Dallas City Guide

Being the third largest city in the state, Dallas is part of the larger metropolitan area of Dallas-Fort Worth and has historically been associated with industries like cattle farming, oil and cotton.

So what you can expect during your vacations in Dallas is a lot of bustling activities, skyscraper littered skyline and affluent resident population.

It is known to have a passion for the finer things in life. This is a far cry from the city’s humble origins as a frontier post, which in 1841 had only 20 streets. The transformation of Dallas from a quiet, rather non-descript town to a city of big business, equipped with one of the world’s busiest airports can be attributed to the discovery of ‘black gold’ or oil 100 miles east of the city in 1930.

Dallas consists of a few major neighborhoods that are surrounded by concentric rings of ever- expanding suburbs. Downtown Dallas is home to numerous big-name hotels and towering office buildings and also host the Dallas Convention Center and the Dallas Arts district that features the prominent attractions like the Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, Meyerson Symphony Center, Crow Collection of Asian Art and many others.

Located within downtown Dallas is the West End Historic district, a former warehouse district that now hosts many luxe hotels, restaurants, shopping locales and nightlife venues.

Most visitors to Dallas stay at the diverse hotel properties located within its downtown area as they afford a convenient commute. Other popular accommodation choices include Uptown Dallas, an area that is located northeast of downtown and includes regions like McKinney Avenue, Knox-Henderson, and Victory Park, which are destinations for stylish shores, glamorous residences and super luxury hotels. This is where you got to stay during Dallas vacations to have it the best.

Similar upscale hotels along with great shopping and dining options can be found in neighborhoods like Oak Lawn, Cedar Springs and Turtle Creek; though the city also offers hotels and other accommodation choices including moderately priced hotels, discount hotels and budget accommodation in an area known as North Dallas, which is located on the northern edge of the city. North Dallas is particularly known for its fantastic shopping options in the form of malls such as Galleria, Valley View, and Prestonwood Malls so if your Dallas trip is about shopping then you may want to consider choosing a hotel in North Dallas.

The Dallas Heritage Village offers an insight into old world Dallas. This living museum, which is located just south of downtown in an area called Old City Park, consists of 38 restored buildings and houses which hark back to a bygone era. These recreated and restored buildings and structures include a working farm, Victorian homes, a school, a church and a bank, which was once looted by Bonnie and Clyde. Visit this during vacations to Dallas vacations to have a bite of its heritage.

The Sixth Floor Museum catalogues the event that shocked the entire world, let alone a nation in the early 1960’s, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The museum commemorates the life and achievements of the late President with exhibits of numerous artifacts. Visitors to museum also have a chance to view a film of the assassination. The Sixth Floor museum is located at Dealey Plaza where the shooting took place.

The Nasher Sculpture Center is a relatively new attraction in Dallas having opened to the public in 2003. This outdoor sculpture center contains the private collection of Raymond and Patsy Nasher and features fascinating works by renowned 20th Century artists like Edgar Degas, Alberto Giacometti, Jasper Jones, Henri Matisse, Jeff Koons and many more.

The Dallas Museum of Art, located in the city’s downtown arts district, has a permanent collection that features artworks from practically the whole world. These works relate to various periods and diverse schools of art and render the Dallas Museum of Art as a must-do attraction for any art-lover on vacations to Dallas.

The Dallas Holocaust Museum, Centre for Education and Tolerance, is a non-profit organization that is located next to the Sixth Floor Museum and dedicated to educating visitors about the Holocaust and commemorating its victims. The museum provides guided tours for groups, audio tours for individuals, public lectures and exhibits that relate to the horrific and barbaric event.

The American Airlines Center is located in the up and coming Dallas neighborhood of Victory Park, a popular accommodation choice for visitors as it is home to several spanking new luxury Dallas hotels. The American Airlines Center is a major landmark of the neighborhoods that is home to some of the most well known sports teams in Dallas like the Dallas Stars hockey team, Dallas Mavericks basketball team and the Dallas Vigilantes Arena Football Leagues. Besides sports, the center also serves as a hosting venue for various concerts and shows.

The weather in Dallas is generally warm and humid all throughout the year. Summers in Dallas are characterized by scorching daytime temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C), which are accompanied by much humidity. Winters in Dallas are usually mild with average daytime temperatures ranging from 55 °F (13 °C) to 70 °F (21 °C) though the winter nights can be quite cold. Every winter, the city does receive some snowfall, which occurs over two to three days but amounts to an annual average of only 2.5 inches. Early fall is generally considered the best time for Dallas vacations as temperatures from September to December are warm but not unduly uncomfortable.

Hosting more than 6358,000 flights in 2009, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is known to be one of the busiest airports in the world. Clearly, to be able to handle such traffic, you need to have top notch facilities in place and Dallas airport lives up to it. If you want to experience it yourself, try our attractive cheap air ticket deals from across the air lines and have car rental services do the rest for you.

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit System or DART provides public transport for Dallas. The public transport system in Dallas consists mainly of a light rail system and a public bus system. The light rail system in Dallas consists of four lines which operate over a distance of 72 miles and connect approximately 55 stations. This light rail system is currently being expanded as the scope of its individual lines is being increased. Most visitors to Dallas however choose to rent a car for their visit for the city is quite spread out and having a rented car aids the commute between various attractions even if they are staying at a hotel located in the heart of the city.

Shopping is a much favored pastime in Dallas and the city abound with a plethora of shopping opportunities. The founding city of the uber-luxe Neiman Marcus department store, Dallas is littered with expansive malls, antique stores, hip boutiques and outposts of the most luxurious brands in the world.

The Dallas Galleria located within close proximity to downtown Dallas is a prominent shopping destination in Dallas. This three-storey mall hosts more than 200 big name stores along with thirty fast service, full-service and snack restaurants, a hotel, an ice-skating rink and a children’s play place.

Another shopping destination of note in Dallas is the award-winning North Park center mall, also situated in the heart of Dallas; North Park was the first mall to have been built in Dallas way back in 1965. The mall which has been catering to luxury shopping quests since its inception, today hosts more than 235 upmarket stores along with outposts of upscale department stores like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Dillard’s. The mall which is popularly referred to as one of the "7 Retail Wonders of the Modern World” also serves a platform for showcasing art and hosting fashion shows.

The first Neiman Marcus store located on the corner of Main and Ervay streets in downtown Dallas is yet another temple of retail that most visitors to the city pencil into their itineraries. This store which dates back to 1914 is the favored shopping haunt of many Dallas residents who prefer the original store over its mall outposts.

If you need to shop for souvenirs whilst in Dallas, you should miss out on the city’s West End Market Place. This retail enclave located in the West End Historic District of the city hosts more than fifty stores offering Texan souvenirs of all types. Also located within the enclave, are various eateries and a multi-screen theater. Besides its downtown area, Dallas also offers varied retail options within its neighborhoods like Deep Ellum (edgy fashion boutiques and vintage wares), Mckinney Avenue (antiques) and Highland Park Village (haute couture and other high-end choices).

Steakhouses, haute cuisine, new modern, farm-to-table, caviar and champagne, the many eateries that litter the culinary landscape in big, bustling Dallas offer all options. Highly-ranked restaurants in the Texan capital currently include hotspots like Tei-An (Japanese), Oak (New American), Nonna (Italian), Bolsa (eclectic), Driftwood (seafood), Fearing’s (New American), Bob’s Steak and Chophouse, Dalat (Vietnamese), Meso Maya (Mexican), Mughlai (Indian) and El Fenix (Tex-Mex). Dallas like the rest of the country has jumped onto the food truck wagon and in addition to restaurants,Dallas also offers spectacular food truck dining options like Ruthie’s (grilled sandwiches), Gandolfo’s (NYC deli eats), Nammie (Vietnamese) and Ssahm (Korean bbq).

Dallas offers it all in terms of nightlife and the city plays host to numerous bars, pubs, live music venues, sports bars, lounges and dance clubs. Much of the city’s nightlife scene is concentrated around its downtown area. The list of most popular nightlife haunts in Dallas, currently includes joints like Rattlesnake Bar, Cork Wine Bar, the Veritas Wine Room, Anvil Pub, the Old Monk bar, The Chesterfield and the Cedars Social (both lounges) and Station 4 and Lizard Lounge (dance clubs).