Texas destinations?

[WDWAurora]

If you were looking to try something new for vacation and go somewhere you had never been, and Texas won, what would you hit? We will have to fly in. We are a family of 4, parents and 13 and 10yo boys. We are pretty active. Right now I’m looking at Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. I suppose we could fly in to one and drive to the other 2 in a big loop, but not sure if we would be better off concentrating on one area. Would love ideas!

 

[tvguy]

Bush Presidential Library. LBJ Presidential Library. Johnson Space Center. Galveston. Battleship Texas Memorial. All of these except the LBJ Library are close to or in Houston. LBJ Library is in Austin.

 

[JaxDad]

Remember the Alamo.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We used to live in Dallas.
Don’t know when you plan to go but it gets really hot in Texas during the summer.
San Antonio is about a 5 hour drive.
I would concentrate on one area if you have a week.
Texas Rangers baseball
Fort Worth Zoo
Fort Worth Stockyards
Six Flags Over Texas
Dallas Arboretum
Fort Worth Science Museum

 

[WDWAurora]

We used to live in Dallas.
Don’t know when you plan to go but it gets really hot in Texas during the summer.
San Antonio is about a 5 hour drive.
I would concentrate on one area if you have a week.
Texas Rangers baseball
Fort Worth Zoo
Fort Worth Stockyards
Six Flags Over Texas
Dallas Arboretum
Fort Worth Science Museum

Yeah, I looked at the temps. It’s about the same as NC actually. Maybe cooler. Both have horrible humidity.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Texas Rangers baseball
Fort Worth Zoo
Fort Worth Stockyards
Six Flags Over Texas
Dallas Arboretum
Fort Worth Science Museum

We did a trip to Texas years ago, and this was pretty much our list. We absolutely loved it!

 

[CynBeth]

We did a Houston and San Antonio 9 or 10 day summer trip about 5 years ago. We rented a car at the Houston airport and returned it to the San Antonio airport.

 

[Dan Murphy]

If you were looking to try something new for vacation and go somewhere you had never been, and Texas won, what would you hit? We will have to fly in. We are a family of 4, parents and 13 and 10yo boys. We are pretty active. Right now I’m looking at Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. I suppose we could fly in to one and drive to the other 2 in a big loop, but not sure if we would be better off concentrating on one area. Would love ideas!

No ideas for you, WDWAurora, but just wanted to say how nice it is to see you! Haven't see you here in ages. And the kids, 13 and 10! Holy moly, I remember when they were born. Time flies.

Anyway, have a great trip, and again, great to see you, WDWAurora.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Hi WDWAurora,
I was born in Texas and so was my mom and so me and my mom are Texas experts and a good Texas city to begin your Texas trip is El Paso because it's a great city and has a lot of history in it and has a great amusement park outside of El Paso called Western Playland and they also have lots of cool shops in the downtown area of El Paso as well. There is also Odessa and Midland which also are great and has historical sites too. My mom and I have been to Texas many times and I was actually born in Odessa but Texas is a great state for vacationing in and if you plan to stay in El Paso a good hotel to stay is the Marriott Residence Inn there and it was my favorite place because it's right next to almost anything in El Paso
Hope you have a great time in Texas
Dodger

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Visit all the Buc-ee’s.

But seriously, San Antonio has a Sea World and a Six Flags. Also Missions and Riverwalk. There is a waterpark nearby. Austin is close.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Big bend NP, Guadalupe Mountains NP, and then if you are allowed to add a second state, cross the NM border to see Carlsbad caverns NP and White Sands NP.

 

[WDWAurora]

No ideas for you, WDWAurora, but just wanted to say how nice it is to see you! Haven't see you here in ages. And the kids, 13 and 10! Holy moly, I remember when they were born. Time flies.

Anyway, have a great trip, and again, great to see you, WDWAurora.

@Dan Murphy , it’s always a pleasure! I’ve been on the cruise board a little, but I haven’t been around much. The boys are getting so big so fast. My oldest is taller than me!

Hope all is well for you and yours.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Waco is a nice stop between Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston or San Antonio - see the Mammoth National Monument and visit the Magnolia store.

I don’t know if there’s enough to do to stay a week at any one Texas metro area, but you could easily fill out two weeks between the three.

 

[mikehn]

Ive driven the Dallas, Austin, San Antonio loop a few times. Get a toll tag, either your own or through the car rental.

 

[anniemae]

We loved San Antonio. The Riverwalk is beautiful, so much to see and do. Some of the stuff we did:

many restaurants on Riverwalk
Boat ride on riverwalk
Alamo
hop on hop off city tour
Seaworld
San Antonio zoo
tower of the americas
witte museum

 

[CaleCakes]

My family moved to Texas about 3 years ago. We live between San Antonio and Austin so we do lots of exploring around these parts. We also like to take road trips and explore other parts of Texas. Depending on what you mean by active would help figure out where to go- does that mean out doorsy like hiking, being on the water, or does that mean historical sites, or amusement parks. For outdoor stuff I would definitely recommend the Hill Country area which is basically between San Antonio and Austin. It is an area you will get hiking, beaches, city life all in relative close proximity. There's many state parks, exploring caves, tubing in rivers. My are younger thatln yours, but some of the things we enjoy, in no particular order:

-Johnson Space Center
-Houston Aquarium
-Houston Natural History Museum and Planetarium
-Galveston (add a few days cruise!)
-Port Aransas beaches (or go further south for better beaches in Brownsville)
-Canyon Lake ( popular between March and October for boating and fishing)
-New Braunfels is famous for tubing
-Wimberley- cute town, blue hole swimming areas
-Just about any lake in the area for boating, camping, fishing, tubing
-Austin for Lady Bird Johnson Park, see the bats emerge from the bridge if you come in the summer
-Fredericksburg for shopping and WWII museum
-Johnson City for LBJ birthplace
-Dallas for the Botanica Gardens, JFK Memorial/Sixth Floor Museum
-Grapevine for cute small town and good eats on main street (best time is around Christmas)
-Palo Duro State Park (called the grand canyon of Texas)
-Monahan Sandhill State park to slide the sand dunes
-Amarillo, Midland, Odessa
-Others mentioned San Antonio for the Riverwalk, Alamo, Sea World etc. Personally I stopped taking out of town visitors to those locations as most in my group find them boring. The Riverwalk is pretty at night I suppose, but i find the area dirty. The Alamo has the history but the site is not what most expect I think. Sea world is a nice park- half day unless doing the water park too.
-Catch a rodeo just about anywhere although some area seasonal it seems
-Hit several Buc-ee's just for fun. The ones in New Braunfels, Bastrop (east of Austin), Denton (Dallas) are huge.
-Blue bonnets blooms mid March- April. They're everywhere and so pretty.

I could go on and on with the things to do in Texas. Clearly it's a big place and it takes a while to get from place to place. I'd say define active and that'll help decide where to focus.

Whatever you decide, enjoy your trip!

 

[kcool]

I live in south Texas. 6th floor museum in Dallas was a favorite for us. Look into Schlitterbahn in New Braunsfels if you like water parks. The San Antonio Zoo and Ft Worth Zoo are our favorites. Galveston is somewhere we like to go. La Kings on the Strand is a must visit if you go to Galveston. We also love the National Seashore near North Padre Island. The bats in Austin and look into Hamilton Pool also. Hope that gives you a few suggestions.

 

[tcufrog]

Given a choice I would do Fort Worth, Austin, the Hill Country and San Antonio. There’s much much more to do in Fort Worth than Dallas. Fort Worth has the Stockyards where you can watch a cattle drive twice a day or hire some horses to ride along the river. There’s also a rodeo there and some great restaurants. The Fort Worth Zoo is considered one of the best zoos in the country. The science museum has one of the few dome IMAX screens in the US. If you are into art, l suggest you visit the 3 art museums nearby. The Amon Carter specializes in Western art and American photography. The Kimbell is considered one of the best small art museums in the US. The original building was designed by the famous architect Louis Kahn and houses the only Michelangelo painting on permanent exhibit in the Americas. If y’all are into pro football I recommend touring Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Start in Fort Worth and go south on I35 to Austin. Some recommend stops are Waco for the Mammoth Monument and West at the Czech Stop for kolaches. At the Mammoth Monument you get to see the paleontological dig of Mammoth nursery herd along with some predators. I highly recommend the Ranger led tour. West is where Czech immigrants settled. Kolaches are delicious sweet and savory Czech pastries.

 

[1GoldenSun]

My family went to a dude ranch in Bandera TX last summer and had a fantastic time. It was incredibly hot (and we're from Florida) but not humid in the least; in fact it was very, very dry. Much easier to take than the Florida humidity. After the dude ranch we rented a house on Lake Austin and did some boating and water sports and had a blast.

The summer before last we took an 8-week trip around the US and while we were in TX we stopped at the Alamo, toured downtown Austin on electric scooters, went to the Johnson Space Center, and I feel like we went to a national park but I may be mistaken.

 

[Dan Murphy]

The boys are getting so big so fast. My oldest is taller than me!

Hope all is well for you and yours.

All is good here, thanks. Hope with you all also. A very Happy and Healthy New Year for you and your family, @WDWAurora