LaurenWatson

Hi Everyone!

My boyfriend and I have just booked a fairly last minute trip to Texas, using the excuse of visting the US GP in Austin. We are flying into Dallas (from Edinburgh) on 17th October, hiring a car and flying out of Houston on 30th October.

So far our plans look a little like this:

Saturday - arrive in Dallas, pick up our car and find our hotel in Dallas
Sunday - visit the Stockyards in FTW and return to Dallas for the evening
Monday - drive from Dallas to San Antonio with couple of sightseeing stops on the way, spend the evening in San Antonio
Tuesday and Wednesday - time in San Antonio
Thursday - travel to Austin (perhaps with a stop en route) and spend the afternoon/evening there
Friday, Saturday and Sunday - Grand Prix mixed with sightseeing/evenings in Austin
Monday - travel to dude ranch in Bandera (via Fredricksburg) and spend afternoon/evning at the ranch
Tuesday - day at the ranch
Wednesday - travel to Houston or Galveston with stops on the way, evening in Houston or Galveston
Thursday - day at space centre in Houston, evening in Galveston or Houston
Friday - travel home

We are in our early 30s and our aim is to soak up the Texas experience, eat good food, drink beer and generally have fun. We are not too concerned about visiting museums/galleries, etc (we have tonnes of those in Edinburgh!) but don't want to miss anything important. We would love to squeeze in a basketball game or similar.

Essentially, I just wanted to get thoughts on whether this seems like a good itinerary or whether we are missing out something essential. We are slightly stuck in terms of free days as the GP is right in the middle of our trip so dictates where we need to be and when. We did look at Big Bend but, sadly, it would be too much of a journey for any of the days we have between our flights and the GP. Any hints, tips, places to visit on our way would be very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

Lauren

BigRuss

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The NBA season starts at the end of your trip; the preseason will be on during the trip. Go check the Spurs, Rockets and Mavericks' websites (SA's, Houston's and Dallas's teams, respectively) for preseason info. Those games MAY be easier to see than an early regular season matchup.

NHL season (that's hockey - a Canadian import) starts late next week. The only NHL team in Texas is the Dallas Stars but other cities have minor league teams (think second-division football in Scotland or someplace Rangers FC are wallowing). The baseball seasons of both the Rangers (Texas, not Glesca) and Astros should be over and if not it will be because they're still in the playoffs, which will mean the ticket prices will suck.

I think the Stockyards are overrated but if there's a rodeo, that may be fun. Downtown FW is fun. And of course if you have a morbid curiosity, Dallas has the Sixth Floor Museum.

Galveston is a dump. Houston is so large (physically) it makes London look like a village. Be prepared.

San Antonio is about as close to Austin as Glasgow to Edinburgh - there aren't that many places to stop but you can detour to the Natural Bridge Caverns or the Longhorn Cavern State Park. The latter looks cool but we've not been, the former is interesting. If you need anything, there's a ginormous outlet mall thisclose to Austin (in San Marcos). From SA to Houston, you can detour to the Shiner brewery. Texas has been leading the microbrewery explosion that has transformed the beer industry in the US and Shiner was the first microbrewery to gain statewide traction.

FW is either Fort Worth, Ft Worth or FW, not FTW. FTW is an epithet (remember what it means in texting).

longhorn55

You've got a very workable itinerary.

My only suggestion is to eat as much Tex-Mex food and Texas BBQ as you can. Texans are very opinionated about the best Tex-Mex and BBQ, but in Austin my favorite Tex-Mex is at El Mercado (the one on South 1st Street) and my favorite BBQ is at Green Mesquite (Barton Hills Road). The BBQ at the Country Line on the Hill (West Bee Caves Road) is pretty good and the views are amazing. (Note: In Austin, you'll probably hear a lot about Franklin's BBQ. It is way over-rated and not worth the wait.)

happytourist

Coming from Scotland, I assume you're looking for the feel of the old American West. Spending a whole day at the stockyards is really a waste as there actually isn't much to see or do, although there are some interesting shops for boots and other western wear. To extend the day, Fort Worth has some really good art museums: the Kimbell (European and American), the Amon Carter (American West) and the Sid Richardson (Russells and Remingtons, two iconic artists of the American West).

Most tourists want to go to the Sixth Floor Museum in downtown Dallas to see where President Kennedy was killed. The new Perot Museum of Science and Nature is huge--pick one or two floors to explore.

Coming in on Oct 17, you can catch the last day of the Texas State Fair in Dallas. http://www.visitdallas.com/statefair/

AustinTraveler

Between San Antonio and Austin is a small town called Gruene (pronounced Green, because you are in Texas). You'll find cute shops here and the oldest dance hall in Texas, Gruene Hall. Also, if you're hungry the Grist Mill does a mean burger and awesome onion rings.

jamie99

Sounds nice although I would drop Houston, kind of boring IMO. The Alamo is surprisingly small and I enjoyed the boat ride on the river in San Antonio. Touristy yes but hey, I was a tourist.

WickedGood

Have you booked hotels in Austin? The going rate can sometime exceed $500 per night during Grand Prix time. They had to move High School Championships away from there a couple of years ago due to this very reason.

Someone mentioned Franklins is overrated...from a BBQ standpoint I disagree with that completely...from a time management standpoint find something else because the line takes a few hours not worth it on a global vacation.

I would look into Hill Country area and we as a family love Gruene mentioned earlier.

Spend as much time as you can in the Austin area relative to the affordability of lodging, for your interest it is the best place to be.

BigRuss

Well, Dallas would argue that the best BBQ is in this area because . . . Dallas. But honestly, just tap in Texas BBQ and whatever area and you'll get a ton(ne) of suggestions. That said, the only chain BBQ place that is actually decent or better is Rudy's. The rest (Sonny Bryan's, Dickey's, Spring Creek) are just roasted meat and sauce.

volcanogirl

We love Gruene too - charming little town with cute shops, antiques, and eating at the Gristmill on the river. In Galveston, Moody Gardens is fantastic for the aquarium and rainforest pyramid, and there are great historic houses you can tour like the Bishop's Palace. The San Luis and the Galvez (historic) are nice places to stay. While you're in Houston down at NASA, check out the Kemah Boardwalk - you can eat on the water, get drinks, ride rides, etc. Close to Austin is the Salt Lick - fun spot for BBQ, cash only I believe. We love the boat tour of the River Walk in San Antonio. The Rockets are a great team and have a nice arena.

http://gruenetexas.com/
http://gristmillrestaurant.com/
http://www.saltlickbbq.com/pages/Driftwood.html
http://www.moodygardens.com/attractions/
http://www.galveston.com/bishopspalace/
http://www.hotelgalvez.com/
http://www.sanluisresort.com/
http://riosanantonio.com/
http://www.nba.com/rockets/schedule

needmorevacation

If you can, stop in West for Kolaches. Worth the extra minute drive off 35S to the Village Bakery to get the originals (not that the two on the highway are not good too!)
Yum!

My Dad is convinced that the best Fried Chicken in the world is at the Driscoll Hotel in Austin, I love the Salt Lick for BBQ down there.

Stockyards will take all of 20 minutes to see. Shops are cute, but you'll want to find more to do. Their downtown is much nicer than Dallas (and I live in Dallas!) and very walkable.

LaurenWatson

Thank you so much to everyone for the great suggestions! It's great to get some inside information on the things to catch/give a miss.

We will definitely limit our time in the Stockyards and spend more time in Downtown FW, visit the Shiner Brewery, Gruene, West and maybe Natural Bridge Caverns or the Longhorn Cavern State Park. Hopefully we will also arrive in time to catch the Dallas State Fair.

One of the things we are looking forward to most is the food so all of your restaurant suggestions are really helpful. I had read about the Salt Lick elsewhere and it sounds great.

As you said WickedGood, the hotel prices in Austin were crazy so we've booked an AirBnB apartment on S Congress Ave instead. We're visiting more for the experience than the luxury hotel thing so hopefully it will be OK!

We had heard that Houston could easily be left out but it worked well for our flight home and I'm a bit of a space geek so visiting NASA gets a big tick on my to do list!

Thanks, BigRuss, for the sports insight - hopefully whichever team we see will do better than the Glesca Rangers have done in recent years!

BigRuss

It's not the Dallas State Fair, it's the State Fair of Texas.

And it runs until 10-18. You've love it - Scots deep fry dang near anything and so do Texans. It'll be like home, only 20-25F warmer and sunnier.