Trip to Dallas
 

My wife and I are visiting Dallas for 5 days arriving on Saturday 10th March,we are booked into the Adolphus on Commerce in the downtown area,what does downtown mean?
After visiting the JFK stuff,Dealey Plaza etc,can anyone suggest other things to see/do,bearing in mind we do not have a car!!

It will be very hard to "do Dallas" without a car.

Other than Grayline types of tours from your hotel, I'm not sure how you'll get around to things you may want to see.

Dallas is a very hard city to see without a car, if you can rent one, I would. The Dallas Museum of Art is nice, The Kimball Museum in Fort Worth is also.

Dallas also has world class shopping and restaurants.

If you're a basketball fan, the Mavericks are currently the best team in the league.

If you do manage to get to the Amon Carter and Kimbell in Ft Worth, be sure to have lunch at Bistro Louise on S. Hulen - one of the best in the Metroplex.
M

You need a car. You need a car. You need a car.

After the JFK stuff, I would go see the Ft. Worth stockyards, and then find a few good Texas BBQ spots.

Once you've done that, time to leave Dallas. I'd take a couple day drive to the hill country down around Austin.

"Downtown" Dallas means the central business district. The Adolphus is very nice, and the JFK Museum is enough for half a day. The Dallas World Aquarium and Dallas Museum of Art are also neat and in the neighborhood.

GET A CAR! There are MANY places in/around Dallas for shopping, etc. but you'll have to have a car. The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth is great, and so are the Amon Carter and the New Modern. GET A CAR!

Personally, I don't know what I'd do for 5 days in Dallas. I concur with several others, see if you can rent a car and explore a bit.

Nothing against Dallas, but like many major metropolitans in the south and west, there is about enough interesting stuff to keep you busy for a couple days.

Dallas is a very good food town, though. Do your research ahead of time and try some of the great food.

Thanks to all of you for the info,the main purpose of the visit is the JFK stuff,the reason that we are staying for 5 days is because it is such a long way to travel,about 16 hours with 2 flights,transfers and travel to and from the airports we felt that we needed time to recover, anything less would be too tiring as we are in our fifties!I am a bit wary of hiring a car as I have never driven in the USA before,although I have driven on the "wrong" side of the road before in Europe.What is the best way to get to the hotel from the airport,taxi,shuttle or train??

You'll need either shuttle or taxi. Dallas, like many cities, is attempting to build a mass transit system, but it is a far cry from what you'd see in Chicago, New York, or DC.

I really think you're going to get bored after you do the JFK stuff. The JFK stuff is very nicely done, but then what? I would strongly, strongly recommend that you maybe consider finding transportation, either bus or maybe there is a shuttle of some sort, to Austin. Neat area and I think you'll find alot more to do, and it isn't far from Dallas (in Texas terms).

Dallas/Ft. Worth has things to do for 2 or 3 days, but since you don't want a car that makes going to Ft. Worth difficult. I think there's train between the two cities, but i have no idea where you catch it or where it goes.

An alternate suggestion, why don't you do Dallas for two days, do the 6th Floor museum, do the Nasher Art Museum and the other Dallas Art Museums that are Downtown. go to the original Neiman Marcus's.
then on the afternoon of the second day catch a taxi to Love field which is just outside of downtown Dallas and catch a southwest airlines flight to Austin. Love field is a very easy airport and it is a very very short flight to Austin.

Go see all the stuff associated with LBJ. It's not JFK exactly, but it certainly is associated with it. Isn't the LBJ library in Austin?
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/

Then you could rent a car and drive out to Johnson City and go to the LBJ ranch. that's the Texas Hill Country. You can see where LBJ used to take all the visiting dignitaries to his Texas White House. http://www.nps.gov/lyjo/
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/f...don_b_johnson/
there's a Texas Parks and Wildlife Park and then the actual Ranch if I remember correctly.
It's a nice little drive and neat to see. I enjoyed it when we did it a few years ago.
Do a search for the Texas Hill Country and Fredricksburg for some more ideas of the area.
Pack a picnic lunch and eat outside if it's not too cold. There may even be wildflowers blooming in early March.

Driving out in the backroads of Texas is a dream and not near as scary as driving in Europe. The roads are well maintained and you should be within your comfort level because of the lack of traffic on the roads.

Then you can catch a flight back from Austin to DFW and be on your way to your next stop of your JFK tour.

While there seems to be little to do in DFW by all the comments, I wouldn't suggest sending him to Austin...it's 4 hours south! There are enough things to keep one busy....although a car would be best unless Grayline has a tour.

* JFK Museum
* West End
* Bronze Cattle statues downtown
* Bryan cabin
* Thanksgiving Square
* Guadalupe Cathedral
* Farmers Market
* DMA/Nasher sculpture
* MCKinney Trolley
* Meyerson Concert Hall
* Go to the top of Reunion Tower/Ball
* Maybe the Library - they sometimes have exhibits plus a great genealogy ctr

Outside downtown
* FW Stockyards
* Mustang bronzes in Las Colinas (best in the evening)
* Billy Bobs
* FW Downtown day or night
* Tarantula train from Grapevine to the Stockyards

And there is a train from Dallas to FW...the concierge at the Adolphus can help with that. (The Trinity Railway Express)

visit www.dallansnews.com and search Guide Live for information for visitors or see what's going on.

I second the Kimball Museum in Fort Worth.

I moved to Dallas a couple of years ago. The truth is, it's a nice place to live in terms of day to day life, but it's not a particularly interesting city from a sightseeing standpoint and there is not much in the way of natural beauty. You will find the people in Dallas to be incredibly friendly and helpful.

tmh covered all the highlights of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The Adolphus is a nice hotel and I'm sure you will like it. I would recommend finding a way to Fort Worth (45 minutes away) which is a prettier city. The Stockyards are neat to see to give you a flavor of the West. They have rodeos and other shows so you may want to look into that. The Kimball Museum and the Amon Carter Museum are both good places to visit in Fort Worth.

After the JFK museum, called the Sixth Floor Museum, I would suggest you visit the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center. There is an Asian art museum in the same museum complex, but I've never been. This would be a pleasant way to spend a day.

Dallas has some phenomenal shopping and great restuarants. Your concierge will be able to give you some tips. There is a community just north of downtown called Highland Park. It is one of the prettiest areas of Dallas and has a lovely shopping area called Highland Park Village. There are three good/fun restaurants that I would recommend there...Mi Cocina for upscale Mexican, Patrizios for Italian and it's wonderful patio, and Cafe Pacifico for seafood. You can spend an afternoon there browsing the world class shops and have dinner. The West Village is also a fun area for window shopping and eating. Another upscale shopping center is Northpark Mall. It is just a mall, but it has great shopping, movie theaters and some good restaurants as well. Next to Highland Park is another great community called University Park. Southern Methodist University and the Meadows Museum are located here. Snider Plaza is a pleasant place to stroll near SMU and there is a little German restaurant/market/butcher called Kubys that is authentic and fun for breakfast.

A good area to wander around is Knox Henderson. There are some antique shops to explore on the east side of the Central Expressway. Look into a trendy new spot in the area called Trece (upscale Mexican). From Knox Henderson, there is a bike/walking path that takes you down to the American Airlines Center. That can be a pleasant way to spend an hour in the morning getting your exercise.Your concierge can get you to all these places easily.

It is worth checking into athletic events, concerts or plays that may be going on during your visit.

Someone mentioned getting on a plane and going to Austin. This is actually not a bad suggestion, but I would recommend going to San Antonio instead of Austin. Both cities are a short, easy and inexpensive flight on Southwest Airlines out of Love Field near downtown, IMHO, San Antonio is the most interesting place to visit in Texas. There is the charming River Walk and the Spanish Mission trail.

If you want any more information, I'll check back.

I lived in Dallas too and I agree with the suggestion of spending a couple of days in Dallas and then hopping a SW plane to the Hill Country.

http://www.nps.gov/lyjo/

If you go to the Hill Country, you would probably enjoy adding the LBJ ranch to your "Presidential sightseeing".

Take a look at the map -
http://www.nps.gov/lyjo/planyourvisit/directions.htm

Austin or San Antonio would work. Add Fredricksburg to your day trip.

The driving will be easy in the countryside and it really is the best way to see Texas. The big sky will absolutely amaze you (it did me when I lived there).

Do you really need a car to visit Dallas?

In the downtown area, no, and in the districts just north of the downtown area, no. The Northpark mall has been expanded to be one of the 5 best retail destinations in the United States. You don't need a car to get there from downtown Dallas, since Northpark is one or two blocks from a rail transit station. Dallas' other high-end mall, the Galleria, is connected to downtown by express bus.

Likewise, Fort Worth. Downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth are connected by a commuter train with frequent schedules during the day. Once in downtown Fort Worth, you can walk everywhere. FW has a shuttle system to take you to its two main visitor attractions... its museum district and its Stockyards area.

People who live in Dallas typically know very little about its rail transit, because they don't use it. Well, DART rail does provide 60,000 rides per day, and has 45 miles of trackage, and has about 45 or so stations, some of them in interesting areas to walk around, like the West End, the West Village, Mockingbird Station, the Dallas Zoo, NorthPark Mall, downtown Plano, etc.

The system will double in size in the next 3 to 5 years, to be about the size of the Boston urban rail system at about 90 miles of trackage. Many more stations will open up, and many new walkable urban villages will be built around them, in developments that preserve the old while adding on with the new.

You would typically need a car to drive around the Dallas suburbs. Does that sound appealing to you? If I visited San Francisco or Chicago, driving around suburbs would not be high on my list of priorities.

I'll also disagree with HonestAbe about how to get downtown from the airport.

First of all, there are two airports.

Love Field is the airport used by Southwest airlines, although American and Continental have a few flights out of there. It is just a few miles from downtown, so a taxi would be reasonably economical.

DFW, Dallas-Fort Worth International, is much farther from downtown. A taxi would cost about $45 plus tip, a van would cost about $15 per person, but you can also catch the train between Dallas and Fort Worth to get to downtown Dallas, for about $3 per person. There is currently no rail station in the airport itself, although one will be available in a few years, but in the meantime, you can take a shuttle bus to the CentrePort rail station. The shuttle bus leaves from the South Remote Parking building, which you can reach via airport transit.

Which is best? The train is cheapest, a taxi is fastest and most expensive, and a van is somewhere in between.

Here's a link to the Trinity Railway Express site.

http://www.trinityrailwayexpress.org

I bet you can work it out nicely without a car.

If so, please report back on how it goes because it's true most of us locals don't know much about using the public transit options.

Dabber, there are quite a few things to visit in the Dallas-Ft Worth area. As you might

expect from its size... it is now the 4th largest metro area in the United States. Only New

York, Los Angeles and Chicago have more people than DFW.

In the downtown area, I'd suggest you visit...

Visitor's Center. This is in an old, Romanesque building inside what used to be the Dallas County courthouse. It will provide you with many options of things to do in the Dallas area. The building is to be occupied by a large history museum, which may or may not be open when you arrive.

JFK Memorial. A monument to the assassinated president, and very simple in its execution. It's not too significant to me, but perhaps it will move you.

Dealey Plaza. Of course, this is the purpose of your visit. Look around, feel the history.

6th Floor Museum. The definitive museum of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Pioneer Park. An entire cattle drive reproduced in bronze, everything larger than life size.

Take your camera!

Fountain Place. A water feature with over 100 spigots, and a computer-controlled pattern of

gushing water. Children run through the fountain trying to guess where the water WON'T gush

out. It's a pleasant public square with benches and tables to relax on.

Dallas World Aquarium. This is a huge building that contains a jungle, a Mayan temple, many

animals, many fish, birds, and is easily worth an afternoon to walk around and in.

Union Station/Reunion Tower. The station itself is a dramatic piece of architecture, and the

tunnel to Reunion Tower has some historic photographs of the station's history.The tower

provides a view as good as Prudential Tower in Boston, or the Seattle Space Needle, but at a

much cheaper price. View Dallas from 600 feet. The adjoining hotel, the Hyatt, has many

historic photos of the early Dallas.

Dallas Farmers Market. Yes, sheds filled with fruits and vegetables, and other farm

products, and also a shed devoted to assorted handcrafted things as well... furniture, hand

goods...The surrounding lots have many flowers and plants for sale, and walking around is

free.

Heritage Village/Old City Park. Just across a freeway from the Farmers' Market, this is a

major historic site. It has dozens of old buildings arranged into a village that represents

19th century Dallas. The 1870's version of a doctor's office is gruesome enough, but the

General Store has some nice things to purchase.

West End/Victory Park. Many restaurants, a few shops, and a stunning group of outdoor video

screens in front of the American Airlines Center. This will be the site of Dallas' House of

Blues, but it has other places to spend your time.

Dallas Museum of Art. The region's largest art museum. It has an encyclopedic collection of

art and artifacts from the greco/Roman times to the present.

Nasher Sculpture Center. The New York Times called it the best private collection of modern

sculpture in the world. Check out the quietude of the meditation room in the back garden.

The Crow Asian Art Museum. Several rooms of exquisite art from various parts of Asia... much

jade, bamboo, paintings, antique artifacts... my favorite is the perfetly-refracting crystal

ball.

Beau Arts sculpture garden. Surrounding the Crow are many pieces of statuary from

turn-of-the-century Paris...

Latino Cultural Center. This is a beautiful building by the Mexico City architect Francisco

Legoretta. They usually have some significant exhibits of Latino originated art.

Dallas City Hall/Public Library. This is a beautiful public space by the architect I M

Pei... The buildings cantilever in and out in an interesting way, and the reflecting pool in

front of the Dallas City Hall building is a good counterpoint to it all.

Thanks again to you all for the suggestions,I have decided not to hire a car but wii definitely go to Fort Worth for one day,either by Grayline tour or on the train and try to see most of the places suggested,will stay in the hotel at night as it has a couple of bars,or might even watch some tv in the room!!
I will be using a taxi to get from / to the airport,are they plentiful outside the airport and do you have to do like you do in the UK and take the first one in the rank??According to the latest guide that I have seen from Cowboy Cabs it should cost $35 - 40.An executive car coste $56
As for the shuttle vans what is the procedure with them,are they outside the terminal and can you just get on them?