AARP's Guide to San Antonio
San Antonio, celebrated by many for its colorful and distinctly Mexican aesthetic, is now a sprawling metropolis and America’s seventh-largest city. Bigger than Dallas, San Antonio is home to nearly 2.5 million citizens, 65.4 percent of whom are Hispanic. So it’s no surprise that San Antonio revels in its Mexican roots through its cuisine, arts and history — the latter being most evident downtown at the Alamo and along the San Antonio River at Missions National Historical Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).
But it’s also home to a rich mix of other cultures, with newer residents from Asia and Africa adding vibrancy to this melting pot of a town, one that’s intensely proud of its multiculturalism. So go ahead and stroll the tourist-magnet River Walk. Succumb to the heady aromas of bougainvillea and jasmine, sizzling corn tortillas and the breeze off the San Antonio River. Then explore the rest of the 300-year-old city and be ready to blow your preconceptions away.