A well-rounded city growing out of the stark North Texas prairie, Dallas has a jumble of ultramodern skyscrapers, the largest arts district in the United States, museums of the highest quality and pulsating nightlife. Whole swathes of the city have been reinvented in recent times, like the Design District breathing new life into an austere neighborhood of warehouses, or Klyde Warren Park, on the former route of a freeway.
But if you’re hunting for old-time Texas trademarks like big steaks, BBQ and honkytonks among the upscale restaurants and high-culture, you’ll find them with little trouble. Dallas will also forever be tied to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and at Dealey Plaza you’ll discover how the city has come to terms with this tragedy. Let’s explore the top-rated tourist attractions in Dallas.
Contents
Top-Rated Tourist Attractions In Dallas
1. Dealey Plaza
In Dallas you can visit a place where the course of history was changed forever.
The landmarks at Dealey Plaza, like the Texas School Book Depository, the Grassy Knoll and Elm Street as it bends down to the railroad tracks, would be unremarkable were it not for the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
The cityscape at Dealey Plaza is mostly unchanged, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993. It’s hard not to be moved looking up at the corner sixth floor window from which Lee Harvey Oswald fired his three shots, seeing the X that marks the spot where JFK was struck by the fatal second bullet and standing on the bank from which Abraham Zapruder took his famous footage.
2. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
Forever etched in infamy, the former Texas School Book Depository at the intersection of Houston and Elm Streets in Dallas is now home to a museum dedicated to remembering one of the nation’s most tragic and defining moments: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Visitors to the museum are first introduced to the historical context with multimedia exhibits that describe the political climate of the early 1960s and then go on to highlight President Kennedy’s trip to Texas in November of 1963 and the last days of his life. Just past here, you will see the sniper’s perch in the corner window from which Oswald took the deadly shots, recreated to match the original photos from the crime scene.
3. John F. Kennedy Memorial
Located just a few blocks away from Dealey Plaza, across from the city courthouse, stands the John F. Kennedy Memorial. This imposing yet understated monument to President Kennedy was designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson, and its construction was completed in 1970 after years of controversy.
Resembling a cenotaph, the open tomb concept was designed by Johnson to represent what he saw as Kennedy’s free spirit. Standing some 30 feet tall and 50 feet wide and made from large marble slabs, it’s certainly an impressive site. Be sure to read the two epitaphs located at the entrances to the monument; they contain a thought-provoking remembrance of the President.
4. Arts District
Dallas lays claim to the largest urban arts district in the United States, on 20 square blocks to the south-east of Uptown, and with a rare concentration of cultural attractions.
We’ll visit plenty of the attractions in this area, like the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Klyde Warren Park and the Winspear Opera House. Respected venues and institutions are shoulder-to-shoulder in the Arts District, from the vaunted Dallas Black Dance Theatre in the east to the Dallas Museum of Art in the west.
There’s also tons of architectural interest, in monuments like the neo-Gothic Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin Guadalupe (1902), with a 68-meter spire and 100 stained glass windows. If you really want to get to know the Arts District’s cityscape there are 90-minute walking tours on the first and third Saturdays of the month from 10:00.
5. Dallas World Aquarium
One of the top-rated tourist attractions in Dallas that you can’t miss is visiting the Dallas World Aquarium. Conveniently located within easy walking distance of the city’s historic downtown core, Dallas World Aquarium is a fun and educational excursion for young and old alike. Housed in some 87,000 gallons of saltwater are a vast array of sea life including bonnethead sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, sea turtles, giant groupers, and rare leafy seadragons, all living in natural reef settings.
A fun highlight is the Orinoco Rainforest exhibit. This fun attraction comes complete with numerous free-flying birds, such as toucans, along with tree sloths and aquatic species such as Orinoco crocodiles and poison dart frogs. Be sure to check the feeding schedule before arrival for a chance to see the animals at their most animated, as well as for details of upcoming talks and lectures.
Read more: Top Tourist Attractions In Phoenix
