Discover the USA, the online guide dedicated to your journey in the United States of America

A tourist traveling across Texas will be intrigued by its international culture, opposed to the well known cliche that Texas introvertly closes itself from the rest of the world. More than 30 international cultures have contributed in the character of the Texans and their exceptional hospitality, from the dominant cultures of Spain, Mexico, Germany, France, to the lesser ones such as Netherlands and the Oriental countries.

The tastes of Texas will surprise you. Everywhere in the State, people gather around barbecues. Try the tasty smoked beef marinated in a spicy sauce. We can try a traditional cuisine, mostly made from seafood, in the south of Texas.

Texas shelters some of the first vineyards in America. We can participate at the organized visits, wine-tasting, visiting the wine caves and attend different stages of wine processing.

Then you can also savor the Wild West by passing one or more days in the touristic ranches, the "Dude Ranch" proposing you a large choice of West-styled activiies, from horseriding and working with the cowboys, to delicious barbecues around a moving caravan and square dance at night.

Austin

Austin was the capital of the Republic of Texas, between 1839 and 1845.

Capital of the State since 1845, Austin is known for its 500-room Capitol, made with granite, being the highest of other State Capitols with its 308 feet. We can visit the University of Texas here, as well as the Governor's Mansion, once a French legacy, as well as the O. Henry Museum and the presidential library of Lyndon B. Johnson.

Dallas

A modern city, industrial and commercial, an important market of cotton and petrol, located on the left bank of Trinity River.

On this very place, John Neely Bryan came to live in 1841, intenting to start his commerce with the Indians. The John Neely Bryan Cabin is today only a replica of the old cabin, constructed by the city founder in 1843.

Ironically, Dallas became famous when President John F. Kennedy was shot on November 22, 1963. Now we can still visit the Kennedy Memorial Assasination Site.

Texas State Fair held in Dallas every year during two weeks in October, is the State's largest fair.

Fort Worth

Within the extended city of Dallas, Fort Worth is a symbol of the New West. A cosmopolitan city, Fort Worth was originally a cattle marketplace. We can still discover the bovine heritage of Fort Worth in the Stockyard Historic District, sheltering also the first indoor Rodeo, as well as the world's largest dancing country and wester.

Also houses the State's principal museum, devoted to the Western Art.

Near Fort Worth, on Highway 377, Pate Museum of Transportation is located, devoted to old transportation methods, housing a rich collection of beautiful antique cars such as Cadillac, Buick or Ford T.

El Paso

In the extreme west of the State, near the mexican city of Ciudad Juarez in the other side of Rio Grande, El Paso was built by Coronado and the Spanish Conquistadors around 1540. A short excursion along Camino Real will lead you to the most ancient sites of Spanish Texas's history.

Padre Island National Seashore

Padre Island National Seashore, a curvy ribbon of sands and dunes, with a subtropical climate, parallel to the coast of Texas, stretches along 110 km between Port Isabel and Corpus Christi.

Texas's southernmost point, on the Gulf of Mexico, with its white sand beaches, this long island is home to some most luxurius touristic stations in the State.

Corpus Christi

In the north point of South Padre Island lies the bay of Corpus Christi, where international sailing competitions are held, and where the harbor city of Corpus Christi and its many historical and cultural attractions are located.

Galveston

The site was discovered by Cabeza de Vaca, the first European explorer to have set foot in Texas, arrived there in 1528. It used to be the capital of the Republic of Texas in 1836.

Galveston, on the Gulf of Mexico and near Houston, welcomed then some pirates and then became a flourishing harbor city, cotton port and entrance for many immigrants.

In 1900, a terrible hurricane brought a horrible flood to the city. Fourteen years later, a canal connecting it to Houston was built.

Galveston is until today the world's most important cotton port.

The city has many well-preserved Victorian buildings, gardens and wooden pavements along kilometers of beaches.

The American National Collection presents the works of America's first painters, extending its collections to the pre-columbian and Indian artworks, up to the pictural art of the 19th century.

Houston

Houston, the largest city in Southwest and fourth-largest city of America, is located about 396 m southwest of Dallas, and about 90 km from the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, connected to it by the Houston Ship Channel punctuated with docks and factories, making it one of America's principal ports.

Founded in 1836, the year of the Mexican defeat by General Sam Houston and Republic of Texas's foundation, Houston was named after its founder.

Also the center of American petrol industry, in the middle of an important network of pipelines, wells and reservoirs.

Very international, Houston is a cultural melting pot inhabited by more than 90 ethnic groups. A very large Czech community was formed here since 1854. Its members reunite every year in Prague, 150 km to the west of Houston.

Constructed more than 40 years ago, Astrodrome is a stadium with 66,000 sitting places, today still considered as an architectural model.

Home to the baseball club "Houston Astros" and the football team "Houston Oilers", Astrodome also welcomes the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Many sites have been preserved excellently, such as the historical Allen's Landing, the Oil Market Square or Sam Houston Park, in its limits, gathering renovated historic buildings.

The huge monument of San Jacinto Battleground (174 m high, equal 570 ft) symbolizes the winning battle that had allowed Texas to gain its independence from Mexico in 1836.


Houston is also knwn for the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center belonging to the NASA, for its zoological gardens, and the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Rice University and the big research center called the Texas Medical Center.

San Antonio

San Antonio, a picturesque city, 320 km in the west of Houston, has a Spanish Mexican flair. Third-largest city of Texas, and one of the oldest.

Established here in 1718, the San Antonio de Valero Mission was quickly elevated to the rank of capital for the Mexican province. Thus it had been ruled by the Spanish until 1821, then the Mexicans until 1836. The Republic of Texas born in 1836 was integrated in the Northern American Confederation in 1845.

San Antonio stays a bilingual city until now, where the Spanish language has lost nothing of its past importance : more than a half of the population reclaims themselves of Hispanic origins.

In 1981, San Antonio became the first big American city who elected a Hispanic mayor.

The San Antonio River curves along 10 km, crossing the city. The Paseo del Rio, or River Walk, is a quiet promenade in a subtropical vegetation frame, bordered by restaurants, boutiques, cafes and night bars.

In the heart of the city, we must not miss to visit the Alamo, ancient chapel of the San Antonio de Valero Mission, a sacred place, where 187 men died under the attack of the Mexican troops while depending the independence of Texas in 1836.

Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park, the last large wild space of Texas, is located in the extreme West of the State, in the border of Rio Grande. Arid and afflicted, it gave some works to the first explorers. Its landscapes of canyons and deserts welcome an annual number of 300,000 visitors today.

Photos : Dallas CVB, Austin CVB, San Antonio CVB, Houston CVB,

Galveston CVB, Corpus Christi CVB, South Padre Island CVB,

Fort Worth CVB, Texas CVB.