Location: San Antonio
Top Things to do in San Antonio
10 Things to do in San Antonio That You Shouldn't Miss
Step to the beat of wafting flamenco music as you wander the downtown River Walk before sampling as much chili (San Antonio’s signature dish) as your taste buds will allow. A visit to the Alamo is an absolute must, as is taking in a show at the ornate Majestic Theatre. San Antonio Missions National Historical Park is dotted with 18th-century buildings and features, making for an enriching excursion.
Restaurants in San Antonio
1. The Alamo
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 19,155 reviews
Established in 1718 as Mission San Antonio de Valero, for over 300 years the former mission now known as the Alamo has been a crossroads of history. Having existed under six flags of independent nations and served as a garrison for five different armies, the Alamo has a rich history and a heritage to inspire Texans and people around the world. Although the Alamo is best known as the site of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, all 300 years of Alamo history are vital to our story. Visitors can take a guided battlefield tour, rent a self-guided audio tour, walk through the historic Alamo Church and Long Barrack Museum, listen to a history talk given by an Alamo Interpreter, participate in living history demonstrations, watch a documentary on the history of the Alamo, and much more. Admission to the Alamo is free, but there is a charge for guided and audio tours.
Reviewed By 532stephena - Las Vegas, United States
The Alamo is to Texans what Washington D.C. is to Americans, a historical landmark that definitely deserves a look see. There are several great exhibits, beautifully landscaped grounds, a great little gift shop, and all within walking distance of other attractions such as the River Walk and the Hemisphere grounds and tower. This is where Texas history began!
2. Witte Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 611 reviews
The Witte Museum is Where Nature, Science and Culture Meet. Discover Texas Deep Time in spacious galleries located on a beautiful, riverside campus. Explore dinosaurs, Chili Queens and cattle kings, original Gallery Theater plays and so much more. Come discover YOUR Witte Museum.
Reviewed By BennettS_12
We visited the Witte to see their current art exhibition, which was fantastic. Then we were pleasantly surprised to learn they are more than an art museum with wonderrful interesting exhibits of native Texas history and wildlife.
3. San Antonio River Walk
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 26,381 reviews
The Paseo del Rio is San Antonio's favorite attraction. You can shop, dine, lounge in a cafe, or simply stroll along and let the strumming mariachi soothe your spirit.
Reviewed By M448ZSkathleenw - Mandeville, United States
The Riverwalk in San Antonio is a must for your list if in San Antonio. Even with the construction going on, the lively, colorful, variety offered on the Riverwalk has something for everyone; shops, restaurants, music, delectable treats, foliage, architecture, birds, ???? ducks, and of course- people watching. Every employee along the way was friendly, polite and engaging. The city streets were also safe to walk, and clean in most spots.
4. Japanese Tea Gardens
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,781 reviews
Originally a rock quarry, part of the tea garden came from a donation by George W. Brackenridge and another section from Emma Koehler. In 1915 Ray Lambert, city parks commissioner, thought it would make a nice location for a lily pond. Ultimately, it grew to become a tea garden. The latest renovations began in 2007 and cost about $1.6 million, compared with the $7,000 Lambert originally spent to open the park. It is a Registered Texas Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.
Reviewed By volcanogirl - Texas, United States
This was one of our favorite things that we did on our trip to San Antonio. The gardens are absolutely stunning. More elaborate than most Japanese gardens we've seen before. You enter from above and what was once an old rock quarry is now a beautiful oasis full of lakes, bridges, colorful flowers, loads of steps, a pretty waterfall, and some gorgeous architecture. There's also a little restaurant, but that was closed when were there along with the restrooms. We spent about an hour exploring. It's a beautiful place for taking photos. Surprisingly, it was free, so that was an added bonus. We've been going to San Antonio for years, but this is the first time we've ever visited the gardens. If you love getting outdoors and exploring nature, don't miss this beautiful spot.
5. San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,867 reviews
Historical area that stretches nine miles and contains four important 18th-century missions.
Reviewed By Playsureful - San Antonio, United States
Plenty of Texas History and Spanish architecture with Native flare. Each Mission on the trail is unique with its own limestone rock, unique designed doorways, they have one has a long walled compound with courtyards and barracks, each mission is a different size. My plan was to drive to the last Mission (Mission Espada) on the route and load our bikes onto the Via Bus #41, this bus is just for the Missions. FYI ! Get on the bus stop across the road from parking lot (NOT on the mission side). Get a map to find the bike trail and or ask the ranger or bus driver. They also have bike rental racks for the trail. We rode our bikes to the only 4 on the Mission NP trail. Bus dropped us off at Mission Concepcion, Explored the compound and then rode down surface road to the trailhead, then rode along the trail (about a 6 mile ride) and over surface trail to Mission San Jose, then back down to river trail and crossed over bridge to Mission San Juan. Took Left trail behind mission to river and crossed back over to the last Mission, Mission Espada. Trails are mostly on both sides of San Antonio river, trails have park benches everywhere, plenty of picnic tables and BBQ pits with several pavilions.
6. Mission San Jose
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3,402 reviews
Founded in 1720, this Spanish frontier mission, the largest of the five San Antonio missions, is best known for its rose window. On Sundays, this Texas and U.S. National historic site offers a mariachi mass.
Reviewed By GroverR - Pensacola, United States
Of all the Missions in San Antonio, this is the largest, most detailed, and most intact grounds. This mission yard allows you to see what a fully developed mission looked like to provide a community, safety and place to congregate for worship. Here the entire courtyard is in tact and you can see how people lived in the mission walls. You also see a beautiful and large church that has a rose window and incredible carves and details around its entrance. It does of the ruins of the Indian quarters attached to the church and only one bell tower. However, aside from these small imperfections, San Jose is an incredible Mission and now sits in the center of residential neighborhood. Still the site is well preserved and has the protection from the National Parks system. For me the Missions are the number one attraction in San Antonio and San Jose is the best, number one, Queen of the Missions.
7. San Antonio Botanical Garden
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,107 reviews
A wide range of plants from Texas and around the world spread out over 33 acres.
Reviewed By sydneyshellhoward - Houston, United States
San Antonio Botanical Garden is a lovely place to visit. There is a huge variety of plants and if you’re lucky, you’ll see a few animals too. The grounds are well kept and if I lived in San Antonio, I would visit frequently. It’s a great place to spend a few hours surrounded by nature.
8. Natural Bridge Caverns
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3,847 reviews
Come on down (way down) at the largest underground attraction in Texas! Daily guided tours allow guests to explore large underground chambers and see huge formations. The largest room is bigger than a football field. Above ground, discover rocks, minerals, and rough-cut gems at the Natural Bridge Mining Company Sluice. The Canopy Challenge will test your agility on over 40 different obstacles while you are on our 4 story, 60 foot high Adventure Course. Then you can fly across the scenic Texas Hill Country on our zip-lines! (Canopy Challenge is open daily but weather dependent.)
Reviewed By 688kerstens - Tulsa, United States
We did both the hidden passages and the Discovery Tour and both were wonderful. We bought the combo ticket ahead of time online and you pick your time slot for the Hidden Passages Tour and when you arrive at Natural Bridge Caverns and check in they place you in the next availble timeslot for the Discovery Tour (which allowed us about 30 minutes down time betweent the 2 tours). The caves are very different but equally beautiful. It is VERY humid down in the caves and feels pretty warm. T-shirts and shorts are perfect. The hidden passages tour had stairs to climb and you went down and back up the same path. The Discovery Tour had some stairs but alot of ramps and you went one way through the cave. I would say both are equally difficult to tour depending on whether you prefer stairs or ramps. With that said-it is not difficult unless you have alot of issues with stairs. The tour guides give you plenty of time to rest along the way and they are in no hurry having the group move through the caves. We had all ages in our tour group from 2 year olds through elderly individuals. Very beautiful. Hard to appreciate the beauty from photos. On the premises is also alot of other fun things to do...a maze, zip line, panning for rocks. Very nice facility with food and drink available, nice restrooms, plenty of places to sit and relax. You can take a bottle of water down into the cave with you but that is it. Our tour guide, Harrison, for the Hidden Passages tour was wonderful! Try and request him if possible. Super funny and informative! Definitely worth the 30 minute drive from San Antonio!
9. SeaWorld
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 4,628 reviews
Immerse yourself in the wonders of the sea. Experience up-close animal interactions and dive into the world beneath the waves on thrilling rides, like the Great White coaster. Enjoy awe-inspiring shows like the beautiful and powerful One Ocean(R) featuring Shamu(R), or laugh along at our comical show Pets Ahoy, featuring locally-rescued animals. And don't miss the all-new Discovery Point, where you can experience dolphins through nose-to-bottlenose encounters. Together through inspiration, education and personal animal connections we can make a difference in the natural world we share. Discover your memories that will last a lifetime at SeaWorld(R) San Antonio.
Reviewed By 281aprilk - Franklinton, United States
Great place to bring your family for the day. Lots of cool shows to watch and enjoy! Three larger roller coasters to choose from...the Great White Shark was rough, the Steel Eel was just awesome with how high it goes, and the Wave Breaker was the smoothest coaster of all! Neat evening show with fireworks...it focuses more on the music now than the actual water show like it used to!
10. San Antonio Zoo
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1,873 reviews
With more than 8,500 animals on 56 acres, there's plenty of fun for the whole family. The San Antonio Zoo was first established with a donation from George W. Brackenridg in the 1800s. Two of the first cageless exhibits in the U.S. opened here in 1929 and the bird collection is one of the world's largest.
Reviewed By 408wadea - New Brighton, United States
Amazing views of hippos giraffes rhinos and zebras ... komodo dragons and reptile house were also very good... on the down side very little as far as big cats and apes some smaller pens were hard to view and overpriced mediocre food.. butterfly exhibit was out of season so not sure how cool that is... very clean and comfortable temp for a winter visit... had a great time
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