45 Best Sights in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas

You don't have to be a cowgirl or cowboy to fall in love with this fine museum and its celebration of pioneering women. The building, just across from the Will Rogers Memorial Center, shares fascinating Western history through technologically savvy exhibits. The Hall of Fame honors more than 180 pioneering women, including Sacagawea, Mary Ann Goodnight, Georgia O'Keeffe, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Sandra Day O'Connor. Each woman's accomplishments are highlighted on easy-to-use touch screens. Other kiosks allow visitors to listen to female country music stars and modern-day cowgirls describe life on ranches and the road. Another area displays flashy rodeo fashions from the past century. Don't miss the chance to "ride" a bucking bronco and later watch and share the video online.

This 1892 Romanesque courthouse, known as "Old Red," contains a museum on Dallas County's history. Each gallery has a short film, interactive exhibits, artifacts, and historical photographs. Discover some of Dallas's claims to fame, such as the invention of the integrated circuit, air conditioning for cars, and the frozen margarita, as well as sports memorabilia. A special draw is the hands-on learning center, where children can dress in period costume, play marbles, and answer history questions on touch-screen monitors.

This tower has been an iconic fixture of the Dallas skyline since 1978. The lights on the giant ball at the top of the tower often dance at night. Visitors can visit the rotating restaurant and lounge or ride an elevator up 55 flights to an observation deck that affords views of Dallas and beyond.

Fort Worth is an appropriate setting for this private collection of art celebrating the American West, with pieces that capture the emotion, movement, and landscape of the frontier. The gallery affords space and appropriate lighting for up to 39 pieces at a time. (The late Sid Richardson's collection includes more than 100 paintings.)

In the Metroplex, you can rely on a couple of things here in the summer: It's going to be hot, and if you've got kids, they're going to want to go to Six Flags Over Texas. No wonder. There are more than 50 rides plus musical shows, games of chance, and lots of food. You'll find lots of Warner Bros. and DC Comics tie-ins, such as Looney Tunes USA, where preschoolers can ride attractions sized just for them, and Gotham City, where thrillseekers can speed 70 mph on Mr. Freeze or soar through the air on Batman the Ride. If you're visiting in the summer, be aware that the park will be crowded and you will be hot. But your kids? They probably won't even notice.

About 40 minutes north of Downtown Dallas lies one of the city's most enduring landmarks, Southfork Ranch. Built in 1970, the ranch became one of the city's best-known symbols after the TV show Dallas premiered in 1978. You can tour the mansion, have lunch at Miss Ellie's Deli, and try to remember who shot J. R. Unless you're a diehard fan of the show or are already in the Plano area, it's probably not worth the drive or expense.

Catch a live rodeo Friday and Saturday nights to watch competitive bull riding, roping, barrel racing, and more. The rodeo draws locals, families, tourists, couples on dates—all folks who want to experience some cowboy culture.

The recalls the prosperity brought to the city in 1902 when two major Chicago meat packers, Armour and Swift, set up plants here to ship meat across the country in refrigerator cars. You can witness a cattle drive here today; cowboys on horses lead a city-owned herd of about a dozen longhorns down East Exchange Avenue every day at 11:30 am and 4 pm, weather permitting. Between their walks, the cattle can be viewed in their pens behind the Livestock Exchange Building.

Gathered under one roof is a sort of Western-style mall, with restaurants, shops, and benches for resting your boots. If shopping's your game, look for souvenirs, Western wear, specialty foods, jewelry, art, and Western music. If you're hungry, you're bound to find something you'll like among the barbecue, burger, and Mexican food options.

This East Dallas strip has the city's best representations of two distinct periods. On lower Swiss Avenue (2900 block), nearer to Downtown, the Wilson Block Historic District is an unaltered block of turn-of-the-20th-century frame houses restored as offices for nonprofit groups. Set-back Prairie Style, Italian Renaissance, Tudor, and Colonial Revival mansions are common in the Swiss Avenue Historic District, the city's first historic district (designated in 1973). Park anywhere along Swiss Avenue in the 4900–6000 blocks, and walk down the tree-shaded street to admire the grand homes and beautifully landscaped yards. Residents and their household staffs are accustomed to folks stopping to gawk or take photos—but do respect their privacy and stay on the sidewalk.

Embrace the rodeo and Western culture at this newer museum. Exhibits share details and gear from members of the hall fame, such as country-and-western singer George Strait, world champion Ty Murray, and rancher and photographer Bob Moorhouse. The museum also houses 60 wagons and carriages and a tribute to legendary bootmaker John Justin.

This small triangular plaza designed by Philip Johnson contains quiet gardens and an interfaith chapel with stained glass by Gabriel Loire.

The word "aquarium" doesn't fully describe everything to experience at this privately owned Downtown attraction. Sure, there are fish, octopus, anemones, eels, and jellyfish. But there are also penguins in an outdoor exhibit; a rain forest with monkeys, manatees, toucans, crocodiles, turtles, and more, all surrounded by native plants; and an eight-story Mayan exhibit that features a walk-through shark aquarium, flamingos, a jaguar, and an ocelot. The West End DART light-rail station is just a few blocks away.

On November 22, 1963, shots rang out on Dealey Plaza, at the west end of Downtown, as the presidential motorcade rounded the corner from Houston Street onto the Elm Street approach to the Triple Underpass. Eventually the Warren Commission concluded that President Kennedy was gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone and firing from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. The building is now known as the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, where exhibits explore the life and legacy of JFK, offering context of the politics of the early 1960s and the importance of Kennedy's Texas visit. One of the most popular exhibits is the re-creation of the sniper's nest at the southeast window, viewable but not accessible.

Near Fort Worth's museums, this partially restored coliseum–and–stock pen complex was named after the humorist and Fort Worth booster, who described the city as "where the West begins" (and Dallas as "where the East peters out"). The center boasts an equestrian arena that's used for horse and livestock shows. Will Rogers is host to the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo every January.