
From spring into fall, around 1.5 million Mexican free tailed bats pour out from under the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin every evening. It’s the largest urban bat colony in North America, and the stream of bats heading out to feed can go on for a long time.
Stand on the bridge or find a spot on the grass along Lady Bird Lake just before sunset. You can also watch from the water in a kayak or on a bat watching boat tour.
Late July and August are usually the best months, once the young bats start flying with the adults. Austin has plenty more to fill a trip, and here are some things to do in Austin Texas that aren’t on Sixth Street.
8. Shop The Silos At Magnolia Market In Waco
Magnolia Market at the Silos is Chip and Joanna Gaines’ home and garden shop, built around a pair of old silos from a 1950s cottonseed mill in downtown Waco. Fans of Fixer Upper will know it right away, but you don’t need to have seen the show to lose an hour here.
There’s a big lawn with games, food trucks, a bakery and a garden, and it’s free to wander. It’s closed on Sundays, so plan your day around that.
While you’re in Waco, drive over to Waco Mammoth National Monument, where the fossils of a herd of Columbian mammoths are displayed right where they were found.
9. Drive The Ennis Bluebonnet Trails In April
Ennis is the official bluebonnet city of Texas, and every April it maps out more than 40 miles of driving trails through the wildflowers south of Dallas.
The Ennis Garden Club checks the fields and posts updates as the flowers come in, and peak bloom usually lands in the second half of April. The town’s bluebonnet festival happens during the same stretch.
Pull all the way off the road for photos and stay out of private fields. The flowers are fragile, so step carefully around them instead of settling into the middle of a patch.
10. Visit The Sixth Floor Museum At Dealey Plaza
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza tells the story of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 from inside the former Texas School Book Depository, the building the shots were fired from.
The exhibits walk you through his life, the day itself and the investigations that followed, and the windows look out over Elm Street and the plaza below. It’s quiet, sobering and very well done.
It isn’t open every day of the week and tickets are timed, so check the hours and buy online before you go.
11. Watch The Cattle Drive At The Fort Worth Stockyards
The Fort Worth Stockyards were once one of the biggest livestock markets in the country, and they still feel like the Old West. Twice a day, cowhands drive a herd of longhorns right down Exchange Avenue, and it’s free to watch.
The drives happen at 11:30 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon, weather permitting, so claim a spot along the street a little early.
Browse the western shops, and on a Friday or Saturday stay into the evening for the rodeo at Cowtown Coliseum. Billy Bob’s Texas, which bills itself as the world’s largest honky tonk, is right there too.
12. Paddle Through The Cypress Trees On Caddo Lake
Caddo Lake sits on the Louisiana border in far East Texas, and it looks nothing like the Texas most people picture. Giant bald cypress trees draped in Spanish moss rise straight out of the water, with narrow channels winding between them.
The best way to see it is from a canoe, a kayak or a guided boat tour, and marked paddling trails wind through the lake and the bayous around it.
Water levels change a lot from season to season, so check the state park’s current conditions before you plan a paddle.
13. Tour Historic Mission Control At Space Center Houston
Space Center Houston is the official visitor center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where astronauts train and missions are run. It’s packed with real spacecraft, moon rocks and a space shuttle replica sitting on top of the jumbo jet that once carried the real ones.
The tram tour takes you onto the Johnson Space Center campus itself. The Historic Mission Control tour, which takes you into the room where the Apollo moon landings were guided, is a separate ticket with very limited space, so book it online at least two weeks ahead.
It’s about 25 miles southeast of downtown, and these things to do in Houston can round out the visit.
14. Stroll The Strand In Galveston
The Strand is the historic heart of Galveston, a few blocks of grand 1800s buildings about an hour from Houston. They’re full of shops, candy stores, restaurants and bars today.
Galveston was hit by the hurricane of 1900, still the deadliest natural disaster in United States history, and the story of how the island rebuilt is everywhere once you start looking.
From there, it’s a short trip to the Seawall and the beach, and the rides on the Pleasure Pier run on a limited schedule outside summer. For more of the Gulf Coast, see these Texas beach towns.
15. Drive The Wild Beach At Padre Island National Seashore
Padre Island National Seashore protects more than 60 miles of North Padre Island near Corpus Christi, and it’s the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world.
Past the paved roads, you can drive right down the beach, though the farther stretches need four wheel drive. It’s a place for shell hunting, fishing, camping on the sand and watching the stars with almost nobody around.
In summer, the park releases baby Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, the most endangered sea turtles in the world, and some of those releases are open to the public early in the morning. The park posts updates as the season goes.
16. Hike The Chisos Mountains In Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park is a long way from anywhere, and that’s a big part of its magic. It takes in desert, river canyons along the Rio Grande and the Chisos Mountains, which rise straight up out of the middle of it.
The Chisos Basin is the place to start. The Lost Mine Trail climbs to big views over the mountains, and the Window View Trail is a short, easy walk to one of the best sunsets in the park.
The park is about six hours from El Paso and seven or more from San Antonio, so plan on at least two nights, either at the Chisos Mountains Lodge or in nearby Terlingua, an old mining ghost town. Go between fall and spring, since summer in the desert is brutal.
Flash floods can close roads here, including the one to Santa Elena Canyon, so check the park’s conditions page before you go.
17. Go To A Star Party At McDonald Observatory
West Texas has some of the darkest skies in the country, and McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains near Fort Davis is the place to see them. Its public star parties set up telescopes outside and guide you across the night sky.
The evening programs often sell out around holidays and school breaks, so book tickets ahead.
The drive up through the Davis Mountains is gorgeous in its own right, so try to arrive while it’s still light.
18. Look For The Marfa Lights
Nobody has fully explained the Marfa Lights, the glowing orbs people have reported seeing on the horizon east of Marfa for more than a century.
There’s an official viewing area on Highway 90 about 9 miles east of town. Go after sunset, give your eyes time to adjust and don’t count on a show, since plenty of nights bring nothing but stars.
Marfa itself is a tiny desert town that became an unlikely art destination, thanks to artist Donald Judd and the Chinati Foundation he started. Its Artillery Sheds, home to Judd’s 100 aluminum works, close for a restoration from October 2026 until about 2029, so check what’s open before planning a visit around them.
19. Stand On Top Of Texas At Guadalupe Peak
Guadalupe Peak is the highest point in Texas at 8,751 feet, inside Guadalupe Mountains National Park near the New Mexico line.
The trail to the top is about 8.4 miles round trip with around 3,000 feet of climbing, so plan on six to eight hours. A steel pyramid marks the summit, and the view takes in the desert for miles.
Start early, carry plenty of water and watch the forecast, because the wind up top can be fierce. In fall, the easier trail into McKittrick Canyon is the pick, when its maple trees turn red and gold.
20. Sled Down The Dunes At Monahans Sandhills
Monahans Sandhills State Park is a surprise sea of sand dunes in the middle of West Texas, and some of them stand as tall as 70 feet.
Rent a plastic sand disc at the park headquarters and sled straight down the slopes. It’s every bit as fun for adults as it is for kids.
The park often reaches capacity on busy days, so reserve a day pass ahead, and come in the morning or evening when the sand isn’t scorching.
21. Hike Palo Duro Canyon
Palo Duro Canyon is often called the second largest canyon in the United States, carved deep into the flat Texas Panhandle south of Amarillo.
The Lighthouse Trail is the classic hike, about 5.5 miles round trip to a tall rock formation that looks just like its name. In summer, the outdoor musical TEXAS plays at an amphitheater right in the canyon.
Heavy rain and wildfire risk can close trails, so check the park’s alerts before you go. On the way, stop at Cadillac Ranch west of Amarillo, where a row of old Cadillacs sits half buried nose first in a field under layers of spray paint.
How To Plan Your Trip With This Texas Travel Guide
The biggest thing to plan around is distance. San Antonio to Austin is about an hour and a half, Austin to Dallas is about three hours, and Houston to San Antonio is about three more. Big Bend is another story, at roughly seven to eight hours from San Antonio.
Texas is best seen in pieces rather than all at once. San Antonio and the Hill Country pair up nicely for a week, Dallas and Fort Worth make an easy base for North Texas, and West Texas deserves a trip of its own with a few nights near Big Bend.
Spring is the best all around season, with mild weather and wildflowers from March into May. Summer is scorching inland, so it’s a better time for the coast and the rivers, and it’s when the sunflower fields in Texas bloom. Hurricane season on the coast runs from June through November.
Fall through early spring is the sweet spot for West Texas, when the desert is actually pleasant to hike.
Popular Texas state parks sell out, especially on weekends and holidays. Day passes can be reserved up to 30 days ahead through Texas Parks and Wildlife, and parks that reach capacity stop letting in visitors without one.
Two famous swimming holes near Austin come with a warning. Hamilton Pool Preserve takes reservations only and often closes to swimming, and swimming at Jacob’s Well in Wimberley has been suspended for years, so check both before building a day around a swim.
If you’re driving between Houston and San Antonio, the painted churches of Texas make an easy and beautiful detour.
Final Thoughts
Texas is too big to see in one trip, and that’s the best thing about it. There’s always another region to come back for, whether that’s the Hill Country in spring or the desert mountains out west in winter.
Use this Texas travel guide to pick a region, then give yourself more time on the road than you think you’ll need. The drives between these places to visit in Texas are part of the adventure.
Start with the River Walk, save a clear night for the stars out west, and don’t leave without seeing at least one longhorn.
