Best Texas Attraction (2017)

In terms of total visitors, the San Antonio River Walk is the most popular tourist attraction in Texas. The 3 miles of stone pathways along the San Antonio River winds through the heart of downtown, providing easy access to restaurants, bars, shops, hotels and other attractions, like Market Square, Tower of Americas and Mission San Jose.
Photo courtesy of Bob Howen / Visit San Antonio

Padre Island National Seashore protects one of the world's largest undeveloped stretches of barrier island – 70 miles of coastline, tidal flats and dunes where Kemp's ridley sea turtles and some 380 bird species call home. Visitors enjoy a wide range of recreational opportunities, including kayaking, birding, camping, swimming and windsurfing.
Photo courtesy of NPS Photo

Built in 1878, Gruene Hall is considered the oldest running dance hall in Texas, and the Central Texas birthplace to many famous songwriters and musicians, including George Strait, Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen. On a weekend night, it's one of the best spots in the San Antonio area to pull on a pair of boots, grab a partner and dance the night away.
Photo courtesy of Eileen Blass, USA TODAY

Moody Gardens got its start in the 1980s as a hippotherapy program for people with head injuries. Today, it's a family-centric entertainment complex complete with an aquarium, tropical rainforest habitat, 3D and 4D theaters, paddlewheel boat and interactive museum. During the summer months, visitors can catch some rays on a sandy beach.
Photo courtesy of Kenny Braun / Travel Texas

At Space Center Houston, aspiring astronauts and curious visitors alike can chat with real astronomers, snap a selfie with the Saturn V rocket, climb into a simulated Orion capsule and watch as Mission Control assists astronauts living in the International Space Station. The Living in Space exhibit gives insight into the day-to-day complications of living in zero-gravity.
Photo courtesy of Space Center Houston

The San Antonio Missions, including The Alamo and the four missions within San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, were granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2015, making them the first and only UNESCO site in the state of Texas.
Photo courtesy of Visit San Antonio

Nicknamed the "Grand Canyon of Texas," Palo Duro Canyon State Park sits in the heart of the Texas Panhandle. Visitors to the park enjoy 30 miles of recreational trails, including 1,500 acres set aside for horseback riding. The park offers cultural appeal as well; during the summer months, the Pioneer Amphitheater puts on Texas, An Outdoor Musical Drama Tuesdays through Sundays.
Photo courtesy of Thinkstock

Housed in a 1972 masterpiece by famed architect Louis Kahn, the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth showcases a small collection – fewer than 350 pieces – of exceptional quality representing the period from antiquity to the 20th century. Highlights include works by Michelangelo, El Greco, Cézanne and Matisse, and many consider the building itself to be a work of art.
Photo courtesy of Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau

The stockyards of Fort Worth once bustled with cattle, and saloons lined the streets, offering respite to herders and passersby. Now called the Fort Worth Stockyards Historic District, the old barns and pens house shops, museums and restaurants, helping to preserve the town's colorful heritage. Visitors can watch a rodeo or cattle drive, throw back a pint at the Longhorn Saloon or two step at the world's largest honky tonk. 
Photo courtesy of Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau

The Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas's Dealey Plaza is housed across two floors of the old Texas School Book Depository warehouse. It was from this sixth floor window that came the bullet which killed President John F. Kennedy, and the museum not only chronicles the assassination and how it changed history, but the legacy of the man and the President.
Photo courtesy of VisitDallas.com