A Local’s Guide to the Perfect Weekend Trip to Dallas, TX

Map of Dallas

You can see everything I’ve listed in this blog post on this map.

Itinerary snapshot

Here’s how I recommend planning this weekend trip. I’ve got you flying in on a Friday evening and leaving late on Sunday (or even Monday morning). If you’re short on time, you can easily adapt these suggestions.

• Friday night: Night out in gritty but cool Deep Ellum
• Saturday: Brunch + museums + Klyde Warren Park + Sixth Floor Museum + Bishop Arts District
• Sunday: Day trip to Fort Worth + dinner and drinks in Lower Greenville

Getting around

Dallas is sprawling. I suggest renting a car. If you’re not renting a car, keep your weekend centred on Downtown, Deep Ellum, Bishop Arts and Lower Greenville and use Uber between neighbourhoods. The stadium and Fort Worth pieces work best with a car. Rent a car online with DiscoverCars.

48 hours in Dallas

Friday night

Drop your bags at your hotel and head straight to ultra-hip Deep Ellum. Deep Ellum is a bit gritty but also very trendy, and it’s one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Dallas. If you’re only in Dallas for a weekend, this is a must-visit area.

Check out the dozens of murals that grace the walls of buildings in the neighbourhood.

There are plenty of options for dinner and drinks in Deep Ellum:

• No weekend getaway in Dallas is complete without some Texan BBQ. Pecan Lodge (2702 Main St) is a BBQ joint that regularly tops the list of the best restaurants in Dallas. The lines are long but move quickly.
• If Tex Mex is what you’re in the mood for, Pepe’s and Mito’s is an unpretentious spot with traditional dishes (2911 Elm St).
• Revolver Taco Lounge (2646 Elm St) has fantastic tacos for a quick and filling meal.
• Located inside the Kimpton Pittman Hotel, Elm & Good (2551 Elm St) is an upscale American tavern in a beautiful setting.
• I can never say no to fried chicken – and the chicken and waffles at Brick & Bones (2651 Commerce St) is one of the best in the city.

After dinner, explore Deep Ellum further. There are some great bars: I love Ruins (2653 Commerce St) and Armoury D.E. (2714 Elm St), both of which serve great cocktails. Both are very cool settings with extensive lists of cocktails, wine and beers.

End the night at a honky tonk – you’re in Texas after all! Dance the night away at Adair’s Saloon (2624 Commerce St). There’s always live music here on a weekend.

Saturday morning

Start your Dallas weekend the way every respectable Dallasite does – with brunch. Dallas knows how to do brunch better than any U.S. city I’ve ever visited, and the options are plentiful and ever-evolving.

Overeasy (1914 Commerce St), located in the stylish Statler Hotel, is a retro-cool diner-style restaurant in the heart of downtown Dallas. The pancakes are a must – I don’t think I’ve ever eaten fluffier flapjacks in my life.

I’ve curated more of my favourite Dallas brunch options if Overeasy doesn’t take your fancy or isn’t close to your hotel.

It’s now time explore the culture of Dallas. You might be surprised to learn that Dallas has the largest contiguous urban arts district in the country, making it one of the best places to visit in Texas for art. The Dallas Arts District spans 19 blocks and is filled with museums.

Spend the morning visiting one or two of the museums in Dallas:

• Dallas Museum of Art has a huge collection; it’s easy to spend a couple of hours here
• My favourite is the Nasher Sculpture Center, where art spills into the outdoor sculpture garden
• If you have kids, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science is interactive and fun, with plenty of hands-on exhibits

Top tip: Want to save money when you visit Dallas? Buy a Dallas CityPASS, which includes access to the Perot Museum.

Saturday afternoon

Wander across to the food trucks at Klyde Warren Park, a 5.2-acre public park built over a freeway, for lunch.

Every day the park is lined with food trucks serving Vietnamese food, BBQ, Cajun bites and even lobster rolls.

Klyde Warren Park is a lovely grassy spot to chill out for a while and perfect for a short break from this busy Dallas itinerary.

Next, head over to Elm Street where one of the most shocking moments in U.S. history took place. The Sixth Floor Museum is all about the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

In the former Texas School Book Depository building, take a self-guided wander through the exhibits that explain the Kennedys’ visit to Texas, the lead up to JFK’s assassination and what followed. You’ll need around 90 minutes to fully experience the site.

Outside in Dealey Plaza, a white cross on the road marks the exact spot where he was killed.

This is one of the most popular Dallas attractions, and you’ll always see plenty of people milling about here (including a few people sharing their conspiracy theories!).

Want to go deeper? Book this JFK Assassination and Museum Tour, which includes a visit to the Lee Harvey Oswald Rooming House.

Saturday evening

Head over to Bishop Arts District, a neighbourhood that has changed rapidly in recent years, but still has a great neighbourhood feel about it.

Support local and spend some time browsing the stores in the neighbourhood. The Wild Detectives (314 W Eighth St) has a great selection of books (as well as coffee and cocktails), Society by Jackson Vaughn (403 N Bishop Ave) sells divine-smelling candles and We Are 1976 (313 N Bishop Ave) has beautiful stationery, homewares and prints.

Local’s tip: Street parking is limited in Bishop Arts on weekends, so Uber or valet can be easier.

It’s time for dinner – and this area has plenty of great options to choose from.

• Bishop Arts is home to the famous Lockhart Smokehouse (400 W Davis St) – if you haven’t had BBQ already, this is a great stop for a taste of Texas BBQ.
• An alternative option for dinner is Oddfellows (316 W 7^th St), a diner-style restaurant with a menu that’s anything but diner. Think shrimp ceviche and seared scallops – but of course there are fried chicken and waffles.
• You’ll need to book well ahead, but if you can get a seat you won’t regret a meal at Lucia (287 North Bishop Ave). It’s one of the best restaurants in Dallas (and one of the best Dallas date night restaurants). This tiny little Italian restaurant feels like you’re in the family dining room.

Whichever you choose, make sure to save room for a slice of pie from Emporium Pies (314 N Bishop Ave) for dessert. There’s only ever a handful of flavours of pie – but you’ll still have trouble deciding.

Want some live music to end the night? Revelers Hall (412 North Bishop Ave) is the place to go.

If you’re serious about your BBQ and looking for something that only the locals know about, head to Cattleack BBQ in the north of the city. It’s only open Wednesday to Friday and the first Saturday of each month. It’s our favourite BBQ joint in Dallas!

Sunday morning

Start the day with a caffeine hit from LDU. This Australian-run place makes the best coffee in Dallas. They also have divine toasted banana bread and amazing grilled sandwiches. They’ve got six stores across the city to choose from.

Jump in the car because you’re now heading west to the the largest dome structure in the world: AT&T Stadium, more commonly known as the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. It’s a 30-minute drive from Dallas.

Don’t have a car? Book this Dallas Cowboys Stadium Tour with Transport.

You can do a self-guided Dallas Cowboys Stadium tour, but I recommend choosing the VIP tour.

This two-hour tour takes you all over the stadium – and I mean all over. You’ll be checking yourself out in the mirror in the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders’ locker room and posing in front of Dak Prescott’s locker before you head out on the field itself. I’m not a huge sports fan, but it’s hard not to be impressed by this stadium!

Sunday afternoon

After soaking up the impressive size and spirit of AT&T Stadium, it’s time to venture 30 minutes further west to explore Fort Worth. This city, while part of the larger DFW metroplex, has a distinct identity that’s steeped in the American West.

Your first stop in Fort Worth should be the Stockyards National Historic District. Here, you can step back in time to the days when cowboys and cattle drives were the norms.

The Stockyards are home to the world’s only twice-daily cattle drive (11.30am and 4pm), where you can watch cowhands in action.

There are also plenty of shops, restaurants and live music venues that line the streets around the historic district.

For an authentic cowboy experience, pop into Billy Bob’s Texas, the world’s largest honky-tonk. The fun here really begins at night, but during the day you can grab a meal, play some pool or take a snap on the photo bull.

Sunday evening

Head back to Dallas and end your weekend trip in Lower Greenville – my old ‘hood! Restaurants and bars line Greenville Ave and there’s always a fun vibe here on the weekends.

For a drink before dinner, try the Truck Yard (5624 Sears St) where you’ll meet plenty of people on the long communal tables plonked down among the eclectic items decorating the outdoor area. If you’re after something a little classier, Leela’s Wine Bar (1914 Greenville Ave) is a lovely wine bar (that also serves up a mean charcuterie plate).

For dinner, there are so many options along Greenville Avenue. Via Triozzi is an Italian joint in luxe surroundings. Or grab a table on the rooftop of HG Sply Co (2008 Greenville Ave) for bar snacks or try the healthy proteins downstairs. This is the first place I ever visited in Dallas and the reason why we wanted to move to this neighbourhood.

You can’t end the night without trying the gelato at Botolino Gelato Artigianale (2116 Greenville Ave). Their flavours include olive oil, dulce de leche, and mascarpone and figs.

This is just a sample of things to do on a weekend trip to Dallas – I guarantee you’ll want to come back to explore more!

Got more time in Dallas? Why not take one of these day trips from Dallas to discover dinosaurs (yes, really!), the outdoors and great food.

Dallas travel guide

How to get to Dallas

One of the best things about planning a weekend trip to Dallas is that it’s so easy to get to. Dallas has two airports serviced by all the major airlines.

Dallas Love Field (DAL) is my favourite airport to fly in and out of. It’s small and it’s always quick to get through security. Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines and Alaska Airlines fly in and out of here. It’s also the closest airport to the downtown area.

The larger Dallas-Fort Worth airport (DFW) is smack bang between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. This is American Airlines’ hub, and Delta, Spirit, United and JetBlue, among others, also fly into here. It’s also where all international flights land (including Qantas, my home country’s airline). From here, it’s a 35 to 45-minute taxi ride to downtown Dallas, depending on traffic.

SEARCH FOR FLIGHTS TO DALLAS

The best time to visit Dallas

The best time to visit Dallas is between March and May and September and November when the weather has (hopefully) cooled down a little. The Texas State Fair is in September and worth booking your trip around.

Summer is H-O-T, and from May to September the city swelters. But at least there’s no humidity like there is in Houston.

Dallas winters can be bitterly cold and it has been known to snow (well, a little), but they’re much more mild compared to other US cities.

How to get around Dallas

Dallas is quite spread out so you’ll need to rent a car for your weekend in Dallas or rely on Uber. Renting a car is easy from either of the two airports, and there’s plenty of parking around the city. Most restaurants have valet service.

The DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) is Dallas’s public transport system. This includes bus services, the light rail network and even a streetcar. The system covers many parts of the city, including connections to both airports. A day pass will set you back a mere $6.

Where to stay in Dallas

For this itinerary, I’d recommend staying in or around Downtown. While it can be quiet here on weekends, you’ll be close to everything. There are plenty of Dallas hotels to suit all budgets. Here are my top choices.

Hotel Indigo Dallas Downtown | We stayed here on a recent visit back to Dallas and it was great. Central in the city, friendly staff and a huge room with separate bedroom. Check prices and make your booking online here with Booking.com or Expedia

Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas Downtown | A great value hotel in a good location. Guests particularly love the complimentary breakfast! Check prices and make your booking online here with Booking.com or Expedia

Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Dallas Downtown | Within walking distance of the JFK Museum, Fairfield Inn & Suites is in a great location. Guests love the big rooms. Check prices and make your booking online here with Booking.com or Expedia

Hyatt Regency Dallas | This huge hotel is located at the base of Reunion Tower, which offers amazing views of Dallas from the revolving restaurant or observatory. Check prices and make your booking online here with Booking.com or Expedia

The Joule | As soon as you step into this luxury hotel you’ll be amazed by the artwork filling the lobby. The rooftop pool is glass-fronted so that you can see the city street below. It’s one of the most romantic hotels in Dallas if you’re visiting with your other half. Check prices and make your booking online here with Booking.com or Expedia

Dallas weekend: Final thoughts

Dallas may be the country’s 9th largest city, but it certainly doesn’t feel overwhelming. It’s a great city to explore in a weekend – especially if you plan your time around a few key neighbourhoods rather than trying to see everything at once.

As a former local, I may be biased, but I think it’s got a great mix of arts and culture, Texas traditions (hello stockyards and honky tonks!), food and nightlife. I hope this weekend in Dallas guide has given you an idea of what to do in Dallas and helps you plan your own trip!

Dallas itinerary: FAQs

Do I need a car for a weekend in Dallas?

Most likely, yes. Dallas is spread out, and while you can of course Uber between neighbourhoods, you’ll save time (and often money) with a rental car – especially if you’re doing AT&T Stadium or Fort Worth.

How many days do you need in Dallas?

Two days is enough to hit the highlights and even take a trip to Fort Worth. Prepare for a busy itinerary to squeeze it all in!

Is Fort Worth worth it if I only have a weekend?

If you want the stereotypical “Texas” experience – yes. The Stockyards feel very different to Dallas and make an easy half-day trip.

Have you taken a weekend trip to Dallas? What are your favourite things to do in Dallas? Leave your tips in the comments below.

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