Sights & Attractions
Dallas/Fort Worth has a dazzling array of
attractions and sights to fit any interests.
Whether you enjoy an evening at the
opera or an exciting end to a hockey match,
the Metroplex has just what you’re looking
for. Adorned with unlimited opportunities for
fun, this section should serve as your
resource for an incredible selection of
attractions, museums, recreation centers,
golf courses and sports venues. By canvassing
some of the area’s highlights, you’ll be
able to explore the very best the Metroplex
has to offer.
Attractions
Famous as the setting for the classic television
show, “Dallas,” the city is well known
as the residence of the Ewing family and the
location of their famous homestead Southfork
Ranch. Southfork Ranch may be the perfect
place to begin your tour of the Metroplex’s
many attractions as the ranch has attracted
millions of visitors. Once you’re ready to step
out of the past, the Metroplex features many
different entertainment and attraction districts
for you to enjoy.
Located two miles east of downtown
Dallas, Fair Park is home to nine museums
and six performance facilities, including the
Music Hall, Superpages.com Center, the Band
Shell and the Cotton Bowl Stadium. This
National Historic Landmark has the largest
collection of 1930s Art Deco exposition style
architecture in the United States located on
277 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds.
Noted as the new Western Metroplex filled
with friendly people, Fort Worth unites Western
heritage, cultural attractions and sporting
events into one amazing city. The economy
offers diversity that ranges from the Texas
Motor Speedway to the Stockyards and Bass
Performance Hall.
Arlington is well known throughout the
state and the Southwest as the “Entertainment
Capital of Texas.” Among its many
attractions and destinations, Arlington is the
home of Six Flags Over Texas theme park, Hurricane
Harbor (the nation’s largest water park)
and the new home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Along with these three entertainment districts,
many other Metroplex cities feature
exciting annual events such as Grapefest,
Taste of Addison, the Plano Balloon Festival
and the State Fair of Texas.
Arts & Culture
The Metroplex prides itself in its arts and
culture with applauded performances of
music and theater throughout the year. One
of the most striking performance centers is
the beautiful Morton H. Meyerson Symphony
Center in Dallas. The Music Hall at Fair Park
hosts Dallas Summer Musicals and the Dallas
Opera. The Bass Performance Hall in Fort
Worth showcases the very best of the city’s
performances from the Cliburn Concerts, Fort
Worth Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Opera
and the Texas Ballet Theater.
In addition to the wide variety of live productions,
Dallas and Fort Worth feature
world-class art districts. The Dallas Arts District
touts the second largest collection of
Asian arts in the United States as well as the
nationally recognized Dallas Museum of Art
and the Nasher Sculpture Center. The Fort
Worth Cultural District claims several top
museums in the state including the Modern
Art Museum and the Kimball Art Museum.
Recently, the Perryman Group reported that
DFW is Texas’s most “arts intensive” metro
area on a per capital basis, with more than
$6,000 expended per person on cultural arts.
Recreation Centers
Whether you decide to spend an afternoon
outdoors or in, Dallas and Fort Worth possess
impressive scenery on both fronts. DFW features
more than 150 public and private golf
courses, and plenty of great weather in which
to perfect your game, including five expertly
designed and carefully maintained courses by
the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department.
The Dallas Arboretum, nestled on the
southeastern corner of White Rock Lake in
east Dallas, is one of the gems of the botanical
gardening world. Home of the Southwest’s
largest outdoor spring floral festival,
Dallas Blooms, it is a nationally recognized
display garden featuring fabulous floral color
in beds throughout the year. Located on 66
acres minutes from downtown, the arboretum
is truly an urban oasis.
Explore the Fort Worth Botanic Garden
and walk through a living museum filled with
year-round spectacular flowers and foliage.
Twenty-one world-renowned specialty gardens
are nestled within a nine-acre setting. Enjoy
the European designed rose garden, the
Japanese rose garden with its koi pond and
the lush tropical flowers and foliage of the
conservatory.
In addition to the beautiful landscaped
recreation centers, the DFW region offers its visitors
numerous glistening lakes ready for sun
and fun. In fact, lakes surround Dallas. Find a
variety of popular fishing and boating destinations
including those set along White Rock,
Lewisville, Ray Hubbard and Joe Pool lakes.
Sports
Equipped with professional football, basketball,
baseball, hockey, golf, automobile
racing and thoroughbred horse racing, Dallas’s
sports fans have a lot to cheer about. Contributing
to the popularity of Dallas sports is
the year-round great weather.
Ready to play in a new billion-dollar stadium
this year, is America’s Team, the Dallas
Cowboys. The Cowboys are five-time Super
Bowl Champions and considered the most
valuable sports franchise. Thrilling sports fans
at the impressive American Airlines Center
are the trailblazing Dallas Mavericks and the
1998-1999 NHL Stanley Cup Winners, the
Dallas Stars.
Nearby, hotdogs and sodas are devoured
as fans watch the legendary Texas Rangers
play ball at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.
And kicking its reputation into high gear, soccer
fans cheer the only division-one professional
outdoor soccer team in the Southwest
known as the FC Dallas. Sure to stir up
some dust, The Mesquite Championship Rodeo
saddles up roping and riding excitement. In
addition, Texas Motor Speedway hosts major
league racing that will get your heart pumping
with adrenaline. And get your bests ready as
thoroughbred racing circles the track at Lone
Star Park in Grand Prairie.