Texas Road Trip: Space, Cowboys, BBQ & The Lone Star State

Texas is big. Really big!

Which is probably the first thing to understand when you start planning a Texas road trip. You’re not going to see everything in one visit and, quite frankly, we wouldn’t suggest trying. What you can do is put together a journey that gives you a pretty good taste of what makes the Lone Star State different.

NASA and space exploration in Houston. The Alamo and River Walk in San Antonio. Two nights staying on a genuine dude ranch in Texas Hill Country. BBQ straight from the pit. Live music in Austin. Texas wine in Grapevine. Longhorn cattle, rodeo and honky-tonks in Fort Worth. And the story of JFK in Dallas.That’s the thinking behind our 15-day Explore Texas suggested self-drive itinerary. It’s not about racing around ticking Texas attractions off a list. It’s about getting out on the road and experiencing a few very different sides of one very big state.

HOUSTON – START WITH SOMETHING OUT OF THIS WORLD

Houston makes a lot of sense as the starting point for Kiwi travellers, with Air New Zealand flying non-stop from Auckland. We give you three nights here, which means there’s time to look beyond the airport and discover the city before hitting the road. Start with a guided tour through Houston’s neighbourhoods, landmarks and colourful street-art scene, then head beneath the skyscrapers to explore the Downtown Tunnel System. But there’s one experience we think deserves a day of its own.

Space Center Houston and NASA Johnson Space Center.

This is where Houston’s famous connection with America’s space programme becomes very real.Johnson Space Center is home to astronaut training and Mission Control, while Space Center Houston tells the much bigger story of human space exploration – from the Apollo era and lunar landings through to the International Space Station and today’s Artemis programme.

Rather than simply sending you there with an admission ticket, our itinerary includes a full-day experience accompanied by a NASA expert guide.If you’ve grown up watching space launches, moon landings or astronauts floating around the International Space Station, this is one of those places where you may find yourself lingering a little longer than expected.

THEN POINT THE BONNET WEST

After three nights in Houston, collect your rental vehicle and head for San Antonio. And because this is Texas, we’ll give you a choice.

Take a comfortable Standard SUV or, if you fancy getting into the spirit of things, make it a Ford F-150 pickup truck. Do you need a pickup truck to drive around Texas? Absolutely not. Is there something rather appropriate about doing a Texas road trip in one? We think so. San Antonio is around 320 kilometres west of Houston, so there’s no need for an early-morning dash. This is where the self-drive part of the holiday really begins. Put the bags in the back, turn on some music and enjoy the freedom of having your own wheels for the rest of the journey.

SAN ANTONIO – HISTORY, TEX-MEX & THE RIVER WALK

San Antonio is one of those cities that combines a major piece of American history with somewhere that’s simply enjoyable to spend a couple of days. You’ll obviously want to visit The Alamo, scene of the famous 1836 battle that became such an important part of the Texas story. But don’t stop there.

Take a narrated cruise along the San Antonio River Walk, head up the Tower of the Americas, explore Historic Market Square or venture south to the San Antonio Missions – part of Texas’ only UNESCO World Heritage Site. Then there’s the River Walk itself. Restaurants, patios and bars line the water through the heart of downtown, making it a pretty easy place to finish the day with some Tex-Mex and a margarita.

And after two nights in San Antonio, Texas changes again.

YOU’RE NOT JUST VISITING A RANCH – YOU’RE STAYING ON ONE!

Head northwest into Texas Hill Country and within around 85 kilometres you’ll reach Bandera, proudly known as the Cowboy Capital of the World. This is where we’ve built something a little different into the journey. Two nights at the Mayan Dude Ranch. The Mayan sits beside the Medina River across 348 acres of Texas Hill Country and has been welcoming guests for generations. Horseback riding is at the heart of the experience, with guided rides through the surrounding countryside. Depending on the programme during your stay, there can also be cowboy breakfasts, hayrides, roping, hiking, fishing, swimming, country dancing, BBQ cookouts and live music.

Meals, horse riding and on-site ranch activities are ALL included. And that’s important. You’re not arriving for a quick ranch tour, taking a photograph with a cowboy hat and driving away again. For two nights, you actually get to slow things down and experience ranch life for yourself.

HORSES TODAY. BBQ TOMORROW.

Leaving Bandera doesn’t mean leaving Texas Hill Country behind. Your route towards Austin takes you past LBJ Ranch, the much-loved home of President Lyndon B. Johnson and once known as the Texas White House. It’s an interesting change of pace and another layer of Texas history before we suggest you try somewhere very different for lunch.

Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood.

Brisket. Ribs. Sausage. And an enormous open BBQ pit that has been smoking meat since 1967. There are plenty of famous BBQ restaurants across Texas and everyone seems to have an opinion on which is best. We’re not going to enter that argument. We’ll simply say that eating proper Texas BBQ should be part of a Texas road trip, and Salt Lick fits beautifully into this particular journey.

Then it’s onwards to Austin.

AUSTIN – KEEP IT WEIRD!

Texas’ state capital has a personality all of its own. Spend some time at the Texas State Capitol, explore Downtown and then head across to South Congress, or SoCo as you’ll quickly hear it called. This is where you’ll find restaurants, independent stores, music venues, murals and Allens Boots, an Austin institution since 1977. If you’ve made it this far through Texas without buying cowboy boots, this may be where your resistance finally crumbles.

Austin is also a city where eating is part of the experience. Food trucks are everywhere, and if Salt Lick has only increased your appetite for Texas BBQ, Terry Black’s and Micklethwait are both worth knowing about. But Austin’s real calling card is music. There’s a reason it calls itself the Live Music Capital of the World. Country, blues, rock, Americana, singer-songwriters and honky-tonks fill stages across the city. Our advice? Don’t try to plan every minute of your evening. Find somewhere you like the sound of, order a drink and see where the night takes you …

And then there are the Bats …

We’ve deliberately suggested leaving part of your second Austin day fairly relaxed. After Houston, San Antonio, the ranch and several days on the road, you don’t need us filling every hour simply because we can. Explore Barton Springs and Zilker Park, wander around East Austin, revisit somewhere you enjoyed the previous day – or have a few hours doing absolutely nothing.

Then, around sunset, head for Lady Bird Lake. During the seasonal bat-viewing period, huge numbers of Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from beneath Congress Avenue Bridge and stream into the evening sky. Our suggested itinerary puts you on the water for it, with a sunset kayak tour towards the bridge. It’s unusual … it’s very Austin … and it’s probably not something you imagined doing when you first started thinking about a Texas holiday.

GRAPEVINE – MORE THAN JUST A CONVENIENT BASE BETWEEN DALLAS AND FORT WORTH

From Austin, turn north towards the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The drive takes you through Central Texas, with Waco around halfway if you fancy breaking the journey and visiting Magnolia Market at the Silos. Your destination is Grapevine, our recommended base for your final four nights. There’s a practical reason for that. Grapevine conveniently sits between Dallas and Fort Worth, making it a great base for exploring both. But we certainly wouldn’t use it purely because of its location.

Grapevine deserves a day of its own. Historic Main Street is lined with shops, galleries, restaurants and winery tasting rooms, and our itinerary also includes a Grapevine Main Street Food & Wine Tour. You’ll taste your way through some local favourites – including Tex-Mex and smoked brisket – while learning a little about Grapevine’s agricultural, railroad and wine-making history, finishing with Texas wine at Messina Hof Grapevine Winery.

Afterwards, keep exploring Main Street, visit Nash Farm, head up the Observation Tower at Grapevine Main Station or try something completely unexpected at Meow Wolf’s The Real Unreal. Texas wine and surreal immersive art on the same afternoon? Why not!

FORT WORTH – NOW WE’RE TALKING COWBOYS

If staying on the dude ranch gives you one side of Texas cowboy culture, Fort Worth Stockyards gives you another. Time your visit around the Fort Worth Herd, when Texas longhorns make their way along Exchange Avenue in the Stockyards’ twice-daily cattle drive. Yes, it’s popular with visitors. But yes, we still think you should see it. Spend the rest of the day exploring the Stockyards, browse the Western stores and soak up a part of Fort Worth where boots and Stetsons really don’t look remotely out of place. But don’t head back to Grapevine too early. Tonight you’re going to the rodeo.

The Stockyards Championship Rodeo at Cowtown Coliseum brings together bull riding, bronc riding, barrel racing and roping in a historic arena right in the heart of the Stockyards, with rodeos held every Friday and Saturday night throughout the year. Then finish the night at Billy Bob’s Texas – the World’s Largest Honky Tonk. Live country music, dancing, cold drinks and plenty of Texas atmosphere. If you wanted one day that delivers the Texas you probably pictured before arriving, this might be it.

DALLAS – A VERY DIFFERENT PIECE OF AMERICAN HISTORY

The final full day takes you into Dallas. And rather than trying to cram every Dallas attraction into a few hours, we’ve anchored the day around one story.

John F. Kennedy

Our itinerary includes a three-hour JFK Assassination & Museum Tour exploring the events of November 22, 1963. You’ll visit Dealey Plaza, Grassy Knoll and the JFK Memorial before exploring The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, inside the former Texas School Book Depository. It’s a fascinating and sobering piece of American history, and one that makes much more sense when you’re standing in the places where the events actually unfolded.

Afterwards, the rest of Dallas is yours. Explore the Arts District, head up Reunion Tower, visit the Perot Museum or simply spend some time discovering the city. And sports fans should always ask us what’s happening while they’re there. Between the Cowboys, Mavericks, Stars and Texas Rangers, there’s a fair chance something will be on somewhere across North Texas.

SO, IS TEXAS JUST COWBOYS AND BBQ?

Not even close – but we wouldn’t take either of them out.

That’s really what we like about this journey. You can spend one day inside the world of NASA and another riding a horse through Texas Hill Country. You can stand inside the Alamo, explore world-class museums, eat brisket beside a huge open BBQ pit, listen to live music in Austin, kayak beneath thousands of bats, taste Texas wine in Grapevine, watch longhorn cattle walk through Fort Worth, catch a game from one of Texas’ major sports teams and finish by exploring one of the defining moments in modern American history in Dallas. It doesn’t all fit neatly into one version of Texas. And that’s exactly the point.

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU ALLOW FOR A TEXAS ROAD TRIP?

Our suggested Explore Texas itinerary is 15 days / 14 nights. We’ve allowed:

• Houston – 3 nights
• San Antonio – 2 nights
• Bandera – 2 nights
• Austin – 3 nights
• Grapevine – 4 nights

For us, that gets the balance about right. You have enough time to experience each destination without turning the holiday into a constant cycle of checking out, driving and checking back in again. The longer stays in Houston, Austin and Grapevine also give you some flexibility, while two nights at Mayan Dude Ranch means the ranch becomes a genuine part of the journey rather than an overnight novelty. With your rental vehicle from Houston through to Dallas-Fort Worth, you have the freedom to stop, detour and explore along the way. That’s exactly how we think Texas should be experienced.

A QUICK WORD ABOUT DRIVING IN TEXAS

Texas distances can look intimidating when you first put them on a map. But this itinerary has deliberately been designed so the driving forms part of the holiday rather than dominating it. Houston to San Antonio is around 320 kilometres. San Antonio to Bandera is only around 85 kilometres. From Bandera, we take you through the Hill Country to Austin, incorporating LBJ Ranch and Salt Lick BBQ along the way. Austin to Grapevine is the longest remaining driving day at around 335 kilometres, with Waco providing an obvious place to stop halfway.

Once you reach Grapevine, unpack for four nights and use it as your base for Fort Worth and Dallas. In other words, you’re moving through Texas rather than constantly doubling back. That matters in a state this size.

BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE OUR TEXAS

This is the most important part.

Explore Texas is a suggested itinerary. You can book it as we’ve designed it, but you certainly don’t have to.

Perhaps you want another night at the ranch. Maybe live music is your thing, and you’d like longer in Austin. You might want more time in San Antonio, a sports game in Houston or Dallas or a different style of accommodation along the way ….. Or perhaps 15 days in Texas is only the beginning. From Grapevine, you could continue west towards Amarillo, Cadillac Ranch and Route 66, or add a couple of nights at the more upscale Wildcatter Ranch near Graham.

You can change the hotels, change the vehicle, add experiences, remove experiences or combine Texas with another part of America altogether. That’s where we come in.

As New Zealand’s only travel company dedicated 100% to leisure travel to the USA, we spend our days planning American holidays for Kiwi travellers. We know that a good self-drive itinerary isn’t simply a line drawn between cities. It’s getting the distances right. Choosing where to spend two nights and where to spend four. Knowing when an experience is worth including and when you’re better off leaving some free time. And making sure the whole thing actually works once you get there.

READY TO HIT THE ROAD IN TEXAS?

If your idea of Texas already involves cowboys and BBQ, great! We’ll give you both.

We’ll just add NASA, the Alamo, Texas Hill Country, a genuine dude ranch, live music in Austin, bats at sunset, Texas wine, longhorns, a Fort Worth rodeo and JFK history in Dallas.

Space. Cowboys. BBQ.
And plenty in between.

Explore our 15-day Explore Texas itinerary or contact Travel USA to talk to our USA travel experts about creating your own Texas road trip.