Dallas is the third largest city in Texas and the centre of a metropolitan area of nearly eight million people, built on cotton, then oil, then banking, on flat prairie with no river worth speaking of and no natural reason to be where it is. It is hot, it is car-shaped, and the things worth coming for are a short list of very good ones.
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What Is Here
DEALEY PLAZA AND THE SIXTH FLOOR MUSEUM ARE WHY MOST PEOPLE COME, AND WE HOLD NO PHOTOGRAPH OF EITHER. Said first. The museum occupies the sixth floor of the former Texas School Book Depository, the sniper's perch is preserved behind glass, and the plaza below is smaller than every photograph suggests, which is the thing that affects people most. TICKETS ARE TIMED AND BOOKING AHEAD IS SENSIBLE. The second image is the OLD RED COURTHOUSE, which stands on the corner of the same plaza and is the nearest our image set comes to it; Old Red is itself a fine 1892 red sandstone pile with a local history museum inside.
THE DALLAS ARTS DISTRICT IS THE LARGEST CONTIGUOUS URBAN ARTS DISTRICT IN THE UNITED STATES AND MUCH OF IT IS FREE. Nineteen blocks holding the Dallas Museum of Art, which has FREE GENERAL ADMISSION and a serious collection, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Crow Museum of Asian Art, the Meyerson Symphony Center and the Winspear Opera House. The DMA alone justifies a day.
THE HERO IMAGE IS REUNION TOWER, the 1978 ball on a stalk that is the city's signature, with a paid observation deck. The better free view is from the rooftop of the Perot Museum area or simply from the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge walkway.
DEEP ELLUM IS THE THIRD IMAGE AND IT IS THE BEST NEIGHBOURHOOD HERE. East of downtown, a historically Black neighbourhood that was a major blues and jazz centre in the 1920s where Blind Lemon Jefferson and Robert Johnson both recorded, now a dense strip of music venues, bars and some of the most extensive street murals in the country. It is the one part of Dallas that works on foot at night.
KLYDE WARREN PARK IS BUILT ON A MOTORWAY AND IT IS FREE. A five-acre deck park roofed over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, with food trucks, lawns and free programming, and it is the single best piece of urban design in the city because it stitches downtown to the Arts District across what was a canyon.
THE BISHOP ARTS DISTRICT IN OAK CLIFF is the walkable independent-shop quarter south of the river, and FORT WORTH IS FORTY MINUTES WEST and is a genuinely different city, with the Kimbell Art Museum, a working stockyards and a cattle drive. Many visitors treat the two as one trip and should.
THE STATE FAIR OF TEXAS RUNS AT FAIR PARK FOR 24 DAYS FROM LATE SEPTEMBER, is one of the largest fairs in the United States, and Fair Park itself holds the largest collection of 1930s art deco exposition architecture in the world. Outside fair season the park is quiet and the buildings are the draw.
When to Go
March to May and October to November. Warm rather than brutal, and spring brings bluebonnets across the region.
JUNE TO SEPTEMBER IS GENUINELY SEVERE AND IT SHOULD CHANGE YOUR PLANS RATHER THAN YOUR WARDROBE. Highs above 100 degrees Fahrenheit for weeks, nights that stay above 80, and a heat index higher still. This is not a city you walk across in a July afternoon, and the practical approach is indoor hours from late morning to late afternoon and outdoor life in the early morning and the evening.
Winter is mild and variable, in the fifties and sixties Fahrenheit, punctuated by short sharp freezes. ICE STORMS RATHER THAN SNOW ARE THE WINTER HAZARD, and North Texas handles them poorly: a freeze can close roads and flights for days, as the February 2021 storm did when the state power grid failed.
Late March to May is severe storm season, with the region squarely in Tornado Alley.
Getting There
By air, Dallas Fort Worth International is one of the busiest airports in the world and HAS A DART ORANGE LINE TRAIN into downtown, which takes about 50 minutes and costs very little. Dallas Love Field is closer and smaller, served by a bus link.
By train, Amtrak's Texas Eagle stops at Union Station, and the TRE commuter line runs to Fort Worth, which is the cheap way to make that trip.
By car, at the junction of several interstates, and the freeway system is vast.
DART IS BETTER THAN ITS REPUTATION AND STILL NOT ENOUGH. Four light rail lines reach downtown, the Arts District, Deep Ellum, Fair Park and the airport, which covers most of what a visitor wants. Everything else is a long drive, and the metropolitan area is roughly the size of Belgium. Budget for ride-hailing.
Is Dallas Safe for Women?
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States and no country-level warning. Its guidance concentrates on the practical differences a British visitor meets: entry requirements and ESTA, the cost of healthcare without insurance, extreme weather including hurricanes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts between June and November, and wildfire and heat risk in the west and south-west.
Dallas's violent crime is concentrated in particular residential areas of the south and the north east, away from visitor districts and not aimed at tourists, and its property crime runs above the American average. Downtown, the Arts District, Uptown, Deep Ellum, Bishop Arts and Lower Greenville are all comfortable. DOWNTOWN EMPTIES AFTER OFFICE HOURS and Deep Ellum is the late-night district, where the ordinary bar-street cautions apply: watch your own drink, keep a closed bag in front of you, and arrange your ride rather than walking a dark stretch. CAR BREAK-INS ARE THE COMMONEST CRIME AGAINST VISITORS, especially in Deep Ellum surface lots and at Fair Park.
HEAT IS THE MOST LIKELY WAY TO BE HURT HERE AND IT IS NOT A MINOR RISK. Weeks above 100 degrees Fahrenheit with a higher heat index means heat exhaustion and heatstroke are routine summer presentations at Dallas emergency departments. Shade is scarce because the city is built for cars, distances between blocks are long, and the pavement radiates. Drink before you are thirsty, stay indoors in the middle of the day, and do not attempt to walk between districts in July.
TORNADOES ARE A REAL RISK IN SPRING. A tornado tracked through north Dallas in October 2019 causing extensive damage. Learn the difference: a WATCH means conditions are possible, a WARNING means take shelter immediately in an interior room on the lowest floor away from windows. Keep phone alerts on.
ICE STORMS CLOSE THE CITY IN WINTER and the 2021 grid failure is the reminder that infrastructure here is not built for sustained freezing.
Crossing wide arterial roads on foot is dangerous and sidewalks end without warning outside the central districts.
The Dallas Packing List
Extreme heat, hard air conditioning, and a short sharp winter.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is counterintuitive in a hundred-degree city and is exactly right for it, for a reason specific to Texas: you spend the day crossing between brutal outdoor heat and interiors chilled to the low twenties Celsius, and a damp cotton shirt in that transition is miserable in both directions. Fine merino breathes, handles sweat, and does not go cold on you indoors. From December to February add a heavyweight merino base layer for the freezes.
A Columbia Fast Trek II fleece, which in summer is an INDOOR garment and in winter the real thing, and a Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket for spring storms.
A wide brim sun hat and a long sun hoodie, which in a shadeless city are heat management rather than fashion: covered arms in strong sun are cooler than bare ones.
Walking shoes with grip for long flat distances and the Fair Park and Deep Ellum pavements.
Not linked and worth packing: A LARGE INSULATED WATER BOTTLE, which is the most important item in a Dallas summer bag; ELECTROLYTE TABLETS OR SACHETS, because in weeks above 100 degrees water alone is not enough and this is what locals actually do; A LIGHT LAYER FOR INDOORS, always; PHONE WEATHER ALERTS SWITCHED ON for tornado warnings; and A RIDE-HAILING APP, which here is transport rather than a backup. The US is almost entirely card-based and tipping is expected at 18 to 20 per cent.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Dallas
Emergency numbers: 911 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile. Calls are answered locally and dispatchers will stay on the line. For non-urgent police matters many cities also run a 311 information line.
HEAT IS THE DOMINANT HAZARD AND IT SHOULD CHANGE YOUR ITINERARY RATHER THAN YOUR CLOTHES: June to September brings weeks above 100 degrees Fahrenheit with nights above 80 and a higher heat index, and heat exhaustion and heatstroke are routine summer presentations at Dallas emergency departments. Shade is scarce in a car-built city, distances are long and the pavement radiates, so spend the middle of the day indoors, drink before you are thirsty, use electrolytes as well as water, and do not try to walk between districts in July. TORNADOES ARE A REAL SPRING RISK, with a tornado tracking through north Dallas in October 2019: a WATCH means conditions are possible, a WARNING means shelter now in an interior room on the lowest floor away from windows, so keep phone alerts on. ICE STORMS RATHER THAN SNOW ARE THE WINTER HAZARD and North Texas copes badly, as the February 2021 storm and grid failure showed. DART LIGHT RAIL REACHES DOWNTOWN, THE ARTS DISTRICT, DEEP ELLUM, FAIR PARK AND DFW AIRPORT, with the Orange Line about 50 minutes from the airport for very little money; the TRE commuter line reaches Fort Worth. THE DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART HAS FREE GENERAL ADMISSION and Klyde Warren Park is free. SIXTH FLOOR MUSEUM TICKETS ARE TIMED, so book ahead. CAR BREAK-INS ARE THE COMMONEST CRIME AGAINST VISITORS, especially in Deep Ellum lots and at Fair Park. Sidewalks end without warning outside the central districts and crossing wide arterials on foot is dangerous.
US State Department travel advisory: there is none, and this is not an omission. The State Department issues travel advisories for other countries, not for the United States itself, so no US advisory for this destination exists to link. In its place, the Government of Canada advice for the United States gives an equivalent third-country assessment.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits. The FCDO names no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States. The same advice also covers Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Main hospital: Parkland Memorial Hospital on Medical District Drive is the region's Level I trauma centre with a 24 hour emergency department, and Baylor University Medical Center on Gaston Avenue is the other major central one. Dial 911 for police, ambulance or fire. This is the single biggest practical difference for a visitor: there is no public health system, an emergency room visit without insurance can run into thousands of dollars, and an ambulance is billed separately and is not free. Comprehensive travel insurance with a high medical limit is not optional in the United States, and you should carry your policy number and the insurer's 24 hour number somewhere you can reach them. Urgent care clinics handle anything short of an emergency far more cheaply and quickly than an emergency room, and are the right choice for a sprain, an infection or stitches.
Official health authority: the CDC travellers' health pages, the US federal health authority for visitors. covers the US public health guidance, with the National Weather Service the authority for excessive heat warnings, tornado warnings and winter storm advisories
Embassy contact: the United States is the host country, so there is no US embassy to contact. Your own country's embassy is in Washington DC, with consulates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Miami and Boston. Find yours before you travel and save the number.
Official tourism authority: Brand USA, the national tourism marketing body. covers Dallas and Texas visitor information, the DART light rail network and the State Fair dates at Fair Park
Takeaways
In summer, indoors from late morning to late afternoon. The heat is the plan.
The Dallas Museum of Art is free. So is Klyde Warren Park.
Take the DART Orange Line from the airport. It is cheap and direct.
Carry electrolytes, not just water. That is what locals do.
Solo women safety assessment: Dallas is comfortable to visit alone with ordinary American big-city care and one structural caveat that matters more here than almost anywhere: the metropolitan area is roughly the size of a small country, the city is built entirely around cars, and the gaps between pleasant districts are long, shadeless and sometimes without sidewalks at all. Downtown, the Arts District, Uptown, Deep Ellum, Bishop Arts and Lower Greenville are all easy and eating alone in any of them is unremarkable; downtown empties after office hours, and Deep Ellum is the late-night quarter, where the standard bar-street care applies: never leave a drink, keep a closed bag in front of you, and arrange how you are getting back rather than walking an unlit block. The city's violent crime is concentrated in residential areas well away from all of that, and the thing that actually happens to visitors is a car break-in, so leave nothing visible, particularly in Deep Ellum surface lots and at Fair Park. 911 REACHES POLICE, AMBULANCE AND FIRE free from any phone, and Parkland Memorial on Medical District Drive is the region's Level I trauma centre. THE UNITED STATES HAS NO PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE FOR VISITORS and insurance is essential. THE HEAT IS THE REAL DANGER AND IT DESERVES TO BE TREATED AS ONE. Weeks above 100 degrees Fahrenheit with nights that never drop below 80 mean heat exhaustion is a routine emergency presentation here, not an exotic one, and a woman walking a mile between districts at two in the afternoon in July is taking a genuine risk rather than being hardy. Plan the middle of the day indoors, drink before thirst, take electrolytes as well as water, and use ride-hailing without guilt. In spring, keep tornado alerts switched on and know that a warning means shelter immediately.
Reading On
Dallas is north Texas and the Austin packing list covers the state capital three hours south, which is greener, hillier and a very different proposition, while the El Paso packing list covers the far western corner of the same state, a nine hour drive away and closer to three other state capitals than to this one, which is the fact that conveys the scale of Texas better than any number. South west, the Albuquerque packing list and the Santa Fe packing list cover the high desert of New Mexico, where the heat is drier and the altitude replaces the humidity. East, the New Orleans packing list covers the Gulf South and the Nashville packing list the upper South. North, the Colorado Springs packing list and the Denver packing list are the nearest mountains and the usual summer escape. For the country, the United States travel guide for women carries the transport, the health insurance question and the regions in full. For why fine wool is the right layer in a hundred-degree city with hard air conditioning, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
