Dallas travel articles

Few American cities carry as much historical weight as Dallas — the place where President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963 — yet the city has quietly built one of the largest urban arts districts in the United States alongside that legacy. These guides cover the city’s most rewarding museums, its most historically significant sites, and the best road trips to make if you’re using Dallas as a base.

JFK, presidential history and Dallas’s defining moment

Dealey Plaza in the west of downtown is where President Kennedy was shot on 22 November 1963, and the area is preserved with uncomfortable precision — the grassy knoll, the triple underpass, and the building above it all remain largely as they were. The Sixth Floor Museum occupies the former Texas School Book Depository and contextualises the assassination and its aftermath with considerable care. Across town on the Southern Methodist University campus, the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum provides an unusually candid account of the 43rd presidency, while Fair Park’s Hall of State — one of Texas’s grandest Art Deco civic monuments — offers free entry and a broader sweep of state history.

• What to expect at the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza — prices, parking and how long to allow.
• How to combine Southfork Ranch with Dallas’s JFK assassination sites in one efficient day.
• The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the SMU campus: what to see and how to plan your visit.
• Ticket prices, hours and access tips for the Hall of State in Fair Park.

The Dallas Arts District

The Dallas Arts District is one of the largest contiguous urban arts districts in the United States, and unusually accessible — the Dallas Museum of Art offers free general admission to its permanent collection, which spans 5,000 years and includes strong holdings in American, pre-Columbian and European art. Immediately adjacent, the Nasher Sculpture Center displays major modern and contemporary pieces in a garden designed by Renzo Piano, while the Crow Museum of Asian Art completes the district’s trio with objects ranging from ancient Indian sculpture to Japanese decorative arts. On the SMU campus a short drive south, the Meadows Museum holds one of the finest collections of Spanish art outside Spain — Goya, Velázquez and Zurbarán among them.

• Free general admission and what to prioritise at the Dallas Museum of Art.
• Booking tips and what to expect at the Nasher Sculpture Center.
• Ticket prices, hours and highlights at the Crow Museum of Asian Art.
• Spanish masters in Texas: a guide to the Meadows Museum on the SMU campus.

Science, nature and seeing the city from above

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science near Victory Park is one of Dallas’s most visited attractions and earns that status — its geology and energy halls in particular are genuinely impressive, though some floors reward children more than adults. Fair Park is home to the Texas Discovery Gardens, a free butterfly house and native plant garden that makes a good hour’s stop, and the African American Museum of Dallas, one of the few institutions in the southern United States dedicated to the preservation of African American cultural and artistic heritage. For a straightforward view of the city’s scale, the Reunion Tower Ge-O Deck puts Dallas’s sprawl into perspective from 470 feet up.

• Which exhibits justify a visit to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science — and which floors to prioritise.
• Ticket prices, opening hours and parking for the Dallas Zoo.
• The Texas Discovery Gardens and African American Museum of Dallas — Fair Park’s two most rewarding free attractions.
• Ticket prices, hours and tips for the Reunion Tower Ge-O Deck.

Road trips from Dallas

Dallas sits at the junction of several major interstate corridors, making it a natural hub for drives across north and central Texas. The route south to Austin passes through Waco and the Texas Hill Country; west to Amarillo cuts across the vast plains of the Panhandle; east leads to the piney woods of East Texas and across into Arkansas. These guides cover the best stops on each route — not just what’s there, but which stops justify the detour and which are better skipped.

Drives within Texas

• Best stops on the Dallas to Amarillo drive.
• Best stops on the Dallas to Austin drive.
• Best stops on the Dallas to Galveston drive.
• Best stops on the Dallas to Houston drive.
• Best stops on the Dallas to Lubbock drive.
• What to see arriving from within Texas: Abilene to Dallas, Conroe to Dallas, Marshall to Dallas and Texarkana to Dallas.

Drives from neighbouring states

• Best stops on the Dallas to Hot Springs, Arkansas drive.
• Best stops on the Oklahoma City to Dallas drive.
• Best stops on the Little Rock to Dallas drive.
• Best stops on the Wichita to Dallas drive.
• Best stops on the Dallas to Memphis drive.

Why Dallas deserves more than a layover — if you’re transiting through DFW, here’s the case for staying a day or two.