Last Updated on June 4, 2026 by Lauren Belzer Sanford
If you’re planning one week in Texas, my honest advice is this: go in with an open mind and a loose itinerary, because this state will surprise you. Austin had been on my travel bucket list since 2020 — and when we finally made it happen, we didn’t just go to Austin. We went all in: five cities, seven days, and more square footage of this state than I knew what to do with. Dallas, Frisco, Fort Worth, Waco, and Austin.
We went in May. And fair warning: Texas in May is hot. Like, genuinely, aggressively hot. Pack accordingly and plan your outdoor time for mornings. Our favorites, by a comfortable margin, were Fort Worth and Austin — and I’ll tell you exactly why.
Where We Stayed for One Week in Texas
Before diving into the cities, a quick note on accommodation. In the DFW area, we based ourselves in Frisco, a suburb north of Dallas, at the Hotel Indigo Frisco. Nothing fancy, but well-located, comfortable, and easy to navigate from. It sits right next to a little man-made lake and is about five minutes from The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ headquarters, which has a solid cluster of restaurants.
In Austin, we stayed at the Tommie Austin, a boutique hotel downtown, close to the river and walkable to Sixth Street. When we arrived, there was sparkling wine waiting in the room with a note. We were immediately charmed, and it set the tone for everything that followed.
Frisco
We chose Frisco partly for the price point and partly because we were genuinely curious about suburban Texas. We were loosely considering whether the DFW area could ever be somewhere we’d want to live. (It’s lovely, but not for us. More on that at the end.)
On our first night, we met up with my high school best friend Jade and her now husband at Lombardi Cucina Italiana right in The Star District — a genuinely lovely Italian spot — and got to see their first house in Frisco. The perfect start to a Texas week.
Dallas
We made it into Dallas proper twice: once for an anniversary dinner in Uptown, and once for drinks and dinner in the Bishop Arts District after our day in Fort Worth.
The Uptown dinner was a belated celebration of six years together, and we chose Haywire — a Texas staple done exactly right. We shared the lump crab dip, and I had one of the best steaks I can remember: a 6-oz charbroiled Angus filet with smoked chile butter, paired with a Shiner Bock because it felt like the only right call. Uptown itself is beautiful for an evening stroll before dinner — wide sidewalks, great energy, the kind of neighborhood that makes a city feel livable (and that’s coming from a self-proclaimed non-city girl).
The Bishop Arts District was its own adventure — a creative, walkable neighborhood south of downtown with excellent bars and restaurants. We started at Casablanca for a drink (it has karaoke rooms you can rent, which I fully endorse), moved to Mermaid for another, and ended the evening at Paradiso for an Italian dinner that was genuinely delicious. All three spots, along with Botanist and Tejas nearby, are owned by the same restaurant group, and the aesthetic consistency across all of them is something to appreciate.
We ended our last Dallas night at The Rustic in Uptown for a drink and live music — Jade’s recommendation, and exactly the right way to end our time in DTX.
Fort Worth (The Highlight of the Trip)
I want to be very clear: the Fort Worth Stockyards were my single favorite part of this entire week in Texas, and I was not expecting that going in.
There is something genuinely magical about the Stockyards. The history, the longhorns, the rodeo arena, the shops that feel like they’ve been there forever. We watched the cattle drive, wandered the wooden walkways, and I bought a longhorn stuffy for our cat, Todd, which remains one of my better souvenir decisions.
We also made a detour to Texas Christian University (TCU), a school I was accepted to but never visited. Standing on that campus, I immediately understood why that was probably a good thing. Expensive. Gorgeous.
Fort Worth has a completely different energy from Dallas — smaller, more characterful, easier to fall in love with. If I were planning one week in Texas again, I’d give Fort Worth significantly more time than I did the first go-around.
Waco
On the drive from Dallas to Austin, we made what I will defend as a completely necessary stop at the Magnolia Silos in Waco. If you grew up watching Fixer Upper, you must stop here. If you didn’t, it’s still worth the stop — the shopping is charming, the food carts are genuinely good, and the bakery line moves faster than it looks. Pick up something from the bakery. Don’t skip it!
Austin
We finished our one week in Texas in Austin, and arrived completely unprepared for how much we’d love it.
For our first meal, we went straight to Terry Black’s BBQ — and it lived up to every word of its reputation. The brisket was extraordinary. The line was worth it.
We spent the rest of our time exploring South Congress. The shops are excellent, the people-watching even better. We even made it out to Lake Austin briefly, which is the kind of afternoon that doesn’t require a plan to be perfect. Our last dinner was at Fresas on South Congress: casual, delicious, completely worth it. Book it. You won’t regret it.
Our flight home got cancelled as we arrived at the airport, which is the kind of thing that feels catastrophic in the moment and like a good story shortly after. We rebooked the earliest flight we could find, lost half a day, and made it back to California with a lot of very good Texas memories.
What We Learned About One Week in Texas
Texas is bigger and more varied than you expect, even when you expect it to be big and varied. A week is genuinely not enough — there’s a reason people live their whole lives here and still feel like they haven’t seen all of it. The food is wonderful. The hospitality is real, not performative. Austin and Fort Worth, specifically, are places I would go back to without a moment’s hesitation.
We ultimately decided Texas wasn’t the right move for us right now — but as a place to visit? We’ll be back. There’s still much more of this state, and the entire United States, left to explore.