San Antonio: The Alamo, the River Walk, and the Parts That Make It Genuinely Good

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States and the most visited city in Texas. Its tourism identity rests primarily on two things: the Alamo and the River Walk. Both are worth your time. Neither is the whole story, and the city has grown enough in the past decade that the parts beyond the central tourist circuit are now competitive with the famous parts.

The Alamo

The Alamo mission is free to enter and sits in the middle of downtown. The stone facade of the chapel, with its distinctive curved parapet, is the image on every postcard. What most visitors don’t know before arriving: the original compound was much larger, covering several acres; what remains is the chapel and the Long Barracks. The 2024 museum renovation significantly improved the exhibitions and their historical context.

The history here is more complicated than “Remember the Alamo” suggests. The 189 defenders included American settlers, Tejano Texians, and a few adventurers; the battle was tactically a rout, with the defenders outnumbered roughly 10 to 1. The role of slavery in Texas independence politics, the slave-owning settlers’ resistance to Mexican abolition laws was one motivation for independence, gets more honest treatment in the current exhibitions than it did previously.

Visit before 10am. It gets very crowded by midday.

The River Walk

The Paseo del Río is 15 miles of paths along the San Antonio River through downtown, below street level, shaded by cypress trees. The central tourist section around Rivercenter Mall is pleasant and commercial; the extensions north toward the Pearl District and south toward the historic missions are more interesting and significantly less crowded.

Walking north from the central tourist core is the best way to use the River Walk. The Museum Reach extension passes contemporary public art installations and connects to the Pearl District.

The Pearl District

The Pearl is a redeveloped 1880s brewing complex now housing restaurants, a Saturday farmers’ market, and the Hotel Emma (a boutique hotel in the former brewhouse that is genuinely excellent). San Antonians who don’t need to be near the tourist centre eat and drink here.

Bakery Lorraine does exceptional pastries and coffee. Southerleigh Fine Food and Brewery brews on-site in the old fermentation room. The Saturday farmers’ market (year-round, 9am-1pm) is one of the better urban markets in Texas.

The Spanish Colonial Missions

San Antonio’s UNESCO World Heritage designation covers five sites: the Alamo plus Mission San José, Mission Concepción, Mission San Juan, and Mission Espada along the San Antonio River south of downtown. These four working Catholic churches represent the most complete survival of Spanish colonial mission culture in North America.

Mission San José, 9km south of downtown, is the largest and most fully preserved: the ornate baroque church facade, the granary with its arched arcade, the restored residence rooms. Entry is free (National Park Service). The puffy taco, a deep-fried puffed corn tortilla shell, was invented in San Antonio; Ray’s Drive Inn on West Commerce is typically cited as the origin. Whether or not the origin claim is accurate, the taco itself is excellent and genuinely distinct from Tex-Mex available elsewhere.

Mi Tierra on West Commerce has been open 24 hours since 1941 and the breakfast tamales are the things to order. Cured at the Pearl does charcuterie and cocktails worth the visit for an evening.