African American Museum

Dallas

　　This museum has exhibits of more than 1000 objects that richly detail the art and history of African American people from precolonial Africa through the present. Its folk-art collection is one of the best nationwide. ...

Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse

Dallas

　　Dallas’ favorite barbecue joint also has a handy downtown location, but for the full authentic experience you can’t beat a visit to the place it all began, 4 miles northwest. You can even drop in for breakfast; it stays open to sate your smoky fantasies around the clock. ...

NorthPark Center

Dallas

　　Almost 2 million sq ft of retail space, NorthPark's major stores include Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Macy's. It has hundreds of other retailers, including most upscale brands. Despite its size, it gets jammed and parking on a Saturday afternoon can be a pain. ...

Texas Rangers

Dallas

　　From April to October the Texas Rangers play at the vintage-ballpark–inspired Globe Life Park, which features replicas of the Fenway Park scoreboard and the right-field home-run porch from Tiger Stadium. Guided tours are better off-season: they include a peek into the ballplayers’ inner sanctum. With over 49,000 seats, you can...

Pecan Lodge

Dallas

　　An icon in Deep Ellum, Pecan Lodge fires up tender brisket, ribs and pulled pork. Add the requisite sides (mac 'n cheese, collard greens, plus peach cobbler for dessert), local craft brews and you have one of Dallas' best BBQ joints. The downside: the lines are long, and you'll have...

Bishop Arts District

Dallas

　　For quirky and one-of-a-kind objects, like vintage Fiestaware plates, funky chandeliers and DIY crafts, head to the Bishop Arts District. Check the website for periodic festivals where local artists showcase their wares, such as the Oak Cliff Art Crawl held in April. ...

Galleria

Dallas

　　The Galleria defined Dallas and conspicuous consumption in the 1980s and 1990s. Its main anchors include Nordstrom, Macy's and Belk, as well as an iconic ice-skating rink. But despite its decades-long fame, the time for suburban indoor malls may have peaked. ...

Reno's Chop Shop Saloon

Dallas

　　Slightly off Deep Ellum's Elm St artery, this is where you'll find Dallas' friendliest bikers. Hogs line the front while a jovial crowd parties inside. The rear patio has great tables with umbrellas, along with the odd band. There's lots of leather in the collective wardrobe. ...

American Airlines Center

Dallas

　　Located in Victory Park, this stadium hosts mega-concerts and is home to the Dallas Stars ice-hockey team and the Dallas Mavericks pro-basketball team. ...

Green Room

Dallas

　　In bar-lined Deep Ellum, the Green Room is a go-to spot for rooftop cocktails, a fun crowd and excellent food, from snacks to meals (tacos, burgers, poutine). Pick from three bar areas. ...

Meadows Museum

Dallas

　　Located on the Southern Methodist University campus, this museum exhibits perhaps the best and most comprehensive collection of Spanish art outside of Spain, including masterpieces by Velázquez, El Greco, Goya, Picasso and Miró. ...

Perot Museum of Nature & Science

Dallas

　　A soaring star of the Arts District, this state-of-the-art museum wows both inside and out. Several floors of interactive exhibits, geared especially toward school groups, allow visitors to design their own birds, journey through the solar system, command robots, and commune with dinosaurs including the eel-like Dallasaurus. As befits the...

Neiman Marcus

Dallas

　　A downtown landmark, this six-story veteran was the first Neiman Marcus store. Today it's still a wonderful place to enjoy a timeless high-end shopping experience. You may feel the urge to don white gloves. ...

Southfork Ranch

Dallas

　　Who shot JR? Locals certainly no longer care (the TV drama Dallas was cancelled in 1992), but that doesn't stop interstate and international visitors from driving 20 miles north from Dallas to Southfork Ranch. If you are expecting to see Miss Ellie's kitchen or JR's bedroom, don't. The ranch was...

Highland Park Village

Dallas

　　For an eye-rolling, gasp-inducing and credit-card-maxing experience, head to the Highland Park Village shopping center in upper-crust Highland Park, Dallas' answer to Nob Hill. Half squint, and you could almost imagine you were walking round a Spanish mission from a Sergio Leone western, until the Fendi and Gucci signs come...

Dallas Farmers Market

Dallas

　　Buy produce directly from the many excellent local growers, or shop for flowers and antiques at this multibarn market. It's at its best Thursday to Saturday. Eateries include Taqueria La Ventana, which sells Mexico City–style tacos. ...

Fair Park

Dallas

　　The art deco buildings of Fair Park, which were created for the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition, today contain seven museums that focus on science, railroads, African American and women's history. While the grounds are safe, the surrounding area is best avoided; luckily, on-site parking is plentiful and free (State Fair...

Pegasus Sign

Dallas

　　The red neon Pegasus became a symbol of Dallas during the decades when it flew atop Magnolia Building, starting in 1934. After a couple of moves and a stint in storage, the proud neon winged horse had now been restored and mounted on a (too short) pedestal in front of...

Klyde Warren Park

Dallas

　　This innovative 5.2-acre park is an urban green space built over the recessed Woodall Rodgers Freeway. It has its own programming and, besides outdoor areas for chess, yoga, croquet and other activities, it offers performances and many more special events. It gets very crowded with families on weekends. ...

Nasher Sculpture Center

Dallas

　　The fabulous glass-and-steel Nasher Sculpture Center stands across from the Dallas Museum of Art downtown. Partnered by a divine sculpture garden, its main Renzo Piano-designed building is a work of art in its own right. Raymond and Patsy Nasher accumulated one of the greatest private sculpture collections in the world,...

Dealey Plaza & the Grassy Knoll

Dallas

　　Infamous for its location alongside the road where John F Kennedy’s motorcade was ambushed in November 1963, the tiny park known as Dealey Plaza is now a haunting, eerily familiar National Historic Landmark. It was created in 1935, however, to mark the center of the original settlement of Dallas. 　　Lee...

Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

Dallas

　　Spreading northeast of Dallas along the shores of White Rock Lake, this gorgeous 66-acre arboretum is a rainbow-colored wonderland of plants and flowers, plus dotted artworks and sculptures, man-made waterfalls, mock-up forest brooks and more. Just six miles from downtown, it's one of the city's loveliest green spaces, and a...

Pioneer Plaza

Dallas

　　For a Texas-sized photo op, or simply a sight of what claims to be the largest bronze monument on earth, head to Pioneer Plaza in the heart of Dallas. Multiple strands of American history come together at this downtown tourist site – the plaza's famous monument commemorates the epic cattle...

Dallas Museum of Art

Dallas

　　The city's major art museum offers a high-caliber world tour of ancient and contemporary art. Founded in 1903, the Dallas Museum of Art is an impressively cosmopolitan endeavour, with a collection that spans the history of creativity in Europe as well as the Americas. It put Dallas firmly on the...

Sixth Floor Museum

Dallas

　　Dallas means many things to many people, but for tourists, the city is still indelibly linked to the assassination of President John F Kennedy. Movies and conspiracy theories have kept this momentous event alive in the popular consciousness ever since 22 November 1963. To understand what unfolded on that fateful...