Texas, the country’s second-largest state, is filled with opportunities for fun and adventure. The state is geographically and culturally varied, with a plethora of unique attractions and activities to do. Texas offers a diverse range of holiday options, from cities to coastal beaches, mountains, and deserts.
Check out our list of top tourist sites in Texas for more ideas on where to go and what to see.
1. San Antonio’s River Walk
The River Walk, which runs for many miles along the San Antonio River in the city’s center, is surrounded by restaurants and magnificent outdoor patios where you can sit and dine while watching the river flow by. This pedestrian walkway, which is built below street level and hugs the river as it swirls and weaves through the city, is popular with both locals and tourists, day and night.
2. Space Center Houston
Space Center Houston is one of Texas’ most famous tourist attractions, located about 30 minutes from downtown Houston. This is an excellent site to learn about space exploration, prospective missions, NASA’s most recent projects, and perhaps even meet an astronaut. Johnson Space Center and Mission Control are also located at Space Center Houston and can be visited.
3. The Alamo
The Alamo is one of America’s most important historical landmarks. It was built by Franciscans in 1744 as part of a mission station established in 1718, and by 1836, it had been turned into a fort. It gained notoriety during the Texas Revolution, when a tiny force, including Davie Crockett and James Bowie, barricaded themselves in against a 3,000-strong Mexican army. While all 187 defenders were murdered in the fall, the cry of “Remember the Alamo!” united the state to eventually defeat the Mexicans.
4. Padre Island National Seashore
Padre Island, the world’s longest unspoiled barrier island, is located just south of Corpus Christi and spans 70 miles from end to end. Padre Island is one of Texas’ most important conservation sites, with over 130,000 acres of beach, dunes, and grassland habitats, as well as rare sea turtles and a plethora of migrating birds, making it a birder’s heaven. In fact, 350 different species pass through this migratory stopover on the Central Flyway.
5. Big Bend National Park
Some of the state’s most dramatic and particularly gorgeous scenery can be seen in the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas, on a large bend in the Rio Grande River. Visitors to Big Bend National Park can enjoy a variety of recreational and sightseeing options thanks to the park’s mountains, canyons, and the river that runs along the border between the US and Mexico.
