Fort Worth, Texas Travel Guide

Region: Prairies & Lakes

Also See: Grapevine, Granbuy, Arlington-Grand Prairie, Irving, Dallas

If you're looking for a chance to dress like a cowboy, do a little line dancing, or ride the mechanical bull, here's your opportunity. Fort Worth is a city that parties in style, and that style is true country and western.

No where is the heritage of the city that calls itself "the place where the West begins" more evident than at the Fort Worth Stockyards. This National Historic District is still home to cowboys on horseback, as well as historic hotels, western shopping, and the city's top nightlife. Formerly the biggest hog and sheep marketing center in the Southwest and called the Wall Street of the West, today the flavor of the livestock exchange lives on through sites such as Billy Bob's Texas, the world's largest honky-tonk, and Cowtown Coliseum, home to professional rodeos most weekends.

South of the Stockyards lies another historic area: Sundance Square. Also a cowboy hangout, this region has now been transformed into an upscale dining, shopping, and entertainment district. Fourteen blocks of fun invite travelers to enjoy this red-brick paved district both day and night.

Fort Worth may be proud of its western heritage, but is also has a cultural side, one so strong it has earned the city of a half million residents the name "the Museum Capital of the Southwest."

Top Attractions:

Art Museums From ancient to modern, cowboy to cutting edge, several Fort Worth museum feature a variety of styles.

Cattle Raiser's Museum. 1301 W. 7th St. Formerly the Cattleman's Museum, this collection showcases the history of the Texas ranching industry through dioramas, films, and photos. A 14-minute slide show introduces visitors to Texas ranch life; nearby, exhibits portray ranch life a century ago through interactive displays that allow travelers "ask" select questions to ranchers, cattle barons, and ranch wives.

Billy Bob's Texas. Billed as the "World's Largest Honky-Tonk," this Texas-size nightclub entertains with bars and bullriding.

Stockyards Museum. East Exchange Ave. in the Stockyards National Historic District. This small collection chronicles the history of the Stockyards, once called the "Wall Street of the West." Photos of the world's two largest meat-packing companies, Armour and Co. and Swift & Co., fill exhibits along with railroad antiques, a Native American exhibit, and household items from a century ago. The museum is housed in the Livestock Exchange Building, built in 1902 as offices for livestock traders and still used by auctioneers today.

Tarantula Steam Train. 140 E. Exchange Ave. in the Stockyards National Historic District. This 1896 steam locomotive takes passengers on a nostalgic ride through historic Fort Worth to the community of Grapevine. Named for the spider-like rail lines that led to the heart of the city, the fully restored train includes Victorian coaches and open-air cars (especially popular on spring and fall days). The one hour and 15 minute, 21-mile ride leaves the Stockyards for Grapevine where visitors can walk from the depot to historic Main Street or to the craftspeople-filled Grapevine Heritage Center. Grapevine is also one of Texas's top wine producers and home to several award-winning wineries and seasonal wine festivals.

Cowtown Coliseum. 121 E. Exchange Ave. in the Stockyards National Historic District. Built in 1908, the coliseum is best known as the home of the world's first indoor rodeo. Today the site continues to offer Western thrills with the Stockyards Championship Rodeo held every weekend throughout the year including bull riding, barrel racing, and calf roping. The coliseum also hosts Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show, a typical 1900s traveling Western show with rope tricks, cowboy songs, and trick riding. The show is a revival of the original Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show that played at this site in 1909.

Fort Worth Zoo. 1989 Colonial Parkway. Named one of the nation's top zoos by the Los Angeles Times, this facility is known for its animal-friendly habitats. Over 5,000 animals, both Texas and exotic species, are seen in the continually expanding zoo in sections that include World of Primates with viewing windows that permit visitors to practically enter the gorilla habitat, the Aquarium with one of the largest freshwater tanks in the US, and the Thundering Plains, which showcases animals native to the American plains such as bison.

Fort Worth Botanic Garden

Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History

Festivals & Special Events

January-February: Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

May: Mayfest

Where to Stay:

Review: Miss Molly's Bed & Breakfast

More Fort Worth hotels

For More Information: Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.fortworth.com