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Texas with Kids
If you’re planning Texas with kids, San Antonio is where we’d start. It’s been one of our favorite destinations for years, even in July when it’s blazing hot. The Alamo, the River Walk, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas are all within twenty minutes of each other, and there’s Tex-Mex on the river every night.
Texas is too big to do in one trip, so don’t try. Houston and the coast, Big Bend out west, and the Hill Country are each their own trip. So far, San Antonio, El Paso, and the west are where we’ve traveled, but we’ve driven a lot of this state just passing through.
Destination guide · Updated October 2026 · Last visited December 2024
Best months
October–April
National parks
2 + 12 NPS sites
Fly into
SAT · AUS · DFW · IAH
How long
5 days per region
Book ahead
Chisos Mountains Lodge · Schlitterbahn · Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine
Our most recent San Antonio trip was 48 hours built around the Drum Corps International Southwest regional. We’re proud band nerds, so check out a DCI show now and again. On this trip, we visited the Alamo, killed time on the River Walk, ate Tex-Mex two nights out of three, and spent a Sunday at Six Flags Fiesta Texas with surprisingly short waits. It was our first trip back in six years and it reminded us why we like the city.
Other memorable Texas trips had us making a loop from El Paso, visiting Guadalupe Mountains National Park, south to Big Bend National Park, and then flying home from Midland-Odessa. It was lots of driving, but a fun adventure.
Your Texas guide
Enjoy exploring Texas with kids!
Keep scrolling for the essentials, three road trips, and where to stay.
Essential Texas
Why we love Texas
We think you’ll love it too.
Texas is where we’d send a family that wants big, wide open spaces. Texas delivers with Big Bend (some of the darkest nights anywhere), but also the Guadalupes (highest point in Texas), and the Gulf Coast.
San Antonio Guide
Our 48-hour guide covers the Alamo, the River Walk, Six Flags, and where we ate. San Antonio is one of our favorite destinations, even in July.
The River Walk Guide
We headed to the River Walk after the Alamo with time to kill and found great Tex-Mex. The one night we ordered Italian, we still got fried ice cream from the place next door!
Six Flags Fiesta Texas Guide
We visited on a Sunday, and the wait times were surprisingly short. Every member of the family had a different favorite ride.
And the rest we’d cross the state for
San Antonio Missions
Four Spanish missions sit south of the Alamo along a bike path, and together they’re a World Heritage Site. They’re on our list for the next trip. Are you looking for more national park sites? See our guide to Texas national parks.
Big Bend National Park AftT Visit
Big Bend has the Chisos Basin, Santa Elena Canyon, and some of the darkest skies of any national park in the lower 48. We stayed in Alpine and drove into the park, and it’s worth every mile. Want more NPS sites nearby? Check out our Texas national parks guide.
Space Center Houston
Space Center Houston has Mission Control, the Saturn V, and the tram tour of Johnson Space Center. Plan on a full day.
Padre Island National Seashore
Padre Island has seventy miles of undeveloped Gulf beach south of Corpus Christi. Sea turtle hatchling releases happen in summer. There are more park sites to explore in our Texas national parks guide.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park AftT Visit
Guadalupe Mountains has the highest point in Texas and McKittrick Canyon’s fall color, forty minutes from Carlsbad Caverns. We stopped here on our national parks loop from El Paso to Big Bend. Our Texas national parks guide covers every NPS site in the state.
The Hill Country
The Hill Country has Fredericksburg, Enchanted Rock, and swimming holes like Hamilton Pool and Jacob’s Well. Book the swimming holes ahead, and check whether swimming is open before you go.
Schlitterbahn
The original Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels is still the best-known water park in Texas. It’s built right on a river with tube chutes.
Fort Worth Stockyards
The Fort Worth Stockyards has a cattle drive down the street twice a day and a rodeo on weekends. It’s the best Western kitsch in the state.
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Find your next adventure in Texas
Tell us what you’re planning and we’ll match it up with some great trip ideas.
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Fun Things To Do in San Antonio With Kids
There are so many things to do in San Antonio with kids which is why it has always been one…
Routes
Three Texas road trip itineraries
It’s one state with three very different trips. Pick San Antonio and the Hill Country, Houston and the coast, or the long haul out west to the Guadalupes and Big Bend. See all the best stops on a map.
Home base
San Antonio
Fly into SAT or drive from Oklahoma. Our San Antonio guide covers the Alamo, the River Walk, and Six Flags in 48 hours.
Then head to
Six Flags Fiesta Texas
It’s on the northwest side. We went on a Sunday and the lines were short. SeaWorld is twenty minutes away if you’d rather.
Add on
New Braunfels
It’s forty-five minutes north. Spend a day at Schlitterbahn, then tube the Comal River the next morning.
Home base
Houston
Fly into IAH or HOU. Space Center Houston is a full day. The Children’s Museum and the Museum of Natural Science take another.
Then head to
Galveston
Galveston is an hour south, with Moody Gardens’ pyramids, the Pleasure Pier, and the beach.
Finish
Padre Island
It’s three and a half hours down the coast to Corpus Christi. The USS Lexington, the aquarium, and the national seashore are all there.
Start
El Paso
Fly into ELP. Guadalupe Mountains National Park is a little under two hours east.
Then head to
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
The park has the highest point in Texas. McKittrick Canyon is the easier hike for kids, and Carlsbad Caverns is forty minutes up the road in New Mexico.
Then head to
Big Bend National Park
It’s about three hours south to Alpine, where we stayed and made the drive into the park and back each day. It’s a little under two hours each way. Hike the Window Trail at sunset and the Lost Mine Trail in the morning, and take Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Santa Elena Canyon.
Finish
Midland-Odessa
About two and a half hours north from Alpine to fly home from MAF.
When to go
Time your visits with the weather and the region
We’ve done San Antonio in July and it was blazing hot, and we’d still go back. Texas summers are long and hot everywhere, and Big Bend is dangerous from May through September. The rest of the year is the reason to go. The coast is mildest and the Hill Country has real spring and fall.
Swipe the chart sideways to see the full year.
October – December
The heat breaks, Big Bend opens back up, and San Antonio’s River Walk lights come on after Thanksgiving.
January – February
It’s mild in the south and cold up north. These are Big Bend’s best months, and it’s the cheapest time for San Antonio and the coast.
March – April
Expect bluebonnets in the Hill Country and spring break crowds in Big Bend. The theme parks open for the season.
May – September
It’s hot. We did San Antonio in July and survived on the River Walk’s shade and the theme park’s water rides. This is water season. Hit Schlitterbahn, the rivers, and the Gulf beaches early in the day.
Where to stay
Pick a good base to start your Texas adventure
Texas is easier when you pick one region. Here’s where we’d stay for each.
City trips
San Antonio’s River Walk
Stay on the River Walk and walk to the Alamo, the boats, and dinner. It’s dense with chain hotels, which makes it the easiest city in the state to book on points. For a resort stay, the Hyatt Vacation Club at Wild Oak Ranch has an awesome lazy river and water slide.
- Our San Antonio guide
- River Walk hotels for walking to everything
- Northwest side for Six Flags and SeaWorld
Coast trips
Galveston & Corpus Christi
Galveston has beachfront chains and old hotels along the seawall. Corpus Christi is the base for Padre Island and the Lexington.
- Galveston seawall on points
- Moody Gardens Hotel for the pyramids next door
- Port Aransas condos for Padre Island
Big Bend trips
Alpine & the Chisos Basin
Our base was Alpine, a little under two hours from the heart of the park. Chisos Mountains Lodge is the only lodging inside the park and books a year out.
- Alpine, where we stayed
- Chisos Mountains Lodge if you can get it
- Terlingua or Lajitas, just outside the west entrance
Good to know
Questions families ask us about Texas
Yes, it is, with a plan. We did it and had a great time. The River Walk is shaded, the theme park has water rides, and the Alamo is best first thing in the morning. Tex-Mex on the river every night helps. Our guide was written for exactly that trip.
Six Flags Fiesta Texas is the one we did, on a Sunday, and the waits were surprisingly short. Everyone in the family picked a different favorite ride. SeaWorld is twenty minutes away and better for kids under ten and anyone who wants the water park.
Fly into SAT for San Antonio and the Hill Country, AUS for Austin, IAH or HOU for Houston and Galveston, and DFW or DAL for Fort Worth. Big Bend is closest to Midland (MAF) or El Paso (ELP), both four hours away. From Oklahoma we drive to San Antonio.
Yes, you need one everywhere. Even San Antonio, where you can walk the River Walk, needs a car for the theme parks.
The Chisos Mountains Lodge opens reservations a year out and spring break and holiday weeks go immediately. Campgrounds are on recreation.gov six months ahead. If you’re going, book the lodge before anything else. We stayed in Alpine instead and made the drive.
Map
Essential Texas, mapped
Keep exploring
Where to go next
New Mexico with Kids
Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands are just over the line from Guadalupe Mountains.
