Things to Do in Dallas, Texas

Dealey Plaza is one of the most historically significant sites in America — the place where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Overlooking it, the Sixth Floor Museum, in the former Texas School Book Depository, chronicles his life, death, and legacy through detailed exhibits.

It's a sobering, essential Dallas stop, and standing in the plaza where history turned is an experience that draws visitors from around the world.

Dallas has the largest contiguous urban arts district in the country — 68 acres downtown with more performance venues per block than anywhere in America outside New York. The Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center anchor it, alongside the Crow Museum of Asian Art and the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

Nearby, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science is an architectural landmark with interactive exhibits on paleontology, space, and biology. You can spend a full day in the district — a museum in the morning, a sculpture garden at noon, and a park for lunch.

Dallas's neighborhoods are half the fun. Deep Ellum, east of downtown, is the nightlife and live-music heart, with more than 25 music venues and a hundred bars alongside street art and restaurants. Across the river, the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff is a walkable strip of independent shops, galleries, and acclaimed restaurants.

The two capture different sides of the city — Deep Ellum's gritty music energy and Bishop Arts's laid-back charm — and both reward an afternoon or evening of wandering.

Downtown, Klyde Warren Park is the city's town square — a 5.2-acre deck park over a freeway with free programming, food trucks, and lawns linking the Arts District to Uptown. Nearby, Reunion Tower's GeO-Deck offers sweeping views over the skyline from its glowing ball atop the city.

Together they anchor a walkable, modern downtown core, and Klyde Warren in particular has become the gathering place at the center of the city.

Each fall, Fair Park — a National Historic Landmark of Art Deco architecture — hosts the State Fair of Texas, the largest state fair in the country, complete with the towering Big Tex, the Cotton Bowl, and midway rides. The rest of the year, its museums and grounds are worth a visit.

Northeast of downtown, White Rock Lake and the Dallas Arboretum offer the outdoors, and for pro sports, the Mavericks (NBA) and Stars (NHL) play at the American Airlines Center in Victory Park. Between all of it, Dallas can fill a long weekend and then some.