Must-SeeThe Alamo and San Antonio
Texas
The mission where Texas fought for independence, four more UNESCO-listed missions and the River Walk.
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Texas
21 places and 81 sights on our lists.
Places in Texas
Must-See
Worth a DetourAustin
Texas
The live-music capital, with Texas barbecue, swimming holes and a million bats under a bridge at dusk in summer.
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Worth a DetourBig Bend National Park
Texas
Desert, mountains and the Rio Grande canyons on the Mexican border, with some of the darkest night skies in the country.
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Worth a DetourRoute 66
Illinois to California
The old Chicago-to-Los Angeles highway; its best-kept stretch of diners and neon runs across Arizona.
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Worth a DetourSan Antonio Missions
Texas
Four 18th-century Spanish missions, still active parishes, strung along the river south of the Alamo, with which they form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mission San José is the grandest.
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Worth a DetourSouth by Southwest
Texas
March
Austin's giant music, film and tech festival, with hundreds of free shows around town for non-badge holders.
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Worth a DetourSpace Center Houston
Texas
NASA's visitor center, with a tram to the historic Apollo Mission Control and a full Saturn V rocket.
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If You're NearbyCorpus Christi and Padre Island
Texas
The Texas Gulf's biggest beach city, with a WWII carrier, and the world's longest undeveloped barrier island.
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If You're NearbyDallas
Texas
The JFK story at Dealey Plaza, a large downtown arts district and Tex-Mex, with Fort Worth next door.
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If You're NearbyEl Paso
Texas
A big border city in the desert, in the Franklin Mountains, with the warmest welcome, a tram to the top, and a mission trail older than Texas.
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If You're NearbyFort Worth Stockyards
Texas
Old West cowboy culture, with a longhorn cattle drive down Exchange Avenue, rodeos and honky-tonks.
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If You're NearbyGalveston
Texas
A Gulf island of Victorian mansions, a Pleasure Pier and the story of the deadliest natural disaster in US history, the 1900 hurricane.
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If You're NearbyGuadalupe Mountains National Park
Texas
Texas's highest peak, in a fossil reef from an ancient sea, with brilliant fall color in McKittrick Canyon.
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If You're NearbyHouston
Texas
A huge museum district, Space Center Houston nearby and one of the most varied food scenes in the country.
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If You're NearbyHouston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Texas
About three weeks in late February and March
The world's biggest rodeo, with a major concert after the competition every night.
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If You're NearbyMarfa
Texas
A remote West Texas art town, with Donald Judd's minimalist installations, mysterious lights and the much-photographed Prada Marfa.
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If You're NearbyPalo Duro Canyon and Cadillac Ranch
Texas
America's second-largest canyon, 'the Grand Canyon of Texas', and a line of spray-painted Cadillacs, near Amarillo on Route 66.
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If You're NearbySixth Floor Museum, Dallas
Texas
The former book depository overlooking Dealey Plaza, telling the story of President Kennedy's assassination.
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If You're NearbySouth Padre Island
Texas
A long sandy Gulf island near Mexico, with warm water, a sea turtle rescue and famously busy spring-break crowds.
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If You're NearbyTexas Hill Country
Texas
Rolling hills west of Austin with German-founded towns like Fredericksburg, wineries and spring bluebonnets.
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If You're NearbyWaco
Texas
Chip and Joanna Gaines's Magnolia Market, an ancient mammoth site, Dr Pepper, and the Texas Ranger museum.
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