Texas exploring for 18 days

Old May 24th, 2015, 12:08 AM
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Texas exploring for 18 days

Hi wondering if anyone has some ideas for me, arriving in Houston 18th June, will be spending 3 nights there visiting the space center and maybe head to beach for a day. I would like to see as many great places im sure the state has to offer, but what route to take and how many days in each is hard to imagine for someone who has never visited.
Key places are
Mesquite Championship Rodeo on either 26th or 27th june
Austin for 4th of july fire works

maybe stopping at San Antonio, Fort Worth, would love to include some driving to a statepark with awesome views, maybe a hour or some horse riding for a absolute beginner.
Ive seen theres an observatory at Mcdonald, sounds good.

Will have a car for the whole 18 days
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Old May 24th, 2015, 04:38 AM
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Areas of Texas are experiencing horrendous flooding right now. You might want to look into that before you plan your itinerary.
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Old May 24th, 2015, 11:08 AM
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McDonald's Observatory is in far West Texas and should be done only if you plan to see the Big Bend and Marfa area, otherwise it is a tremendous outlier to the rest of the state. I have lived in Texas nearly all my life and I cannot think of 18 days worth of things to do that would be worth the time/value compared to other locations

Hill Country, SA, Austin could have a nice little triangle of things to do and could be a mice 5 day trip
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Old May 24th, 2015, 11:28 AM
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I love the Texas hill country.

Fredericksburg
Enchanted Rock
LBJ ranch
Toobing in Gruene or New Braunfels
Hill country Hyatt San Antonio

I expect any flood waters will subside within one month so you should be ok.
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Old May 24th, 2015, 12:36 PM
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Have been following weather reports about flooding, hopefully in 3weeks it will have dried up a little. My prayers go out to those poor people whose livelihoods and home are damaged.
To wicked good I'm sure a visitor may see more of Texas through exploring ,, it's the unexpected that gives the most pleasures.
The hill country sounds a place I will put on my travels
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Old May 24th, 2015, 10:04 PM
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Far West Texas would be El Paso. With 18 days you definitely have time to visit the Big Bend area for 4-5 days.....Alpine, Fort Davis and Big Bend National Park are well worth the drive.

Texas is a very large state, I cannot imagine running out of things to do in 18 days. I have spent a week in the Big Bend region alone several times and still have much to see in just that region, let alone the rest of the state.
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Old May 25th, 2015, 07:20 AM
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Welcome!
Texas has 5 very different geological areas...so whatever you want: it's all here!
East TX=Piney Woods
As mentioned, there is the Hill Country=(well, that's the perfect description, think: rugged cowboy country, and interesting people with a lot of German influence)
Beach down South--try Surfside
West TX= Desert (and mountains; very beautiful as described!)
North is Plains (You will never have seen anything like the area around Amarillo known as the "Caprock," where you can literally see for miles and miles.... and THEN...especially if you take in the beautiful phenom, Palo Duro Canyon (State Park,) and while there see the outdoor play, "Texas!")

Our cities are full of culture, music, and people from everywhere in the world!
(Since we are a Big Ole' State, we are pretty attached to our vehicles; while available in the cities, public transportation can be tricky)

Anyway, as alluded to, your stay won't be too long, that's for sure!!
Have a Great Time!
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Old May 25th, 2015, 08:10 AM
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As pointed out Texas is a very big state and driving distances between certain points can be quite long and pass through some desolate parts of the sate. That's not necessarily bad but it does mean an awful lot of driving.

Anyway, to get a better idea of drive times between points of interest use Google Maps or Mapquest to plan out your route of travel so you can avoid "backtracking". For instance a loop that takes you from Houston to Galveston for your beach time then to Tyler (East Texas) then to Mesquite (Dallas & Fort Worth) and on to Amarillo followed by El Paso, Austin, San Antonio and finally back to Houston would entail a trip of some 2,100 miles and 32 to 35 hours of actual driving (not including stops for meals, gas, sightseeing along the way, etc.). You may find that long a trip to be "too much".

When we plan driving trips we usually work out an itinerary that has us staying 2 or 3 nights in each location and driving no more than 4 hours between destinations. This gives us plenty of time to enjoy the places we are visiting as well as make stops to for leisurely lunches, see the sights/points of interest along the way and not be totally exhausted from driving. You want to have a memorable trip not a blurry whirlwind spree when the only thing you remember is what the inside of your rental car looks like.

Good luck planning your trip - have fun!
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