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Texas – All the Information about the Lone Star State

The state of Texas is the second largest in the USA and one of the most fascinating and unique cultural expanses in North America. The Lone Star State is a well-known concept of cowboy plains, especially rich Texas beef, rugged people, and a lot of Mexican touch spilling over from the southern border. The eastern part of Texas is industrialized and populated, home to two of the five largest cities in the USA – Houston and Dallas. The city of San Antonio is the most attractive travel destination among the big cities, with its ancient Spanish history and vibrant and thrilling city center. South Texas is characterized by the stunning beaches of Padre Island National Seashore, and to the west, up the Rio Grande Valley, a series of large cities with a Mexican flair such as Laredo and El Paso. The national parks of West Texas complete an American experience of stunning desert landscapes and impressive ranges, gigantic steaks, cowboys with a rolling accent, and plenty of open spaces.

הפארק הלאומי הרי גוואדלופה בטקסס
The cliffs of El Capitan in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

How Many Days are Needed for a Trip in Texas?

For a trip across Texas, you need between one to two weeks, both in the cities and in the countryside.

 

15 Must-See and Do Things in Texas

  1. Ancient American history and amusement parks in San Antonio
  2. Contemporary American history in Dallas
  3. Cowboys at Sundance Square in the heart of Fort Worth
  4. The Space Center and excellent museums in Houston
  5. Vacation in Galveston
  6. German festivals in New Braunfels and Fredericksburg
  7. The monumental Capitol building in Austin
  8. Texas wildlife at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
  9. View of the aircraft carrier Arlington in Corpus Christi
  10. Stunning white sand beaches on Padre Island
  11. Crossing the Rio Grande to Mexico in El Paso and Laredo
  12. Astronomical observations at Fort Davis
  13. Breathtaking views of ridges and cliffs at Guadalupe Mountains National Park and a visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico
  14. Thrilling road trip on the highway crossing Big Bend National Park
  15. Buddy Holly Hall of Fame in Lubbock

 

What is Texas?

Texas is the second largest state by area in the union after Alaska and the second most populous, after California. The state's size is nearly 700 thousand square kilometers, making it the largest in the contiguous United States. About 30 million people live in Texas, the vast majority in its eastern part, in the three major metropolitan areas – Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and San Antonio.

The state is home to two of the five largest metropolitan areas in America – the Dallas-Fort Worth area has more than eight million residents, and the Houston metropolitan area has about seven million. Houston and Dallas are also the fourth and fifth largest cities in the US, respectively. The large urban cluster of the eastern triangle also includes the capital of Texas, Austin.

  • Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State, a moniker that commemorates the state's iconic flag, which was also for a brief time an independent nation.
  • The vast prairies of Texas were once inhabited by Native American tribes whose way of life was disrupted by the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century. The Spanish and French tried to settle in the territory, but only in 1718 was the first Spanish settlement established, in the mission of San Antonio or the Alamo (cottonwood trees), the nucleus of today's San Antonio.
  • With the independence of Mexico in 1821, Texas came under the control of the new nation. The Mexicans abolished the Spanish law that prohibited land purchases by non-Spanish, which led to a massive influx of land buyers from the United States Union, who seized large areas. The tension from these waves of migration led to the Texan Revolution in 1835 and the famous Battle of the Alamo, where the Texans were defeated in San Antonio, only as a prelude to their great victory at the Battle of San Jacinto under the leadership of Sam Houston (after whom the city built immediately afterward was named).
The Texas Capitol building in Austin
The Texas Capitol building in Austin

The turbulent history of Texas in the Union

Independent Texas was a southern state where slavery was legal. Due to border disputes with Mexico, in 1845, Texas joined the Union as the 28th state. Its admission to the USA led to the Mexican-American War during which all the southwestern states of the USA – New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and of course, California were annexed to the Union.

  • Texas seceded from the Union in 1861 and joined the Confederacy, meaning the South, during the American Civil War.
  • With the South's defeat, it returned to the Union in 1870 but was heavily impacted during the war and underwent a long period of reconstruction.
  • In 1901, huge oil deposits were discovered in the state and the Gulf of Mexico that led to its rapid growth. The important city of Galveston was destroyed by a hurricane in 1900, but new cities quickly emerged in its place, mainly Houston and Dallas.

Today's Texas is an important cultural center of America, combining cowboy and Wild West culture with industrial development and significant wealth. The city of Houston is the center of the American Space Agency and the hub of American oil production along with Alaska. The state has always been a part of the cattle raising culture, which is why it's also associated with the cowboys.

 

Map of Texas

 

How to get to Texas?

How to fly to Texas?

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)

Dallas-Fort Worth Airport is considered one of the largest airports in the USA. It is the home base and headquarters of the American aviation giant American Airlines, making it one of the busiest airports in the USA, primarily for connecting flights. The airport was built at the end of the 1960s within the developing metropolis, halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth. The airport has five terminals and is connected to all regional and beyond airports within the USA, Canada, and Mexico, as well as all major airports in Europe and the Far East.

The airport is just a fifteen-minute drive both east to downtown Dallas and west to the center of Fort Worth. There is public transportation from the airport that is not recommended because it's slow and passes through places you wouldn't want to reach. So, to get to the cities – either rent a car or take a taxi (or Uber). Between the airport and the city center is also Dallas's old airport – Love Field (DAL) Dallas Love Field, which still receives flights from major airports in the USA.

 

George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) – The international airport of the Houston metropolitan area is one of the largest in the USA and serves as one of the main hubs for the American aviation giant United Airlines. The airport is connected to all major airports in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, as well as all regional airports in the central and western parts of the United States. The airport also has flights from major airports in Europe, the Far East, and the Middle East.

The airport is located forty kilometers north of downtown Houston, just a twenty-five minute drive away. You can reach the city center with bus number 102. The airport has five terminals and is one of the largest in the USA in terms of area. It is a relatively new airport, built after Hobby Airport in the city center became too small to handle the high passenger traffic.

Dallas Love Field Airport and the downtown area of the city
Dallas Love Field Airport and the downtown area of the city

William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) – Houston's historic airport is located in the southeast part of the metropolis, a short drive from downtown. It was the city's historic airport until the opening of the giant airport to the north in 1969. The airport serves as a hub for Southwest Airlines and connects Houston with all major airports in Texas, the southern USA, and the Midwest.

 

San Antonio International Airport (SAT) – SAT is the modest airport of San Antonio (compared to the giant airports of Houston and Dallas), but it serves the city's tourism flow optimally. The airport is located in the northwest part of the city and serves as a secondary hub for Southwest Airlines. San Antonio has flights from all major airports in the USA and a wide variety of Mexican airlines connecting the city with major cities south of the border. The airport is connected to downtown with direct metropolitan bus lines, lines 5 and 7, which reach downtown in about a fifteen-minute drive.

 

Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) – The international airport of Austin is located in the southeastern part of Texas's capital. It is a relatively large airport serving as a hub for Southwest Airlines. The airport offers flights from all major airports in the USA, Canada, and also from Mexico.

 

How to get to Texas by car?

Texas is the most distinctive combination in the USA of the Deep South with the warm and cultural western parts (Wild West culture). The large state spans the Deep South of the USA – with Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to the east. The eastern part of Texas is the most densely populated and developed, while its western part is desert.

Access to Texas is part of the access to the Deep South, with Interstate 10 being the central route connecting Texas with New Orleans and North Florida to the east and with Phoenix to the west. Parallel to it, to the north, Interstate 20 connects Atlanta in Georgia with the large Dallas-Fort Worth metropolis. Interstate 35 connects Texas with its northern neighbor, Oklahoma.

A highway in Big Bend National Park in Texas
A highway in Big Bend National Park in Texas

 

When is it best to visit Texas?

The weather in Texas, much like all aspects of the state, is a combination of southern tropical climate like in Florida and Louisiana and vast almost desert-like expanses in the western parts of the state. Large parts of Texas enjoy the tropical-desert seam, sometimes hot and dry, sometimes hot and very humid but mostly not cold.

  • If traveling in the eastern part of Texas, where the large metropolitan areas of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin are, it's better to visit from late fall to late spring. Summer in eastern Texas is hot and humid, with humidity reminiscent of Florida, and air conditioning is a must. The summer is relatively rainy, mainly due to humidity release in the late afternoon.
  • Traveling in the western parts of Texas is perfect during the winter months when it is cool and pleasant, and not too rainy.
  • Summer in Texas is very tough no matter where you are traveling, with high temperatures and either very humid or very dry with a blazing sun.
  • Spring and fall months in Texas are usually relatively rainy, especially in the fall, but not to the extent of needing to change plans (unless a hurricane is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico).
Rio Grande River in Texas
Rio Grande River in Texas

 

How to Plan a Travel Itinerary in Texas?

Texas is a vast state and traveling through it requires sectional trips. The eastern part of the state is densely populated compared to the western desert area. The urban travel route in Texas includes the three large metropolitan areas of Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and San Antonio. Within the triangle is also the state capital, Austin. A large portion of Texas's population resides within the triangle, and almost everything there is to do in the state is located there.

The trip to the three large metropolitan areas can also be separate from the rest of the state, and it's advisable to dedicate at least a full day of travel to each city. From Houston, you can embark on a travel route in the southern part of Texas, along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico where the resort town of Galveston and further south to the Aransas National Park and Corpus Christi. South from Corpus Christi stretch the magnificent beaches of the giant Padre Island, with the resort town of South Padre Island in its southern part.

From the southern tip of Texas, climb along the Rio Grande path to Laredo, the Big Bend National Park, and up to Fort Davis. From Fort Davis, you can continue to El Paso or head north to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park and the crazy stalactite caverns of the Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. From the caverns, you can proceed to Lubbock, Texas's musical city (birthplace of Buddy Holly), and from there to the canyon and the mighty canyon nearby and to the desert city of Amarillo (yellow in Spanish).

Big Bend National Park in Texas
Big Bend National Park in Texas

 


 

San Antonio San Antonio

San Antonio is the most historically important city in Texas and one of the cornerstones in building the American ethos. Historically, the city is known as the site of the Battle of the Alamo, the fortress (formerly Mission San Antonio) where all the Texan rebels were killed and which has become one of the symbols of the entire USA. The fortress is located in the heart of the city's downtown, near the popular River Walk promenade. Nearby the promenade is also the Tower of the Americas, a needle tower from the sixties with a stunning view of the city, as well as the restored streets of La Villita.

Today's San Antonio is an empire of American domestic tourism, with the amusement parks of SeaWorld and Six Flags Fiesta also attracting a massive number of travelers and tourists.

For all the information on traveling to San Antonio, click here…

דאונטאון סן אנטוניו ומגדל האמריקות
Downtown San Antonio in Texas

New Braunfels

The small and touristic city of New Braunfels is part of the San Antonio tour. The city is located a 35-minute drive from downtown San Antonio and is a great place for a day trip, almost an escape abroad. New Braunfels is named after a small town in Germany north of Frankfurt, and the reason for this is the settlement of Germans from the city's vicinity in Texas in the mid-19th century.

The center of New Braunfels is a stunning blend of Texas with Germany, both in its architecture and in the character of its residents. The heart of this small town is the Main Plaza, surrounded by shops, German restaurants, bakeries like those in Berlin, popular pubs, and more. The city is the hub of the famous Polka Festival held in August and the Wurstfest, a sausage festival held at the beginning of November.

 

Fredericksburg

Similar to New Braunfels, Fredericksburg is a lively German Texan city where one can experience the combined culture of the Wild West with what feels like a German colony. The city is home to about ten thousand residents and is also a favorite day trip destination from San Antonio, located an hour's drive from downtown.

The center of Fredericksburg is Main Street where a dense row (on a wide boulevard) of German beer houses, German restaurants, and everything that combines Texas with Germany is located. On Main Street, you'll also find the Marktplatz von Fredericksburg, the venue for the traditional Oktoberfest held every October in the small city, one of the favorite attractions for Texans.

Downtown Austin, Texas
Downtown Austin, Texas

Kerrville

The small city of Kerrville is home to 25,000 people, located an hour's drive northwest of downtown San Antonio. The city is situated along the banks of the Guadalupe River. The main attraction in the city is The Museum of Western Art, which showcases the best of Texas artists. Kerrville is a very sleepy town that comes alive in the spring when crowds flock to the famous Polka Festival held at Quiet Valley Ranch, just south of the town center.

 

Austin

The city of Austin is the capital of the state of Texas and the fourth largest city in the state after Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. The city itself has about one million residents, with an additional 900,000 in its metropolitan area. Austin's metropolitan area almost meets that of San Antonio. It lies on Highway 35 on the route from San Antonio to Dallas and is an hour's drive between the two downtowns. Austin's metropolitan area is an important part of the large Texan Triangle, the populated region in the east with vertices of San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. The city lies on the path of the Texas Colorado River (not to be confused with the Colorado River to the west of the Rockies) which flows into the Gulf of Mexico south of Houston.

Austin was founded in 1835 during the Texas Revolution and was built to serve as the capital of the new state. Ten years later, it was annexed to the United States along with the entire state of Texas. It is named after Stephen Austin, known as the Father of Texas, as the leader of the settlement of Union citizens in territories that were then part of Mexico.

Lake Travis near Austin, Texas
Lake Travis near Austin, Texas

Touring Austin

The most important, well-known, and monumental building in Austin is, befitting Texan pride, the Texas Capitol building, which marks the northern end of downtown. The building is designed like any American capitol (based on the construction plan of the Massachusetts State House in Boston), but it is much larger. The structure was completed in 1888 and is adorned with a light pink granite dome nearly a hundred meters tall. Around the building is a large park with monuments to the most important Texans.

The dome of the building dominates all the downtown streets of Austin and the city's main avenue – Congress Avenue. On the avenue are several museums such as the Texas Toy Museum and Arcade, the Mexic-Arte Museum, and the Contemporary Austin – Jones Center for modern art. The heart of downtown is the intersection of Congress Avenue with Sixth Street, the city's entertainment avenue, where bars and restaurants are housed in tightly packed wooden buildings with restored facades from the Wild West era.

Between the Capitol building and the University of Texas campus is the Bullock Texas State History Museum. Adjacent to it is the wonderful Blanton Museum of Art, featuring paintings by important European artists. Within the campus is the Texas Science & Natural History Museum. Overlooking the campus from the west is the giant UT Tower, completed in 1937, with a height of about 92 meters. On August 1, 1966, the tower became the site of a massacre when Charles Whitman, a sniper positioned at its top, shot and killed about 17 people on the campus grounds, in one of the most infamous mass shootings in the USA.

Heading north from Austin to Dallas (which is also famous for a very notorious assassination, that of President Kennedy) on I-35, you pass by the city of Waco. Waco also has a place of notoriety in the darker sides of the US, with the 82 victims of the Branch Davidians, led by David Koresh, who perished in the siege on their compound in 1993.

Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas

 

Dallas

Dallas is the most modern city in Texas and the largest metropolis in the Lone Star State. It is a new city with very little history from the past but a lot of modern American history post-World War II. Unfortunately for Dallas, it was the site of one of America's deep wounds, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

The assassination of the president in downtown Dallas is a very significant part of the city's public fabric and is very present during a tour of the city. Aside from the Kennedy-related sites, the city has an art museum with a rare quality collection, an iconic tower with a view over the city, and many professional sports teams worth watching during the season.

For all information about traveling in Dallas, click here…

 

Fort Worth

The city of Fort Worth is an integral part of the massive Dallas metropolis, considered the fourth largest city in the entire USA. Unlike the modern and rather impersonal Dallas, whose downtown is a short drive to the east, Fort Worth offers a more historical atmosphere and is much more tourist-friendly.

The city was historically known as the center of Texas cattle trade, and to this day, cattle auctions are held in the Stockyards district, north of downtown. The center of Fort Worth, the Sundance Square district, has become a kind of Disneyland of the Wild West, with an accurate reconstruction of the city from more than a hundred years ago. Around the square, there are reconstructions of old taverns, large theaters, cowboys, and all the fun of the Wild West.

Click here for all the information on traveling in Fort Worth…

Buffalo Bayou River in Houston
Buffalo Bayou River in Houston

 

Houston

Houston is the fourth largest city in the USA, but unlike the three larger ones, it does not have an intriguing downtown. Houston compensates for the lack of a center with a variety of great attractions such as excellent museums, parks full of attractions, and especially the Space Center, NASA’s official visitor center, and one of the most unique places in all of Texas. Slightly south of Houston, on the lovely Gulf of Mexico coast, is the city of Galveston, once the commercial center of Texas that was destroyed by a hurricane in 1900. Today, it is a vibrant and fun resort city with a wide variety of tourist attractions.

Click here for all the information on traveling in Houston…

Galveston

While Houston is a new city sprawling over a vast area, Galveston is indeed a separate city but functions somewhat as the historical center of Houston itself. Galveston is located in the southeastern part of the Houston metropolitan area, about a fifty-minute drive from downtown. Between the two cities there is a continuum of suburbs and cities that have all been engulfed by the metropolitan area. Galveston at the end of the 19th century was the main and most important city in all of Texas, even before Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas developed.

The city came to a halt by the hurricane of September 8, 1900, known as the Hurricane of 1900, considered the deadliest ever to hit the United States. It killed about ten thousand people, most of them when it made landfall in Galveston. The hurricane destroyed the city, which at that time was the Texan industrial center. The city has not recovered since, but today it is a popular resort city with about fifty thousand residents, not much more than lived there in 1900. The city has undergone significant restoration, with many Victorian mansion houses restored accurately, and it's genuinely enjoyable to drive through the beautiful streets of the city today.

Along the waterfront, in what is called the seawall, is a row of large resort hotels and resorts of the top big American chains. The city is a very popular vacation destination for Texans themselves for domestic tourism and is considered one of the leading resort spots in all southern states.

The pyramids at Moody Gardens in Galveston
The pyramids at Moody Gardens in Galveston

 

Southeast Texas

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

The vast Aransas Wildlife Refuge is located on low wetlands between San Antonio Bay and the waters of St. Charles Bay, a three-hour drive southeast of San Antonio and three hours southwest of Houston. The largest city near the refuge is Corpus Christi to the south, about an hour and a half away. The reserve is composed of boardwalks over the marshes or trails through forests where you can see all the Texan wildlife, including alligators, coyotes, armadillos, and more. It's the perfect observation place for rare bird enthusiasts, led by the towering whooping crane.

Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi is the largest city on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. The city has a population of about three hundred thousand people and is mainly known for the massive presence of the U.S. Navy. The city's deep harbor is unique in that it is protected by a long barrier island that serves as a buffer between hurricane landfall and tidal waves and the harbor itself. Permanently docked in the harbor is the giant aircraft carrier USS Lexington. Near the aircraft carrier is the city's main attraction – the Texas State Aquarium, with a stunning collection of fish and marine mammals typical of the Gulf of Mexico.

Corpus Christi city center in Texas
Corpus Christi city center in Texas

Padre Island

Padre Island is the world's longest barrier island, stretching along the Texas coast from Corpus Christi in the north to nearly the Mexican border. The barrier island is over 180 km long and no more than three kilometers wide. Along the island are naturally stunning white sandy beaches on the shoreline and to the west, a semi-marshy area of shallow lagoons, with exceptionally beautiful and wild nature. The southern lagoon is Laguna Madre (Mother), echoing Padre Island (Father), named after Father José Nicolás Ballí who was granted ownership of the island in the early 19th century.

The place to explore and relax on the long island is the resort town of South Padre Island located at its southern tip. The town has several large resorts for vacationing such as Holiday Inn and private businesses as well as a large water park. It is one of the most popular destinations for students during Spring Break, and thus it is packed with student parties. The town is accessible via the long Queen Isabella Causeway bridge that crosses the lagoon from the city of Port Isabel.

 

Laredo

Laredo is a dusty and rather tough border city located nearly a three-hour drive south of San Antonio. The city sits on the Rio Grande, a beautiful river that, through no fault of its own, has become quite a heated border line. The city is home to about three hundred thousand people, and on the southern bank of the river, another three hundred thousand reside in the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo (on both sides of the border, Spanish is predominantly spoken). The city has two large border crossings right in its center. The heart of the city is the San Agustín Plaza, which became the center of the city when it was founded in 1755. Overlooking the plaza is the city's San Agustin Catholic Cathedral.

El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas

 

West Texas

El Paso

El Paso is a vast desert city that spans the desert side of the Rio Grande, at the border triangle of Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico itself. The city is part of a large metropolis with a border wall at its heart, together with the Mexican city Ciudad Juárez. The connected metropolis has around two and a half million residents, about eight hundred thousand in the American part, but Spanish is the dominant language across the entire area. The center of El Paso is San Jacinto Plaza, where the modern building of the El Paso Museum of Art stands. Downtown El Paso is a blend of an American city with large buildings and orderly boulevards, but with completely Mexican street life, including restaurants, bars, and shops.

 

Fort Davis

Fort Davis began as a strategic military fort built in 1854, on the road between El Paso and San Antonio. Today, the town has nearly two thousand residents who enjoy the most pleasant weather in the western desert region of Texas. The town is situated on a ridge at an elevation of 1500 meters and features desert weather that is cool, with dry air great for breathing. The clear atmospheric conditions and the isolation of the town also made it an astronomical center with the establishment of the McDonald Observatory at the summit of Mount Locke, about a half-hour drive westward.

The central site in the town is the Fort Davis National Historic Site, featuring a period reconstruction from the mid-19th century and the fort that used to be in the town. An hour and a half south of Fort Davis, towards Mexico, above the Rio Grande, is the Big Bend National Park, which offers hiking trails in a particularly breathtaking and desolate landscape, in the canyons descending to the river.

Fort Davis in Texas
Fort Davis in Texas

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Two hours' drive from Fort Davis and almost two hours east of El Paso, lies the stunning Guadalupe Mountains National Park. A trip to the national park is part of a journey that includes the nearby Carlsbad Caverns National Park, about a half-hour drive northeast across the border with New Mexico. The heart of the national park is El Capitan, the southern extension of the ridge that was dramatically cut and created high cliffs prominent above the park's access road. El Capitan is the edge of Guadalupe Peak, the highest peak in Texas, rising to almost 2,700 meters above sea level. Throughout the national park, there are several hiking trails of varying difficulty levels.

For all the latest information on traveling in the national park – warnings, restrictions, and costs, click here…

 

Carlsbad Caverns National Park (New Mexico)

Carlsbad Caverns are the more popular part of a trip in western Texas. The caverns are part of the trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park and are located on the northern slopes of the range, on the side of New Mexico. Travelers in the area usually drive from El Paso through Guadalupe Mountains National Park to reach these unique caverns. These are stunning karstic stalactite caves created by groundwater seepage and salt dissolution within the limestone of the Guadalupe range. The caverns are one interconnected underground system (possibly with many more caves yet undiscovered or detached from the main system) forming the underground system that is likely the largest in the world.

The logistical center of the national park is in Whites City, a twenty-minute drive south of Carlsbad City. The visitor center is a particularly winding fifteen-minute drive from Whites City, up the ridge. From the center, an elevator descends to a depth of 230 meters underground directly to the Big Room, a giant cave of indescribable size. You can also enter the cave via a natural path, following the route discovered in 1901 by the local cowboy Jim White. Visitors can explore the Big Room on their own, but touring the other caves requires local ranger guidance.

For the most current information on visiting the national park – warnings, restrictions, and fees, click here…

The Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico
The Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

Lubbock

Lubbock is the largest city in the western part of Texas, located a five-hour drive west of Dallas. The Texas Tech University, also known as Texas Tech, is situated in the city with forty thousand students who make the city particularly young and vibrant. The city is home to about a quarter of a million residents in a vast rural area that has historically been one of the key centers of Texan cattle raising.

Lubbock is considered a Texan version of Nashville, Tennessee, mainly due to the number of musicians born and active there, with Buddy Holly at the forefront. In the northern part of downtown, you'll find the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences, serving as the unofficial hall of fame for Texan musicians.

 

Canyon

The small city of Canyon lies on the route between Lubbock and Amarillo, above the Palo Duro Canyon to its east, also known as the Grand Canyon of Texas. The canyon is a green oasis in the middle of the yellow and dry plains of Texas. The main attraction in the city is the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, perhaps the most important historical museum in all of Texas. This massive museum houses millions of paleontological, prehistoric, and archaeological exhibits from across western Texas and eastern New Mexico. The museum is part of the West Texas A&M University campus and serves as a very important research site, as well as a popular tourist destination.

A twenty-minute drive north from the mall brings you to Amarillo, a dusty and rugged cattle town known primarily as a cattle trading hub. West of the city on Highway 40, which was once the iconic Route 66, is the Cadillac Ranch where ten Cadillac cars are buried in the sand.

Palo Duro Canyon in Texas
Palo Duro Canyon in Texas

 

Sports and Entertainment Events in Texas

Basketball in Texas

San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs is one of the leading teams in the NBA. The team was founded in 1967 in Dallas and six years later moved to San Antonio, changing its name to the symbol of the Texan cowboy. From the beginning of its activities in the city, it was considered an excellent team and it is very rare for it not to qualify for the league playoffs at the end of the regular season. The team won its first championship title in 1999 under the rare combination of the Twin Towers duo – the veteran David Robinson and the young (at the time) player Tim Duncan. By 2014, the team had won five championships, often led by these two giants.

The team plays at the Frost Bank Center in the east of the city, which was formerly the AT&T Center. The stadium seats 19,000 fans and it is relatively easy to get tickets for games during the season (playoffs are more difficult).

Address of the Spurs' home stadium: Frost Bank Center Dr. 1, San Antonio

Click here to purchase online tickets for the Spurs games on the NBA site…

 

Dallas Mavericks game in Dallas
Dallas Mavericks game in Dallas

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks is one of the best teams currently in the professional basketball league, the NBA. The team was founded in 1980 and has won only one championship, in 2011, led by the German giant Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs, as they are affectionately known, play at the American Airlines Center slightly north of downtown, with a capacity of nearly 20,000 spectators.

Home Stadium Address: Victory Ave. 2500, Dallas

To purchase tickets for Mavericks games on the team's website, click here…

 

Houston Rockets

The Rockets are the distinguished basketball team of Houston and one of the three great pearls of Texas, along with the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. The Rockets also have a very illustrious tradition of victories and legendary playoff games, but the last championships the team won were in 1995, under the leadership of Hakeem Olajuwon, who led the team to its second consecutive (and only) championship titles. The team was established in 1967 in San Diego and moved to Houston about four years later. They play at the Toyota Center in downtown, with a capacity of 18,000 spectators.

Home Stadium Address: Polk St. 1510, Houston

To purchase tickets for Rockets games on the NBA website, click here…

 

Baseball in Texas

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers is the city's baseball team and one of the prominent teams in the MLB League. The team was founded in 1961 in Washington D.C. and moved to Dallas 12 years later. The Rangers were considered one of the weaker teams in the league until they suddenly flourished in the early 2000s. Since 2010, the team reaches the playoffs almost every year and has made it to the World Series three times, winning only once in 2023.

The team plays at the indoor Globe Life Field stadium in Arlington. The stadium has a capacity of over forty thousand spectators, and usually, there is no problem getting tickets for the team's games.

Home Stadium Address: Stadium Dr. 734, Arlington

To purchase tickets for the Rangers' games on the MLB League website, click here…

Minute Maid Park in Downtown Houston
Minute Maid Park in Downtown Houston

Houston Astros

Although the Rockets are considered Houston's flagship team, it's the Astros that have been flourishing in recent years and are considered among the best teams in the American Baseball League, the MLB. The team was founded in 196 in the city under the name Houston Colts, named after the gun, but after three years it changed its name to Astros, after NASA's space center located in the city. The Astros were always considered a weak team, but in the last ten years, they have surprisingly flourished and even won two World Series in 2017 and 2022.

Currently, the team is considered very strong in the baseball league and their games are packed with crowds. The Astros play at Minute Maid Park Stadium (yes… the not-so-fresh competitors of Tropicana), located downtown Houston near the Toyota Stadium. The stadium accommodates 40,000 spectators and is among the few in the league with a roof that can close in case (quite common) it rains in the city.

Home Stadium Address: Crawford St. 501, Houston

To purchase tickets for Astros games on the MLB site, click here…

 

Football in Texas

Dallas Cowboys

If the Mavericks are perhaps the most well-known team in Dallas mainly due to their recent rise, the biggest sports empire in the Dallas metropolis is the formidable Dallas Cowboys football team. The Dallas Cowboys were founded in 1960 and have since become a household name in American sports. The team has won five Super Bowls during its tenure, but it is especially known for its impressive cheerleading squad and is currently the most valuable sports team in the world.

The team plays at the giant AT&T Stadium in Arlington, right in the middle between downtown Dallas and central Fort Worth. The stadium holds more than 80,000 spectators, and despite this, it's hard to get tickets. The team is the darling of the city, and the games are considered an experience (there aren't many games each season).

Home Stadium Address: AT&T Way, 1, Arlington

To purchase tickets for Cowboys games on the team's website, click here…

Cowboys Game in Arlington
Cowboys Game in Arlington

Houston Texans

The Texans are the representative team of Houston in the professional football league NFL. This is the newest team in the professional league, established in 2002 after the departure of the local empire – the Oilers, who moved to Nashville and changed their name to the Titans. The team has yet to achieve exceptional success, but overall, it is quite good and provides excellent games (if you can get tickets). The Texans play at the large NRG Stadium in the southern part of the city, which seats 72,000 spectators.

Home Stadium Address: NRG Pkwy, Houston

To purchase tickets for the Texans' games on the team's website, click here…

 

Hockey in Texas

Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are the representative team of Dallas in the professional hockey league. The team was founded in Minnesota in 1967 and moved to Dallas in 1993. About six years after moving to the city, they also won the Stanley Cup in an unforgettable season. Since then, the team has reached the playoffs several times and even lost the 2020 Stanley Cup. The team plays with the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center north of downtown, which seats almost 20,000 spectators.

Home Stadium Address: Victory Ave. 2500, Dallas

To purchase tickets for the Stars' games on the NHL league's website, click here…