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LET’S hit the asphalt, no guidebook needed. We’re in the best of hands – because this is the Texas Frontiers road trip.
We’re rolling through eight unsung places that deserve to be on everyone’s map.
These are pockets of the real, modern Texas, stitched together by backroads and packed full of charm.
This isn’t a tick-box tour, it’s Texas unplugged – big, bold, up close and personal, and just waiting for anyone adventurous enough to take it on.
And it’s super easy to travel between destinations.
If you’re keen to explore the quirky Panhandle Plains in the north of Texas, start at the big cities of Amarillo and Lubbock before heading to the restorative Mineral Wells and finishing in Grapevine, with its small-town charm and wine culture.
Or if your sights are set on the outdoorsy Hill Country, begin at the charming city of San Marcos before driving on to the picturesque small town of Boerne, then Bandera (Cowboy Capital of the World) and finally Fredericksburg, a little slice of Germany in Texas.
These destinations – whose special guests include cowboys, mermaids and prairie dogs – have one thing in common: they all brim with authentic Lone Star spirit.
Let’s go.
Tex
Gigs in a cave, Cadillac graffiti and the cowboy capital – is this Texas tour America’s quirkiest road trip?
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Hit the road Tour one-of-a-kind Texas in the comfort of a car
Tasty challenge Polish off a 72oz steak in an hour and pay nothing at the Big Texan Steak Ranch
Amarillo
More than a pit stop, Amarillo is a destination in its own right, and travellers who breeze through it are missing a treat.
Sunrise sets Palo Duro Canyon ablaze. Hike or saddle up for rust-red thrills.
Or stroll the Amarillo Route 66 Historic District for a serving of pure Americana with eclectic shops and local dining.
The Big Texan’s 72oz steak dares patrons: polish off the steak, shrimp cocktail, salad, dinner roll and baked potato in under an hour and it’s free.
You can toast your victory with rooftop brews at Six Car Pub & Brewery.
Shake a spray can at Cadillac Ranch’s ten nose-buried graffiti-covered cars – a public art installation that encourages visitors to add their own mark.
Then head for the GoldenLight Cafe and Cantina, whose burgers and live music guarantee a good time, while summer evenings belong to the TEXAS Outdoor Musical, an extravaganza closed out by fireworks.
Bandera
Bandera wears the title Cowboy Capital of the World like a tooled leather crown. Its 900-odd residents prove size doesn’t matter when the Stetsons stack high.
Daylight calls for trail rides through cedar hills at Mayan Dude Ranch.
Prefer to laze? Drift the Medina River with a dreamy look on your face.
The Frontier Times Museum packs in more than 40,000 Old West, pioneer and prehistoric artefacts, as well as a few curiosities, from a two-faced goat to a shrunken head.
Sear a ribeye on 11th Street Cowboy Bar’s communal pit, then boot-scoot into the sawdust-floored Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar, the Lone Star State’s oldest honky-tonk.
Come February, the three-day Cowboy Mardi Gras swaps beads for buckles, complete with zydeco beats and gumbo cook-off.
Hit Bandera over Memorial Day or Labor Day for the PRCA Stampede – three nights of bucking broncos, snorting bulls and barrel-racing bedlam at Mansfield Park.
Licence to grill
Barbecue your own meat at Cowboy Bar
Boerne
Lined with limestone buildings, Boerne mixes German heritage with small-town warmth – yet San Antonio sits just 30 miles away.
Tour the 1887 Old Jail Museum – four original cells still clang shut – and crawl into Cave Without a Name, whose Throne Room hosts spine-tingling concerts some 90ft underground.
Wander the boardwalks and trails of Cibolo Nature Center, where cypresses shade Cibolo Creek and six miles of trails loop through marsh, prairie and oak savannah.
And if you time your visit for Saturday morning, you can shop for honey and other local treats at the Farmers Market at Herff Farm afterwards.
Sink your teeth into jalapeño sausage at family-run Klein Smokehaus before downing craft pints in Cibolo Creek Brewing Co’s garden.
After dark, events on the Hill Country Mile erupt – Black Rifle Block Parties blaze with chrome and rubber, the breweries fill the air with live music during Music on the Mile, then Oktoberfest crashes in with oompah beats and rivers of pilsner.
Check the calendar of events for even more event-driven travel inspiration.
Cool vibes Live music in a limestone cave, 90 feet below ground? Why not?
Fredericksburg
Scale the pink granite Enchanted Rock for glorious views, cruise Willow City Loop, a wildflower runway of spring bluebonnets, and cool off with a peach ice cream at a roadside stand.
Fredericksburg has Bavarian roots and lots of vineyards. Fuel up on schnitzel at Ausländer, then take a tasting tour with the 290 Wine Shuttle.
Wander the colour-drenched fields of Wildseed Farms, the nation’s largest working wildflower farm just seven miles east of town, where 200 acres of blooms flank a half-mile walking trail and butterfly garden.
Back on Main Street, the octagonal Vereins Kirche – part of the Pioneer Museum – tells stories of German settlers, while the National Museum of the Pacific War sits a block away.
Luckenbach’s dance hall keeps Texas Hill Country nights humming: guitars and fiddles join strings, longnecks clink and every hush makes you think that Willie Nelson’s just walked in.
Magic mile Main Street is packed with wine tasting rooms, boutiques and museums
Time travel Grapevine Vintage Railroad offers rides in 1920s coaches
Grapevine
Tackle WhoaZone’s inflatable obstacle course on Grapevine Lake and let Meow Wolf’s The Real Unreal art installation melt your mind at Grapevine Mills.
Also at Grapevine Mills is Sea Life Grapevine Aquarium, where you can stroll through an underwater tunnel as sharks glide overhead.
Other attractions include a Legoland Discovery Center for rides, a zone for building your own Lego car and racing it against others, and a 4D cinema.
Ride the Grapevine Vintage Railroad in a 1920s carriage to the Fort Worth Stockyards or catch the Glockenspiel Clock Tower’s wild west showdown at high noon.
Sip mega margaritas at Esparza’s – billed the Margarita Capital of Texas – then graze the globe at Harvest Hall’s eight food stalls under one roof.
Stomp grapes at September’s GrapeFest, then return for 1.5 million lights each December when Grapevine becomes the official Christmas Capital of Texas.
Lubbock
At Prairie Dog Town, scores of “sod poodles” (as the locals call them) pop up like furry models at Mackenzie Park. Eager for attention, they’ll happily pose and chatter away at visitors.
Evie Mae’s mouthwatering brisket sells out fast at the Wolfforth hotspot near Lubbock, where they hand out free ice-cold beer while you queue. Texas Monthly ranked it among the state’s ten best barbecue joints.
At the National Ranching Heritage Center, weekend chuckwagon demos and costumed interpreters bring the blacksmith shop, line camp and schoolhouse to life – a hit for kids and history buffs alike.
Pay tribute to a homegrown music hero at the Buddy Holly Center, then cool off at Buffalo Springs Lake where rental kayaks, pontoon boats and jet skis keep the adrenaline flowing.
Come nightfall, Blue Light Live showcases new singer-songwriters, while First Friday Art Trail turns downtown into a free gallery with pop-up stalls and food trucks.
Feast on it Evie Mae’s Pit Barbecue is best known for its ribs and juicy brisket
Best foot forward Penitentiary Hollow is a popular climbing area with caves and cliffs
Mineral Wells
This small city made its name with Crazy Water – a mineral water once hailed as a miracle cure. You can still gulp it straight from the source – just swing by the Famous Water Pavilion.
Hungry? Join The Fonz and co at Happy Days Diner, where the 1950s interior, complete with gumball machine and soda fountain, goes well with a menu of comfort food specials.
Outdoors, climbers scale sandstone towers at Penitentiary Hollow, while Fossil Park lets you dig up 300-million-year-old shark teeth for free.
Clark Gardens Botanical Park, covering 50 acres just outside Mineral Wells, has water features, native flora, free-roaming peacocks and G scale garden trains winding around 700 feet of track.
Downtown, the 14-storey Baker Hotel is being transformed back into a Jazz Age beauty and is set to reopen next year.
Come October, the Crazy Water Festival brings out bands and classic cars.
San Marcos
Here is a college town with a watery past and present.
Tube down its river or ride a glass-bottom boat over Spring Lake at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment (formerly the amusement park Aquarena Springs, which had a submarine theatre and a swimming pig).
Mermaid statues downtown nod to the town’s kitschy past, and May’s Mermaid Capital of Texas Fest floods the streets with colour and whimsy for its eco-conscious parade.
Go underground at Wonder World Cave & Adventure Park, whose tours meander through fossil-studded limestone and end with a train ride to a wildlife petting park.
Food and drink on the Square keep the buzz going. Grab ribs just a few blocks away at Black’s Barbecue or sip an iced drink at Zelicks, a rehabbed petrol-station bar with giant Jenga.
When night falls, music takes centre stage. Cheatham Street Warehouse hosts songwriter nights while the Marc puts on live and DJ sets, catering to dance and rap fans.
Listen up Live music venue Cheatham Street Warehouse used to be a grocery distribution store
Book your fly-drive adventure with British Airways Holidays now – your flights, wheels and stays are just a click away. There are daily direct flights into Austin with British Airways and flights to Dallas-Fort Worth with American Airlines
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FIRST TWO PARAGRAPHS IN BOLD THE King’s Coronation is here, and with it, some right royal R&R, plus that all-important chance to break bread – and biscuits – with friends, family and all of our nearest and dearest.
This bank holiday is the ultimate biscuit break, and how perfect that McVitie’s is right there front and centre of the celebrations.
Travel Texas
Travel Texas
@TheGingerWanderlust
Travel Texas
Visit San Marcos
L Knope
Travel Texas
Travel Texas
Travel Texas
Hektor P Kowalski from Focus On Infinity
The Ginger Wanderlust
Hektor P Kowalski from Focus On Infinity
Visit San Marcos
L.Knope
Travel Texas