Arlington and Dallas-Fort Worth City Guide

If you’re headed to the Lone Star state this July for MLB All-Star Week at Globe Life Field, we recommend stretching your trip over several days to experience the lifestyle and attractions of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area.

Texas is a cultural melting pot, with a history rooted in Western lore and a strong Latinx influence, and we’ve corralled the best activities and hotels to fill a three-city agenda.

For the first innings of your trip, you’ll want to be in Arlington, where All-Star Week takes place from July 12-16. Completed in 2020, Globe Life Field is the city’s shiny, state-of-the-art stadium that features a retractable roof to shield you from the Texas summer heat.

On-site, there are dining outlets, bars, and interactive areas for fans to visit and even play stations for younger baseball enthusiasts. The nearby Arlington Entertainment District will be the hub of All-Star Week, with a program of exciting activities, like demos, drills, games with baseball greats, a video-gaming zone, batting cages, and more.

There’s no need to abandon the stadium after the ninth inning – you can book a tour to go behind the scenes and explore the team’s rich history. If you’ve got kids in tow (or just want to embrace your inner child), don’t miss Six Flags Over Texas, the original Six Flags amusement park, with rollercoasters and attractions spread across 212 acres.

Next door, Hurricane Harbor Arlington offers further thrills and a chance to cool off on countless water slides. As night falls, head back towards the stadium and spend a fun-filled evening at the Texas Live! complex, where you can explore restaurants, bars, and live music venues.

At the Arlington Museum of Art, you’ll find rotating exhibitions of national and international contemporary artists, as well as a program of regular events.

Natural scenery can be found all over Arlington, and two popular spots are River Legacy Parks along the Trinity River, with hiking and biking trails and a nature centre, and Lake Arlington, a popular destination for fishing, paddling, and picnicking.

A stone’s throw from the ballpark, Loews Arlington Hotel is a gleaming urban oasis, with sky-high views from its spacious bedrooms. There’s an elegant Italian restaurant on-site, with wood-fired pizza ovens, as well as other eateries, like an al fresco verandah, and a pan-Asian restaurant opening this summer.

Kids will especially love the outdoor area, with two full swimming pools, a splash pad, and even a waterslide, while the grown-ups can rent a comfy cabana.

If you’re looking for a more intimate setting, consider Sanford House Inn & Spa. This four-star accommodation delivers the hearty hospitality Texas is known for, with vintage decor giving it romantic charm and a homey atmosphere.

A full spa service is available, so you can shake off the stress of a close game and bliss out with massages and facials.

The city colloquially known as Cowtown has a deep Western heritage combined with a modern-day vibrancy. Many of the celebrations and festivities of All-Star Week will take place here, like the MLB Draft, presented by Nike at the Cowtown Coliseum on July 14th, but there’s also plenty to discover beyond baseball.

Fort Worth Stockyards historic district gives you a chance to time travel to the Wild West. Original brick walkways and age-old facades sit among careful restorations to whisk you back to the era of cowhide saddles, spurs, and pistols at dawn.

In this town, there are no tumbleweeds: you can have your pick of saloon bars, watch the world’s only twice-daily cattle drive, visit a Western museum or John Wayne exhibit, and of course, go to the rodeo. 

There are also regular events like classic movie screenings and live concerts. If you have curious little ones travelling with you, you may want to visit the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

Inside, you can explore the interactive exhibits (DinoLabs and Energy Blast are kid-friendly favourites), visit the planetarium, or watch a movie at the IMAX theatre.  

Fort Worth Botanic Garden is Texas’s oldest botanical garden. It features attractions like a children's vegetable garden and an elevated walkway that’s styled as an outdoor classroom, with fun animal sculptures and topiary to discover.

Or head to Log Cabin Village, Fort Worth's living history museum. Here, you can step inside original and recreated cabins from the mid to late 1800s and view artefacts that paint a picture of pioneer life 200 years ago.

If you want to continue your immersion in cowboy life, Hotel Drover, Autograph Collection lets you do just that, thanks to its location next to Fort Worth Stockyards and rodeo-themed design details.

Yet the hacienda-style hotel is far from kitsch – think double-volume ceilings, wood beams, antique tin bathtubs, Texas longhorn skulls, and a dreamy library. There’s also a shimmering pool set into the secluded gardens to keep kids occupied under the sun.

For adult-only trips, Omni Fort Worth Hotel makes a great choice. It’s in the cultural hub of Fort Worth’s Downtown, a short walk from Sundance Square – where you’ll find shopping, dining, and nightlife.

There’s plenty of in-house entertainment too, from a luxurious spa and rooftop swimming pool to steakhouses, pool tables, and live-music venue Whiskey & Rye.

You can’t come to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area without a visit to Dallas itself, an electric urban sprawl that’s Texas’s third-largest city. Book at least two nights in "Big D" to make sure you don’t miss out on any highlights.

Dallas has one of the largest urban arts districts in the US – a one-stop destination for you to get your cultural fix. You can visit galleries like the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Crow Museum of Asian Art.

There’s also public art to discover, boutique stores, upscale restaurants, and regular shows at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. In the Downtown Historic District, Dallas World Aquarium is a popular spot for inquisitive kids.

This indoor space goes beyond marine life like fish, sharks, and penguins and also houses tropical birds, reptiles, and other animals in carefully replicated habitats.

Dallas may be famous for many things, but it’s infamous for one incident in particular: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy Jr. At The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in the former Texas School Book Depository, you can explore the life and legacy of the 35th POTUS and ponder the circumstances of his untimely death.

For fans of the 1980s soap opera that took America and the world by storm, Southfork Ranch is a must-see. You can explore original sets of the Ewing Mansion and Dallas memorabilia with a guided tour, and if you’re comfortable on horseback, you can even ride the ranch’s meandering trails.

Aloft Dallas Downtown is a wallet-friendly hotel in the heart of the action. This family-oriented location showcases industrial-chic interiors charged with bold colours and art, as well as an open-air splash pool to cool off in.

Hotel ZaZa Dallas is a boutique hotel that offers a more grown-up experience. Located in the culture-rich neighbourhood of Uptown Dallas, this property is unabashedly dedicated to glamour, with a flair for opulent design inspired by the Mediterranean coastline.

Here, you can stretch out on striped loungers at the secluded swimming pool, order a cocktail in the eclectic bar or treat your taste buds at the award-winning Dragonfly restaurant.