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Missions
San Antonio’s five Spanish colonial missions form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with the 1718 Alamo the most visited. At this limestone “shrine of Texas liberty,” some 200 Texans famously held off at least 1,800 Mexican soldiers for 13 days in 1836. Although the Alamo fell, the death of its defenders took on mythological status for courage and sacrifice. Today the site has its own rules of reverence that some 2.5 million visitors follow each year. Take a guided tour and learn that the reality of this mission is much more complicated than you may think. (Note: Wheelchairs are available for loan at the Alamo, but some areas may pose challenges for wheelchair users.)
The other four missions — collectively forming the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, with some still home to active Catholic parishes offering mariachi Masses — merit a visit for their striking architecture, rich historic value and scenic respite. The four — San José, San Juan Capistrano, Concepción and Espada — are too far apart for visitors to easily walk from one to the other, but you can rent a bike to see them along the 8-mile stretch of the river’s Mission Hike and Bike Trail, dotted with picnic and seating areas. Or you can drive from one to the other, with free parking at each. (Wheelchairs are available for loan at the missions, although the missions are only partially accessible.
Walks
For such a historic city, downtown San Antonio is surprisingly walkable. The wide and mostly flat streets offer plenty of room for strolling, though Sunbelt sprawl takes over once you get a few miles away from downtown.
Follow the meandering San Antonio River, the city’s heart and soul, to walk along its terraced riverbanks and through its iconic neighborhoods. Start with the famous below-street-level River Walk. Some 11 million visitors each year amble along its main 2.5-mile stretch of cypress-lined cobblestone and flagstone paths, pack the river barges, and toast the view with cold margaritas in riverside cafes, popular pubs and cheery Mexican restaurants. Although the city has greatly improved the River Walk’s accessibility, wheelchair users and those with walkers or canes should take care due to the uneven ground. Not surprisingly, the path is often crowded, especially on weekends, so slow down and proceed with care.
The River Walk is only a couple hundred yards away from the Alamo. To get down to the river, take one of the several stairways or elevators that descend below street level to it. From the Alamo, two convenient access points are the bridges at Commerce and Losoya streets (there is an elevator there) and Presa between College and Houston streets. You can also take the lobby elevator at the Hyatt Regency Riverwalk.
Follow the aromas of grilling meats and the sounds of mariachis wearing traditional charro garb to Market Square, about a mile west of the Alamo. There you’ll find El Mercado craft emporium, considered the largest Mexican market outside Mexico. Even though the distance isn’t that great, the heat and humidity can creep up on you, so stop for an ice-cold cerveza (beer) at the market’s iconic Mi Tierra Café & Bakery, open 24 hours. Strolling mariachis serenade patrons at the café, which is festooned year-round with colorful twinkling lights and Christmas decorations.
En route to Market Square, visit San Fernando Cathedral, the spiritual hub of the city since its founding in 1731, in the Main Plaza. After dark, watch San Antonio: The Saga, a spectacular 24-minute nighttime light show projected against the cathedral walls that tells the story of the city from its beginnings to today.
On the southern edge of downtown, Hemisfair Plaza, site of the 1968 World’s Fair, offers large park-like areas, water gardens and playscapes scattered about green lawns. Recent redevelopment projects are helping to make this area an even more fabulous place, with three main parks, restaurant and retail areas, and more.
From the original stretch of the River Walk, walk north into the 1.3-mile Museum Reach section for the city’s latest urban jewel: the booming Pearl entertainment district, which has brought new life to San Antonio yet again over the past decade. Billionaire Christopher “Kit” Goldsbury, of Pace Picante sauce fame, painstakingly transformed the former 1883 Pearl Brewery property into a cultural area as hot as his spicy salsas. A deft mash-up of historic features with industrial, modern and minimalist elements, it’s home to 22-plus acres of fun, including a branch of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and more than 20 unique retail shops and art galleries, a spa and more than two dozen restaurants, bars, cafés and bakeries — several with CIA graduates at the helm. There’s even a busy food hall as well as an occasional pop-up restaurant. On weekends year-round, eat your way through the Pearl Farmers Market, a foodie paradise with more than 45 artisanal vendors — some offering salsa and barbecue sauces, of course — and great people-watching.
Just north of Pearl, stroll the 343-acre Brackenridge Park, an oak-filled urban oasis founded in 1899. Take a seat on a faux-bois art bench and enjoy the lovely Japanese Tea Garden, with its koi-filled lily ponds and Japanese pagoda and café, and explore the San Antonio Zoo. (Both are wheelchair accessible.)
Before Pearl put the city on the hip-and-trendy map, Southtown fit the bill. A quick ride from downtown, its funky, eclectic art studios, retail boutiques, bars, outdoor family spots, food trucks, restaurants and coffee shops span five separate neighborhoods. The best known, King William, took its name from the Prussian merchants who built homes in the mid-1800s and named their neighborhood after Kaiser Wilhelm I. Several of the mansions from the late 19th century are open for tours, including the Italianate Villa Finale, the French Renaissance Edward Steves Homestead and the Guenther House, the onetime home of mill owner Carl Guenther. Several classic B&Bs call this neighborhood home.
How to save: Villa Finale and Edward Steves Homestead offer discounts for those 65 and older. Free maps for self-led walking tours are available online and at the King William Cultural Arts District offices (122 Madison St.).
Robert Alexander/Getty Images
Art/Museums
In a city where Mexican, European, Asian, African and American Western traditions mix, it’s not surprising that more than 40 museums focus on a range of cultures. Take the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA; wheelchair accessible), for example: It offers pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial, and Latin American folk art — and quite unexpectedly, the largest collection of Asian art in the southern United States.
