My favorite is the Dallas Arboretum. It is pretty large with great views of White Rock lake and downtown. They always have wonderful seasonal displays.

Dallas must see and dos......you must see you way out of that place and do it quickly. What a miserable place.

Southfork Ranch is a RIP OFF. The tour is $15 per person and you hardly get to see anything that was actually used in the TV production other than the swimming pool. By today's standards, the house is small and unimpressive. Save yourself the money and just get a photo taken in front of the ranch gate!<BR><BR>Gray Line does not do city tours of Dallas.<BR><BR>If you want to see an excellent rodeo, the Texas Stampede is at the American Airlines Center at the end of October. Each performance includes a concert by a top country artist! Tickets are on Ticketmaster.<BR><BR>Definitely do a day in Fort Worth! The Stockyards is what people expect to see when they visit Texas. The daily cattle drives go out at 10:30 and come back in at 4:00. Riscky's BBQ is very, very good. Also in Fort Worth are the Kimbell Art museum (excellent) and the Cowgirl Hall of Fame (haven't been yet), as well as several other excellent museums. Sundance Square in downtown FW is very nice, especially in the cool evenings.<BR><BR>And said as a local, you should rent a car in Dallas. Yes, you can get to most places with DART, but not all of the suburbs have it and to change buses, you usually have to go back into downtown Dallas. Yuck! I personally only use the express buses to DFW and the train, especially when going downtown.

People in Dallas will look at you like you have three heads if you use public transit!

Don't think so mister ecks... the DART trains are packed at rush hour, semi-packed the rest of the time. The last time there was a vote, suburbs like Plano voted 78% in favor of the DART rail system.<BR><BR>Nobody wants to drive into downtown Dallas if they can help it.<BR><BR>

Semi packed? Are you kidding? when I was in Dallas last month for a convention the stations were deserted. I rode up to Northpark Mall from downtown and was the only person in my car.

Christie, I have a serious question. Where in Dallas would a tourist want to go that is not easy to get to on DART rail, on foot or by taxi?<BR><BR>The only place I can think of is Fair Park, actually, and there are cheaper ways of getting there than renting a car for 3 days.<BR><BR>Sure, people who live in Dallas drive to a grocery, or to a movie, or to get a haircut. But a visitor doesn't have the same destinations as a local.<BR><BR>For example: a visitor would go to the World Aquarium, the Kennedy Museum, take the McKinney Avenue Trolley uptown, eat at some restaurants in the center, take DART to Mockingbird Station or to NorthPark, or take a taxi from Mock Station to Highland Park.<BR><BR>You get to Northpark very fast on DART, faster than driving, when you count the time parking and unparking.<BR><BR>The West End is downtown, as is Reunion Tower, the fountains at Fountain Place, the new American Airlines stadium, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Crow Asian Art Museum, and the Nasher sculpture museum. <BR><BR>If you visit Fort Worth, you don't want to drive when you can take a train to its downtown, then take those little trolleys to the stockyards and to the Kimbell museum.<BR><BR>Renting a car for three days could cost around $140- $150, including gas, collision damage waiver, parking, tolls. I don't see how it's worth it. <BR><BR>So, why spend the money?

JC, <BR><BR>I ride the train every day and I've never seen an empty car. They're packed at rush hour and about half-full at 8PM. I usually take the train AWAY from downtown and the cars are about half-full.<BR><BR>Before the last extension, the system was getting a ridership of about 40,000 people a day. Now that they've added more stations, the traffic is even heavier.<BR><BR>Basically, I don't know which planet you were on when you were riding.

"me," you're beating this to death...<BR><BR>I was on a DART train at 1pm on a Monday, if I remember correctly. Doesn't matter, though, does it. Point is that some other people may have different opinions than yours.

Christie, another consideration about renting a car.<BR><BR>You need one to drive around suburbs like Plano, Arlington, Carrollton, etc.<BR><BR>Why would a visitor to the city ever want to go to these places?

Too bad you're not a shopper. 'Cuz shopping is most definitely one of the few Dallas "must see & dos". The metroplex ain't exactly one of your major tourist meccas. You really should devote a full day to Fort Worth, especially the museum district and Sundance Square. FW's downtown area has more to offer than Dallas' downtown. <BR><BR>Public transportation? Are you joking? Rent a car.<BR>

JC, the ridership figures are not a matter of opinion. DART knows how many tickets they sell and they keep pretty good figures on their ridership.<BR><BR>If you were on an empty car once, that was definitely an abberation. <BR><BR>I've been riding DART rail for several years now and I have never been on an empty car. I have also been on the system at 1PM.<BR><BR>Perhaps one ride during one visit to the city does not constitute a realistic picture of DART rail traffic?<BR><BR>To get some statistics on ridership, you can go to www.dart.org. <BR>

JBX, downtown Fort Worth is definitely a worthwhile destination...<BR><BR>But...<BR><BR>It has much less than downtown Dallas.<BR><BR>Downtown Dallas has the following:<BR><BR>McKinney Avenue Trolley<BR>Reunion Tower<BR>Dallas Museum of Art (2 city blocks in size)<BR>Asian Arts Museum<BR>American Airlines Center<BR>Reunion Arena<BR>5,000 hotel rooms<BR>DART light rail<BR>West End... dozens of bars, restaurants, shops, lots of street life... etc<BR>Kennedy Museum<BR>Upcoming Dallas History Museum<BR>Deep Ellum district, pretty unique in the Southwest<BR>Meyerson Symphony Hall<BR>Underground shopping <BR>Downtown Neiman Marcus<BR>Ice skating in Le Meridien Hotel<BR><BR>Not to disparage Fort Worth, though, it has some nice attractions... but ...<BR>

me, as someone else said, GIVE IT A REST! gee-zus.

Ana,<BR><BR>No.<BR><BR>Am I saying something you don't like to hear?

No one likes a know-it-all.<BR><BR>Your point is made. Several times, in fact.

Ana,<BR><BR>No, I don't think so. I'm just responding to one or another post... posts such as yours.<BR><BR>If I know something about the city that can help a visitor, I see no reason not to articulate it.<BR><BR>The question of renting a car vs DART rail is a good one, mostly because of the expense. I'm still waiting for you people to justify spending the money to rent a car. <BR><BR>And do you honestly think that visitors to a city actually want to spend their vacation driving around suburbs?

z,<BR><BR>I liked your list of why Downtown Dallas has more to offer than Downtown Ft. Worth, unfortunately I will have to disagree. Below I have countered the points you tried to make:<BR><BR><BR>American Airlines Center: What would you see here? It is a sports arena!! Every city has one, and unless there is an event going on there they are not tourist destinations!<BR><BR>Reunion Arena: see above, only this is a washed-up sports arena even worse.<BR><BR>5,000 hotel rooms: so do you tour hotel rooms? What the hell does this matter? <BR><BR>Upcoming Dallas History Museum: so for now do you go see the nice construction sight? Why would you even put this on your list?<BR><BR>Downtown Neiman Marcus: its a DEPARTMENT STORE! It is NOT a tourist destination. Neiman Marcus is EVERYWHERE and this one is no different than any other.<BR><BR>Ice skating in Le Meridien Hotel: There is ice skating everywhere. Even downtown Ft. Worth (Tandy Center)<BR><BR>Fort Worth has more soul and gives a much more "real" feel to it.

&lt;&lt;Message: Christie, I have a serious question. Where in Dallas would a tourist want to go that is not easy to get to on DART rail, on foot or by taxi?&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>Fair Park is a good one, although it is quite easy to get there by public transportation during the Fair.<BR>The Mesquite Rodeo when it is in season. (No DART in Mesquite.) Texas Motor Speedway (again, no DART there).<BR>Plus, to do any amount of shopping easily, you need a car. <BR><BR>Sure, there aren't many good touristy things to do in most suburbs, but there are good restaurants there that people might wish to patronize. Or, they might have family to visit there.<BR><BR>Taxis are NOT a fair comparison here. If you add up all the money that you'd spend on cab fares, it will quickly eclipse the cost of renting a car.<BR><BR>Speaking as a Dallas native, the DART system is adequate, but I would much, much rather have a car at my disposal. The bus will get you there, but very slowly and by routing you through downtown Dallas for every transfer. I've taken the bus in other cities (such as Vegas) and found it quite useful, but not in my hometown...<BR>

Shelderberry this Dallas Native says rent a car. Save money by renting one not from the airport. Hertz, Alamo and Enterprise all have city locations around the Metroplex and their rental rates are way lower than at DFW or DAL.<BR>Have a nice trip. DART is good to save money if you want to go to Downtown Dallas and not pay for parking. <BR>You will end up planning your trip around train schedules and bus schedules...way too much. <BR>The train to Fort Worth is good, Trinity Rail Express. But you have to consider what time the last train leaves and that might hender you if you decide to spend a late evening in Fort Worth..Just some things to chew on...