Dallas is a city in the state of Texas, USA. It covers an area of 997 km2 and has a population of 1,241,162 in 2012 (9th largest city in the United States). Along with the nearby town of Fort Worth, Dallas is part of a large urban area of 6,371,773 inhabitants, the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, or simply "the Metroplex", the fourth largest urban area in the country. Dallas is listed as a beta+ world city by the University of Loughborough in London. The city centre first of all: surrounded by elevated highways (75,30,396,35), the financial and administrative district of the city is of little interest except for the too famous Dealy Plaza. Elm, Mail and Commerce Street are the three main arteries that make up this city centre. In the extension of this central district, beyond highway 75, lies the district known as' Deep Ellum', it is here that you will find some antique dealers but especially nightclubs, tattoo parlours, popular restaurants: it is the trendy district but could easily be caught up in a difficult passage. See Deep Ellum Texas Near this central district, on its north-western flank is the district of museums including the magnificent Museum of Fine Arts of the city which deserves a detour for its permanent and temporary exhibitions. Passing through November 2012 it was the occasion to see an exhibition on advertising posters of Paris at the time of Toulouse-Lautrec. See the Dallas Museum of Art. Close to the Museum of Fine Arts is a large park built above an underground highway ramp, the Klyde Warren Park where families, groups and numerous children's activities are located. Innovative, this project is already very popular with residents of the surrounding neighbourhoods. But the most interesting thing, especially for those interested in history and urban planning, is the presence of a historic tramway line that runs from the Musée des Beaux Arts to McKinney Avenue, a high quality shopping complex and numerous bars and restaurants in the trendy West Village district. Four trams have been put back into operation for this friendly tour: Rosie, Green Dragon, Matilda and Petunia. Learn more about this free tour: McKinney Avenue Transit Authority North of the latter, around the Oak Lawn Ave and Cedar Springs Road crossroads, lies the cheerful area of the city where bars are JR's and Sue Ellen's. If you're staying at one of the hotels in the corner of Market Center, Stemmons Freeway and Harry Hines Boulevard, you'll feel a little out of the way and you won't be able to get to the city on foot without a nice little walk that won't always be interesting. It is best to ask the concierge of the hotel if a shuttle service will take you back to the nearest places of interest. In Fort Worth, in front of the Hilton Hotel, the former Texas Hotel, there is a memorial to the president who spent his last night there. In Dallas, it's all around Dealey Plaza: you'll find a museum, lots of shady characters who want to sell you their salad, conspirators and conspirators of all kinds, and idiotic onlookers who regularly try to get their pictures taken on the cross marking the location of the bullets that would have been fired from Lee Harvey Oswald's famous book depository. Dealey Plaza has hardly changed since 1963: the grassy hill, the depot, everything is there as in Super 8mm movies and other photos of the heinous assassination. On the 6th floor of the book depository, from where the bullets fired by Oswald would have left, a very sober and complete exhibition allows everyone to know a little more about what would have happened here in 1963. The corner from which the bullets would have left is framed by a glass cage, boxes of books are arranged there as they would have been on that fateful day. This presentation and the formal ban on taking photographs imposes a climate of seriousness and avoids acts of bad taste. Conspiracy theories are also given pride of place, but not conspiracy theories. The most interesting piece remains a model of the neighbourhood that was used by the Warren Commission, which was so criticized by those who remain convinced that the assassination of President Kennedy was not the unfortunate work of a single man. Let's look together at the great places of interest in Dallas, a city that continues to emancipate itself and grow over the decades. . Bank of America Plaza With a height of 281 metres, it is the tallest tower in Dallas. It contains 72 floors and was inaugurated in the mid-1980s when the real estate market was booming. Since then, the economic and financial crisis has passed by and there is no other building in this area.
Meeting Tower
It is one of the city's most emblematic towers, built in 1978. At the top of this tower, there is a ball containing a revolving bar-restaurant, the famous Five Sixty (a reference to the height of the tower, 560 feet or 171 meters). The ball itself is surrounded by a metal mesh that contains nearly 260 lamps, which helps locate the tower in the middle of the night, wherever you are in Dallas. Climb to the top to enjoy a drink in this bar while admiring the most amazing views.
Fair Park
It is a large park of more than one square kilometre located to the east of downtown Dallas. This huge space includes several museums but also an aquarium, a music hall for the opera and a fantastic 92,000-seat stadium called the Cotton Bowl, which is used for both football matches and large-scale concerts. The Fair Park is not a park like any other because it is also home to the famous Texas Star Ferris Wheel, which is a 65-metre high wheel (which is probably the highest in the United States) and the Dallas fair, which welcomes nearly 7 million visitors every year for three weeks.
The Pioneer Plaza
The only interest of this place is simply the world's largest bronze statue. It is a realistic representation of Texas cowboys who drive cattle. Please note that this is a park with free parking.
Dallas Botanical Garden and Arboretum
This botanical garden is simply magnificent. A small paradise of greenery and serenity in the middle of all this concrete, these bricks, these dry spaces that make up Dallas. In the botanical garden there is a must-see museum with various fountains and fantastic landscape gardens. The Dallas Botanical Garden includes nearly 2,400 varieties of plants.
The Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas Museum of Art)
This museum is a high level discovery of decorative art and fine arts. The tour includes Edward Hopper's enigmatic Lighthouse Hill (1927) and The Sculptor and his Rodin's Muse. The Spanish colonial art section is extraordinary. Overall, the museum's collection contains more than 22,000 works of art spanning 5000 years. Kids (and parents) will enjoy the Young Learners Gallery, with fun projects for kids.
Texas Fire Department
A very special place to visit. To live, to know, to learn everything about the fire brigade universe of Dallas, this is where you have to be. A warm and friendly welcome. For more information, visit the official Dallas fire brigade website.
The Women's Museum
It is THE museum dedicated to women and their history through the Great History of the United States. You will be able to discover the contributions of women in the economic, social, and cultural life of the USA.
Museum of Biblical Art (Musée d' Art Biblique)
This building has works of art for both temporary and permanent exhibitions. Many architectural works bathed in spiritual art are represented. This Biblical arts centre is considered to be a high place covering various disciplines related to art, whether for paintings or art collections.
The City Hall
Built in 1978, this building houses the municipal services of the city of Dallas. It is easily recognizable for its inverted pyramid shape on 7 floors. Each floor is 3 metres wider than the previous one. This place is worth a look for its unconventional architectural structure.
The Dealey Plaza
This square is now sadly famous because it is here that President JFK was assassinated in November 1963. For those who want to know more, the square abounds with commemorative plaques on buildings and structures to provide more detailed information such as the map of the route, possible location of the killer, exact location of the shooting, etc....
Texas School Book Depository and the Six Floor Museum
In the same vein, on the banks of the Dealey Plaza, there is the famous bookstore, a building from which the alleged killer Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot President Kennedy. A commemorative plaque exists on the 6th floor with a museum dedicated to the deceased, called the Six Floor Museum.
Union Station
This neo-classical building, erected in 1916, was once a railway station. Today, it is converted into offices and contrasts with the very large glass building of the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Farmers Market
It's a huge market where you will be able to go to meet almost 1,000 farmers who have been coming to Dallas to sell their products for half a century. All the stalls are considerable and follow one another in a large open hall.
Other ideas for visiting Dallas The Perot Museum of Nature and Science
The Meadows Museum, a Spanish art museum
The African American Museum
Take advantage of being in Texas to go see some Rodeo.
Attend a Dallas Mavericks basketball game
Tips for discovering Dallas
Tourists are strongly advised to go directly to the tourist information office (located at Old Red Courthouse, 100 South Houston Street) to pick up a map of the city in order to better navigate the streets. It should be noted that the rainy season is in the spring and tourist programs can be interrupted or cancelled due to storms and long rains. It is best to visit Dallas in summer or autumn.
For those who really want to interfere in Texas life in Dallas, take the tram and bus, this will save you from the endless traffic jams. Tickets for these means of transport are sold in kiosks. Finally, for coffee lovers and connoisseurs alike, Dallas is full of small, tasty places that rival each other in ingenuity to make tempting promotions. The most interesting ones are offered on weekends.
