Texas

Dallas and Fort Worth may be next-door neighbors, but they're hardly twins. Long regarded as being as divergent as an Escalade-driving sophisticate and a rancher in a dusty pickup truck, these two cities have starkly different facades. Beyond appearances, however, they share a love of high (and low) culture and good old-fashioned Texan fun. A plethora of fabulous small towns, like Waxahachie and McKinney, make the surrounding area worthy of a road trip.

Leave the big smoke behind and you'll find that the Panhandle and Central Plains may be the part of Texas that most typifies the state to outsiders. This is a land of sprawling cattle ranches, where people can still make a living on horseback. The landscape appears endlessly flat, punctuated only by utility poles and windmills, until a vast canyon materializes and seems to plunge into another world.

Dallas & the Panhandle Plains

With a population that’s rapidly approaching a million, and an annual influx of almost 30 million visitors, Austin is by any standards a big city. Somehow, though, Texas' state capital has kept its small-town heart, earning the love with great music, culinary prowess, whip-smart locals and a sociable streak impossible to resist.

Live Music

The city easily earns its title of 'Live Music Capital of the World.' Two music festivals, South by Southwest (SXSW) and the Austin City Limits Festival, earn international acclaim, but quality live performances go down every single night in one of the countless clubs, bars and restaurants. Heck, there's even an awesome band during chicken shit bingo at Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon on Sunday afternoons. Country music singer-songwriters are the classic draw, but blues, rock, hip-hop and jazz bands also take the stage. Dancing is encouraged. As the sign says at the Broken Spoke: Please do NOT !!!! Stand on the dance floor.

Outdoor Adventures

On a sunny morning in the spring, Lady Bird Lake looks like the world's most active playground. Kayakers skim across the still water, swimmers swim laps in Barton Springs pool, frisbees whir across a lush disc golf course and joggers and cyclists burn calories on lakeside trails. Austin is home to more than 300 parks, with more than 30 miles of urban trails open to runners, walkers and cyclists. Nearly 50 more miles are in the works. And they are all well-used. A popular hike-and-bike trail loops around Lady Bird Lake and links to a creekside greenbelt, adding water sports to the mix.

Culinary Fun

The best part about the food scene? It never takes itself too seriously. Just look at all those busted-up food trucks, some of them serving the most exquisitely flavored bites in the country. The line at what may be the best barbecue joint in the US is a communal party, with staff selling beer to the outdoor queue. And menus at the fanciest farm-to-table restaurants often get downright whimsical. Overall, there's not much food snobbery here. But passion? Yes. Ice cream. BBQ. Tacos. Locals love to opine. Take a few bites, join the conversation.

Communal Spirit

Despite the growth, Austin has managed to maintain a cooperative and hospitable atmosphere. We've seen food truck operators give recommendations to folks in line about other great places to eat. Small business owners share advice with newbie competitors. And people of all ages will socialize with the merest of provocation. No one is a stranger for long. Even the city government has heart, deciding to forgive parking tickets for partiers who leave their cars downtown after a night of fun. In sum, despite her popularity, Austin hasn't forgotten where she came from. In fact, she loves it mightily.

Austin

More down-home than Dallas, more buttoned-up than Austin, Houston has money and culture, but wears them like a good ol' country boy come to town. What's that mean? Award-winning, chef-run restaurants where ties are rarely required. Attending world-class museum exhibits followed by cheap beer at patio bars. Enclaves of attractions spread all across the state's largest – and widest – city.

When you get sick of the concrete maze of interstates, it's easy to escape. Within day-trip distance you can visit NASA and the place where Texas won its independence. Washington County entices antique hunters, history buffs and anyone who just loves beautiful, rural countryside. Further afield, northeast Texas is the Piney Woods, with towering forests, winding roads, natural attractions and Southern belle historic towns like Jefferson and Nacogdoches.

As you wander the back roads, keep your nose at the ready to follow the scent of superb barbecue and chicken-fried steak.

East Texas

America's 'Third Coast,' as it calls itself, varies enormously from place to place. Thus the beach-town scene of Port Aransas is a sea of calm compared with the frenetic hedonism of South Padre Island. There are plenty of reminders of Texas’ dramatic history, too, from the Palo Alto Battlefield, site of the first shots of the Mexican–American War, to the long and bumpy history of the port city of Galveston. Along the Rio Grande, border politics affect all aspects of life. In many ways the area has a different cultural identity to both Mexico and Texas, a unique multicultural and bilingual region that for a short time was even an independent state. The Republic of the Rio Grande may not have survived as a political entity, but its unique history still accents the towns and remote stretches from Brownsville to Laredo and beyond.

Gulf Coast & South Texas

Tourism has been good to San Antonio, and the sprawling city reciprocates with enough attractions to keep everyone entertained. In addition to its colorful, European-style River Walk, away from the traffic and lined with cafes and bars, it rewards visitors with a well-rounded array of museums, historic sites, theme parks and outdoor activities. The Alamo, the scene of the most famous battle in the fight for Texas' independence from Mexico, is a stalwart tourist favourite, while four other beautifully preserved Spanish missions lie within the city limits.

San Antonio also puts you in close proximity to the Hill Country, a beautiful region known for its wildflower-lined roadways, charming small towns, gorgeous wineries and, yes, hills. Fredericksburg is the most visited of the Hill Country towns, but the area is more about winding roads and stopping along the way than any particular destination.

San Antonio & Hill Country

Welcome to the land of wide-open spaces. Along I-10 there's not much to look at – just scrub brush and lots of sky – but dip below the interstate and you'll encounter vistas every bit as captivating as they are endless. Sometimes the rugged terrain looks like the backdrop in an old Western movie; then it suddenly turns into an alien landscape, with huge rock formations erupting out of the desert. But what is there to do? Plenty. Exploring an enormous national park that's nearly the size of Rhode Island. Stopping in small towns that will surprise you with minimalist art, planet-watching parties or fascinating ghost-town ruins. Checking out the latest microbreweries in a reenergized El Paso. Chatting with friendly locals whenever the mood strikes you. And letting the delicious slowness of West Texas get thoroughly under your skin.

West Texas

Lakes, rivers and hills distinguish Central Texas from most of the rest of the state. The major urban hubs of Austin and San Antonio, each with a busy international airport and diverse lodging options, stand just 80 miles apart, while the Hill Country rolls west from both. Within this diverse region you can enjoy big-city nightlife, nation-building history, scenic vineyards, delicious Tex-Mex food and loads of outdoor activities, from hiking to tubing to wildflower viewing.

Central Texas

The vast open stretch of the Texas Panhandle and Plains is a region of long drives on lonely two-laners. Its cities are few and small. The scope and scale make this a place where people tend to think big, but some of the area's purest pleasures are in its details: the scent of sage after rainfall, a flint quarry plied by humans thousands of years ago, or the wistful love songs written by young troubadours whose legacies ultimately reached far beyond the Plains. And it's not all tumbleweeds. Midland is at the heart of the Texas energy boom, Lubbock embodies the region's rich music heritage with its favorite son, Buddy Holly, and Amarillo keeps cattle king of the Panhandle. Natural wonders include America's second-largest canyon, Palo Duro, where the Comanche fought on long after other tribes gave in. But the region's greatest assets are the tiny towns seemingly lost in the past.

Panhandle Plains

Dallas, the 'Big D', is Texas' most mythologized city, rich in the stuff of which American legends are woven. For a time, the eponymous TV series Dallas served to define the USA to the world, while the Cowboys and their cheerleaders remain iconic. Unlike many Texan cities, Dallas has avoided the boom-and-bust cycle of the oil industry, to the point where this is the country’s fastest-growing metropolitan area. There’s money here a-plenty, and conspicuous consumption is very much the norm. Excellent museums in the massive, recently developed Arts District downtown offer world-class displays of art and sculpture, while unmissable sites commemorate the city’s rendezvous with history in 1963, as the site of President John F Kennedy's assassination. For the quintessential Dallas experience, explore its distinctive neighborhoods, like down-and-dirty Deep Ellum, pivotal in the stories of blues and jazz, or contemporary hipster hangouts like Lower Greenville or the Bishop Arts District.

Dallas

Laid-back, pick-up truck and boot-scooting town meets high-powered, high-cultured and high-heeled metropolis, Texas’ largest city – the fourth largest in the entire US – encompasses everything you’d expect to find in the Lone Star State, and plenty more besides. The energy capital of the world, it’s said to enjoy the nation’s highest standard of living, and all that oil wealth has brought plenty of dividends. Its museums – especially the Menil Collection and the associated Rothko Chapel – are extraordinary, while the dining and entertainment scenes are renowned across the region. Diverse residential neighborhoods and enclaves of restaurants and luxurious shops spread far and wide, but you can also enjoy down-home fun in abundant pubs, patios and parks. Just be sure you don’t underestimate Houston’s sauna-like summers. And don't forget that one of its main attractions, NASA's Space Center Houston, lies outside the city limits, a 30-minute drive down I-45.

Houston

Famous as being 'Where the West Begins,' Fort Worth still has the cowboy feel. It first rose to prominence during the great open-range cattle drives of the late 19th century, when more than 10 million head of cattle tramped here along the Chisholm Trail. These days, the legendary Stockyards are the prime visitor destination, hosting twice-daily mini-cattle drives, rodeos every weekend, and Billy Bob's, the world's biggest honky-tonk. Downtown Fort Worth, 3 miles south, is bursting with restaurants and bars – especially around Sundance Sq – while the Cultural District not far west boasts three amazing art museums. Whatever you do, don't mistake Fort Worth for being some sort of sidekick to Dallas. This city's got a headstrong spirit of its own, and it's a lot more user-friendly than its near-neighbor (not to mention greener and cleaner). Bottom line? There's a lot to do here – without a whole lot of pretense.

Fort Worth

The semitropical southern border area of Texas is much wetter than the arid west, thanks to the moisture-laden winds off the Gulf of Mexico. This lush environment is perfect for farming; much of the winter produce sold in the USA comes from Texas.

The temperate winter climate attracts hordes of migratory creatures. A breed known as 'Winter Texans' – American retirees from the north – arrives in flocks, as do more than 500 species of bird, who in turn attract bird-watchers to scores of natural spots.

The valley begins at the mouth of the Rio Grande, which meets the gulf in vast palm-studded wetlands, lagoons and remote beaches.

Heading west up the valley most of the land is given over to farming until the area around McAllen, at which point the gulf winds diminish and the land becomes increasingly arid and the population thins.