What to do in Texas

[mismomary]

I have distant family in Texas, they are rural, I think about an hour from Austin. I'm considering taking my family (2 teens) to visit. But it's a long way to go to see my relatives. So I'm thinking maybe four or five days with them but another week or so doing other things in Texas. Maybe Dallas? I don't want the Texan relatives to know yet that I'm considering the trip so I can't ask them.

So if you know Texas can you please help... what else is there to do with teens in the middle of Texas?

San Antonio has SeaWorld and Houston has the NASA space centre. What time of year are you thinking of going? There are rodeos in most of the big cities in around February time. If it’s their first trip to the USA, they’ll probably want to see baseball or American football.

Not Dallas!
Could you spend a few days with your relatives and then fly to a different part of the US? So London - Austin - New York or something like that?
Texas is huge and I am not sure offers as much as another state would.

Austin is a fab city - has a big film festival, loads of music venues and you can walk/cycle all the way way round the lake, do paddle boarding and visit the Bat Bridge/ do boat trips. And great food!

you can also visit the Capitol building

Omg NASA! This goes straight to the top of the list. And an American football game. Yessssss thank you! We would be going in October.

Ok so not Dallas but I quite like the idea of getting to a smaller city like Austin.

I think taking additional internal flights eg to New York would be too expensive.

Austin film festival is in October! That might actually work! Ok getting excited now.

What's wrong with Dallas @LarkspurLane ?

You could quite happily fill a couple of weeks with Austin, San Antonio, the Hill Country and Houston / Galveston.

Dallas has the Perot museum of natural
sciences (which is very good), JFK memorial and Book Depository Sixth Floor museum, an aquarium and a large museum of art. It’s fine for a couple of days if you fly into DFW. Waco is also an interesting place for a stopover on the way south.

There are several sets of caves in the Hill Country that you can visit - some of them do more adventurous tours. Fredericksburg is a pretty town with German heritage and has beer halls serving traditional German food and steins of beer, and nearby Enchanted Rock is a good day out if you like a bit of hiking.

Houston is vast - NASA at Clear Lake used to be out on its own, now it’s been absorbed into the city. You’ll need to do the tour if you want to see anything (you used to be able to wander around a bunch of rockets for free), you can visit a space shuttle and Mission Control.

The free tour at the State Capitol in Austin is really good, you can wander round a lot of the building and sit in the gallery and watch debates if the chambers are sitting.

You’d be lucky to get football tickets - the stadium at Austin is one of the largest in the world and it’s still almost impossible to get a ticket for a game. Ice hockey would be a better bet - the season starts in October.

Wow Sabrina thank you so much this is fantastic information. I nearly suggested ice hockey then thought that it wouldn't be a Texan sport!

I've heard of Fredericksburg, think the relatives must have talked about it. Definitely our kind of place.

I'm going to try to price it all up and figure out logistics.... EXCITED!

Austin City Limits Festival is in October - https://www.aclfestival.com/

We lived in Austin for a few years and you could happily spend a few days - between the malls, Ice hockey games and football games "Go Longhorns". The university has got a lot of history too, so well worth a wander. And as other posters have said there s San Antonio - visits to the Alamo, a river boat ride. San Marcos is a huge factory outlets for shopping. And enough authentic BBQ and TexMex places to last a life time.

They have great vineyards, and there's a really small place, "Lukenbach" I think, where people spontaneously gather to play music outside. Gulf of Mexico has a beautiful coastline...

Ignore me re Lukenbach. I just googled it, it's been decades since I was there and it no longer has that much happening.

Definitely spend some time in Austin if they’re near there, fab city. The Capitol building, LBJ presidential library, bat bridge. Some good food places too.

A ranch might be fun, there are lots around Bandera.

Hill country- Fredericksburg, Luckenbach, Greene, Wimberley, Tubing on the Guadalupe river.

San Antonio is a very small town but if you’re nearby a quick stroll along the river walk or trip to the Alamo is interesting (but it’s very small!)

Coastal- south padre island - but that’s very far south so not as accessible.
Galveston has its own charm, but don’t expect miles of beautiful beach. Easy to combine this with Houston and NASA. Houston as a city not the best holiday destination but quite good for sports (baseball, basketball, football), and it’s nice around Hermann park for the zoo and museum district. Then NASA and access to Galveston.

I like Dallas - again, small quite compact city. The book depository is interesting, and other good museums. Nearby Fort Worth is fun for a wander too.

Waco is an interesting small town as a detour between Houston and Dallas, Magnolia market was always quite popular.

You’d need a lot of time to do all that properly though!

Anyone planning a Texan road trip should add in Big Bend NP and Big Bend Ranch SP - spectacular scenery and great hiking.

Don't underestimate driving time though - Texans always say that measure distances in hours, not miles. Having said that, avoiding the interstates and wandering the back roads shows a different side of Texas.

I’ll add Brazos Bend SP to things to do in Houston - pretty walks and you’d be unlucky not to spot a few alligators.

Oh yes, good call on Big Bend- I couldn’t remember the name. It is a long drive though!
Brazos bend also a good call- you can see snakes and often baby alligators in the nature center too.
If you wanted to go to another state but couldn’t afford internal flights then New Orleans is drivable from Houston (about 6 hours depending on traffic) and a fun place to visit

This is all wonderful thank you 🤩