Top things to do in Dallas: What not to miss

What to do in Dallas, Texas

I’ll go into the best Dallas landmarks and attractions in detail later, but here’s a very quick overview of the must-dos while you’re in town:

• Visit the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.

• Explore museums and galleries, including the Sixth Floor Museum and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

• See the city skyline from the Reunion Tower — ideally at sunset.

• Sample some of the finest barbecue Texas has to offer.

• Shop your way through the Downtown area.

• Soak up culture and coffee in Deep Ellum.

• Take a day trip to Fort Worth.

Dallas may not rival Austin or Houston in size, but it’s still one of Texas’s finest destinations for a city break. Best of all, it’s very pleasant for most of the year — spring and fall are beautiful, but Dallas is also among the best places to travel in December. The city has great Christmas lights and plenty of indoor attractions if the rain is on. The only time to avoid the city is in summer, when the heat can be too intense for many visitors. 

Whenever you’re next in Dallas, though, you’ll have plenty to do. Read on for a closer look at each neighborhood and landmark.

1. Relax at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens

The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is an oasis of peace amid the bustle and heat of Dallas’s urban sprawl. Spread across 66 acres, the park lies in East Dallas, on the shore of White Rock Lake. 

The area is divided into 23 gardens, each with its own character and botanical aesthetic. I won’t discuss them all — part of the fun is exploring and being surprised by what each section has to offer — but the variety is really striking. The Boswell Family Garden is a wonderful place to sit and rest your legs amid swarms of roses, while the manicured, shaded lawn of Pecan Grove is the perfect picnic spot. Then there’s the Martha Brooks Camellia Garden, which contains (wait for it) camellias! More than 200 camellia bushes, to be precise. 

Spring is probably the best time to visit Dallas, when thousands of tulips and daffodils burst into color during the annual Dallas Blooms festival, but the garden’s events calendar is busy all year round.

📍 Address: 8525 Garland Road, Dallas, TX 75218 

🕐 Opening hours: Daily, 9 AM–5 PM

2. Visit the most interesting museums in Dallas

Dallas has far more museums than you might expect for a city of its size, catering to a lot of different interests. I’m going to try and narrow it down to the essentials, though. The three museums I would recommend are:

• Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

• Perot Museum of Nature and Science

• Dallas Museum of Art

Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

For good reason, this is probably the most well-known museum in Dallas. It occupies the former Texas School Book Depository building — the building from which Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots that killed President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The museum tells the full story of JFK’s presidency, his assassination, and the seismic impact those events had on American culture and history. It won’t be the light-hearted museum day out that many will be looking for, but if you’re interested in the history of Dallas and the US more widely, you really shouldn’t miss it. You have to buy your tickets in advance, and these grant you access to a specific time slot.

📍 Address: 411 Elm Street, Dallas, TX 75202 

🕐 Opening hours: Monday 12 PM–6 PM, Tuesday–Sunday 10 AM–6 PM

Perot Museum of Nature and Science

If you’re traveling with kids or just love natural history and science, the Perot Museum is enormous fun. Its five floors are packed with hands-on, interactive exhibits covering dinosaurs, space exploration, and everything in between. You can grab a photo with a 66-million-year-old Alamosaurus skeleton, experience a disconcertingly realistic earthquake simulator, and explore the dazzling Lyda Hill Gems and Minerals Hall, to name just a few of the exhibits. To get tickets, you pay online, then choose a visiting time through the museum’s website. 

📍 Address: 2201 N Field Street, Dallas, TX 75201 

🕐 Opening hours: Monday–Saturday 10 AM–5 PM, Sunday 11 AM–5 PM (closed on Tuesday)

Dallas Museum of Art

The Dallas Museum of Art is home to a very impressive permanent collection displaying 5,000 years of human creativity. You’ll find works by Van Gogh, Monet, and Jackson Pollock here, as you’d expect, but the museum also includes ancient Egyptian artifacts, Roman marbles, and Mayan ceramics. In addition to the permanent collection, the museum has rotating, temporary exhibits throughout the year. The cherry on top? Admission is free! You need to book your ticket in advance online, but you won’t have to pay anything for access to the permanent collection.

📍 Address: 1717 N Harwood Street, Dallas, TX 75201 

🕐 Opening hours: Wednesday–Sunday 11 AM–5 PM (closed Monday and Tuesday)

3. Watch the city skyline from the Reunion Tower

Dallas boasts one of those great American skylines, and the best way to enjoy it is to watch the sunset from Reunion Tower. The building’s glowing spherical top is one of the most recognisable sights in the city, and it’s not just for show — you can go inside it! The GeO-Deck observation platform is 470 feet above street level and offers a stunning 360-degree view of the city. 

Reunion Tower is never going to disappoint, whenever you visit, but I’d strongly recommend arriving around golden hour. You can watch the sun dip below the horizon as the city lights start to flicker on below. Yes, your friends all took the same selfie in Reunion Tower when they visited Dallas. No, that doesn’t mean you can’t do the same. That’s what you’re here for! 

📍 Address: 300 Reunion Blvd E, Dallas, TX 75207 

🕐 Opening hours: Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday 1–8:30 PM; Tuesday and Wednesday 4–8:30 PM; Saturday 12–9:30 PM

4. Eat some of the best barbecue in Texas

Dallas has some of the very best barbecue in Texas (in my very subjective opinion, of course). The city’s barbecue scene is rooted in old Texas traditions, but an extremely competitive foodie community ensures that the barbecue spots that endure here are exceptionally good. It’s impossible (or at least, very controversial) to say who is doing the best barbecue in the city, but Cattleack Barbeque is one of my favorites. The only downside is its limited opening hours (they’re only open Wednesday to Friday), so you might want to seek out Pecan Lodge, the most award-winning BBQ in the city. Alternatively, head for Terry Black’s Barbecue — yes, it’s a small chain, but the food is still phenomenal.

5. Explore Downtown

Downtown Dallas is the big, bustling heart of the city — shining glass-fronted offices, busy shopping streets, and loads of upmarket restaurants. It’s well worth an afternoon of aimless wandering, especially if you feel like splashing some cash. The main streets are lined with a great mix of stores and boutiques, including both well-known brands and independent retailers. Just be ready for some quite intense crowds on the weekends, and in summer. 

While you’re in the area, make sure you swing by Klyde Warren Park, a very stylish green space built over the top of a sunken freeway. The park sits on the edge of Downtown and acts as a beautiful bridge between neighboring Uptown and the Arts District. The park hosts free events, like fitness classes and open-air movie nights, and is usually attended by multiple food trucks (you can find them on the park’s northern and southern edges).

6. Take a walk in Deep Ellum

Don’t let the skyscrapers and office districts fool you — Dallas is a very arty, creative city. For me, nowhere exemplifies Dallas’s Bohemian spirit more than Deep Ellum. This former industrial district lies just east of Downtown and has evolved over the years into one of the most vibrant arts and music hubs in Texas. 

The streets are covered in huge, colorful murals, live music spills out of bars and venues at all hours of the day (and especially at night), and you’ll quickly lose count of all the independent coffee shops and dark bars. While Dallas is quite an expensive city, Deep Ellum is still pretty affordable, making it one of the cheaper places to travel in Texas. 

7. Take a trip to Fort Worth

You clicked on this article to find out about things to do in Dallas, but let’s go 30 miles west of the city, to Fort Worth. A jaunt to Fort Worth is a great day trip to squeeze in towards the end of a Dallas trip. With Dallas Fort Worth International Airport sitting roughly between the two cities, you can even swing by before you head to the airport on your last day.

The absolute must-see is the Fort Worth Stockyards, a brilliantly preserved slice of the Old West with vintage wooden buildings, longhorn cattle drives (yes, real ones — twice daily), and a lively mix of saloons, shops, and live music. The city also has plenty of museums (including the Kimbell Art Museum for fine art and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth), so there’s plenty to do, even if you weren’t a cowboy in a previous life.

Fun and unique things to do in Dallas

I get it — not every traveler wants to follow the usual tourist trail. Dallas has plenty to offer beyond the popular highlights, so let’s go off the beaten path and cover some of the city’s weirder side.

Sweet Tooth Hotel

Despite the name, the Sweet Tooth Hotel isn’t actually a place to sleep — it’s one of Dallas’s most delightfully bizarre cultural attractions. Think of it as an immersive, ever-changing art installation disguised as a hotel, where each “room” contains a unique, walk-in artwork created by a different artist. The installations are bold, colorful, and designed to be experienced (and photographed) rather than just admired from a distance. If you’re into contemporary art and interactive experiences, this one’s a must.

📍 Address: Sweet Tooth Hotel — 1511 Elm St, Ste 100, Dallas, TX 75201

🕐 Opening hours: Tuesday–Thursday 4 PM–9:30 PM, Friday–Saturday 12 PM–10:30 PM, Sunday 12 PM–7 PM (closed Monday)

The Giant Eyeball

Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like — a giant eyeball, sitting in the middle of Dallas. The sculpture, created by artist Tony Tasset, stands around 30 feet tall and is one of the most gloriously strange photo opportunities in the entire city. But there’s more to it than shock value. As Tasset has explained, the eye references everything from pharaonic symbolism to the Masonic eye to Orwell’s Big Brother — and ultimately, he says, it means “whatever you want.” God, consciousness, surveillance, or just a really good Instagram post — the interpretation is entirely yours, and that’s the point.

📍1601 Main St, Dallas, TX 75201, beside The Joule Hotel

The Texas Theatre

The Texas Theatre is a fascinating place with a lot of history packed into its walls. Originally opened in 1931, it’s best known as the cinema where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested just 80 minutes after the assassination of President Kennedy, which gives the place an undeniably eerie edge. But it’s far from a relic. Today, the theatre is a thriving cultural venue that hosts film screenings, live music, comedy nights, and a range of special events throughout the year. It’s a brilliant example of Dallas breathing new life into its history.

📍 Address: Texas Theatre — 231 W Jefferson Blvd, Dallas, TX 75208

🕐 Opening hours: Typically open around showtimes and special events, but official hours change throughout the year

Stay connected in Dallas with Saily

Whether you’re navigating the streets around Reunion Tower, finding the best barbecue spot, or posting that Giant Eyeball photo, a Saily eSIM will keep you connected in Dallas. Download it before you travel and thank yourself later. Sure, you can use public Wi-Fi in cafes or transport hubs, but that only gets you so far. The Dallas airport Wi-Fi won’t be much good once you’re walking the city streets — but that’s where an eSIM comes in handy. 

Saily is an eSIM app that allows you to get online with mobile data from local networks. Instead of breaking the bank on roaming fees or expensive physical SIM cards, you just pick a data plan that works for you, activate your eSIM, and connect as soon as you land.

When you use Saily’s eSIM for the USA, you also get access to a range of powerful security features, including ad blocking, protection against online trackers, and the option to change your virtual location. Make your Dallas trip a little easier with Saily.