Texas Holidays
Sample itineraries
Texas and Louisiana Adventure
From £1575
The "Larger than Life" state of Texas combined with the friendly, historic state of Louisiana will offer you a journey through ranches, plantation homes, swamps, historic hamlets, lively capitals and provide you with a taste of cajun and country & western music and nightlife.
Highlights:
- The People!
- Music scene in both states
- Historic New Orleans and The French Quarter
- Natchez and the National Historical Park
- Plantation homes
- Shreveport
- Dallas, the museums, entertainment district and Southfork Ranch!
- Austin & The Congress Street Bridge bats spectacle
- San Antonio and the lively River Walk
- The Alamo
- SeaWorld
- NASA Space Centre, Houston
- Houston Museum of Natural Sciences
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Lafayette- Cajun Country
- Vermilionville-23 acre Cajun Creole heritage and folklife park
- The Atchafalaya Swamp, America's largest river swamp
Price per person includes:
- Return flights to New Orleans, Louisiana
- All taxes
- 10 days mid-size car hire to collect on leaving New Orleans, Louisiana
- 12 nights unique/boutique accommodation in sought after locations
-
A personalised road book which is a complete guide to travelling within North America and provides bespoke driving instructions for your holiday.
Ideal time to visit: Year Round (July/August can be very hot and humid)
Prices are based on off-season travel. Please call or email for costs for your preferred date of travel.
Day 1 Arrive New Orleans
As soon as you land in the Big Easy you can begin enjoying New Orleans. A stop at the French Quarter Visitor Center unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park introduces you to the traditions and life in the area. Rangers lead daily walks to tell the story of this special place and its ties to the Mississippi River. Settled in 1718, New Orleans was the commercial hub of the Louisiana Territory before it changed hands between the Spanish and the French when it was purchased by Napoleon. He ultimately sold the land to the United States in 1803. Trade between the US and Caribbean dominated the region for decades accounting for the many residents of New Orleans who are descendants of West Indies families. During your stay here you'll hear the terms Cajun and Creole time and time again. They are two very different cultures. Cajuns are always of French descent. Creoles may or may not be and are generally multi cultural in descent.
You can learn the whole story of New Orleans at the Historic New Orleans collection, a museum and research center dedicated to preserving the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South region. A complex of buildings in the French Quarter houses the Williams Gallery and the Louisiana History Gallery.
Stay: 1 night
Omni Royal Orleans, New Orleans
Day 2 New Orleans
Today there should be more time to explore more of the city. You'll want to spend some time in the Garden District which gets its name from the huge homes and gardens that fill block after block. It is also the location of the famous Commander's Palace Restaurant considered by some to be one of the finest dining experiences in the world.
Also in the Garden District, Longue Vue House and Gardens was born of the aspirations of Edgar and Edith Stern, pillars of the New Orleans community. The Classic Revival house is three stories and a basement, unusual in New Orleans where most of the land is below sea level. You can tour the 20 main rooms complete with original American and English antiques, European and Eastern European carpets, art collections, Chinese and other pieces of priceless pottery.
For music this evening try the Maison Bourbon Jazz Club or the House of Blues. You can dine at Antoine's, Brennan's or the Cafe Du Monde. Magazine Street is a great place for shopping, including antiques.
Stay: 1 night
Omni Royal Orleans, New Orleans
Day 3 New Orleans - Natchez
Natchez is probably the best preserved town in the South. It was spared by the Civil War and lovingly restored over the years. The best place to gain an overview of Natchez and a context for everything else is the Natchez National Historical Park and Visitor Center. The park interprets two very different properties. Melrose, situated on 133 acres of live oak covered land was occupied by a prominent Southern family until 1866. Their story is somewhat of a tragedy so similar to the stories of so many wealthy Southern planter families during the Civil War.
The park also includes The William Johnson House which recently underwent three years of restoration. Freed by his master at age 11, Mr Johnson became a formidable businessman in Natchez. He too owned slaves commensurate with his economic position. His diaries provide a fascinating account of the lives and times in the antebellum South.
There are several antebellum mansions open for touring and if you like historic towns just touring in the historic district can be a very enjoyable experience in Natchez.
Breakfast included
Stay: 1 night
The Briars Inn, Natchez
Day 4 Natchez - Shreveport
Shreveport is a bustling place with old southern charm. It was here, not in Memphis that Elvis got his start by borrowing money to eat and stay in motels and earning $200 a night performing at the Louisiana Hayride. Today, Shreveport is second only to New Orleans in welcoming both US and International visitors. Get ready to party and be entertained.
Riverboat casinos that have starred in many Hollywood productions line both sides of the Red River. Heaping plates of great food await. On the softer side the American Rose Centre is the nation's largest rose garden and there's plenty of scenic roads on which to get out into the Louisiana countryside.
Stay: 1 night
El Dorado Resort, Shreveport
Day 5 Shreveport - Dallas
As you cross over into eastern Texas on your way to Dallas, you'll find that not much changes. You're still in the Deep South. Tyler is your first chance to experience the Antebellum era of the Old South in Texas. Dewberry Plantation, Roseland Plantation and the Goodman Museum all display the grand finery of the bygone era of hoop skirts and hospitality. On the flip side in nature the Cherokee Trace Drive in Safari Park takes you through 300 acres of lush, pine east Texas forest populated by hundreds of exotic animals thriving in open habitats.
By the time you reach Dallas you'll be near the Texas desert. Located 100 miles west of the largest oil deposit on earth, Dallas is the financial hub of the oil industry. It's been a shopping mecca since Neiman Marcus opened in 1907. The Galleria is second to none in the world. In addition to the Sixth Floor Museum from which Oswald fired those infamous shots, Dallas also has the largest urban cultural district in the world. 227 acre Fair Park is home to the Dallas Museum of Art, the Crow Collection of Asian Art, Nasher Sculpture Centre, the Meyerson Symphony Centre and more. The finest in art and music is expected and delivered.
Stay: 1 night
Fairmont Dallas, Dallas
Day 6 Dallas
No trip to Dallas would be complete without a visit to Southfork Ranch, where JR Ewing presided over the famous television show. The property is actually a resort that was chosen as the site of the filming. Interestingly the house is the Texas equivalent of a southern plantation home. Staying with the ranching theme there are 40 life size cows and cowboys in Pioneer Plaza which sit right outside the Dallas Convention Centre.
The West End Historic District is the entertainment and tourism anchor district of the City of Dallas, hosting over 7 million people each year.
The Dallas Arboretum is one of the finest show gardens in the Southwest, alive with colour throughout the year.
The McKinney Avenue Trolley lets you explore the Uptown area of Dallas while riding an authentic streetcar line. All trips are free and stops include the West End and the Dallas Museum of Art.
Stay: 1 night
Fairmont Dallas, Dallas
Day 7 Dallas - Austin
Have you ever been to a city where the top 10 things to do include bats, wildflowers, a State Capitol, Presidential library, a mountain and a constantly flowing Spring? Welcome to Austin, the most unique city in Texas. The Texas State Capitol is one of the most beloved landmarks of the Lone Star State. At the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library you can experience life as it is played out on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. The wildflowers bring Texas Hill Country to life at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centre. Barton Springs pool flows at a constant 68 degrees. And the bats? - they are a nightly spectacle when more than 1.5 million free tailed bats depart from beneath the Congress Street bridge at sunset. Of course there's Austin City Limits and the other music clubs that Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings brought from Nashville.
Stay: 1 night
Hyatt Regency Lone Pine Resort, Austin
Day 8 Austin
If you find time today you can enjoy a drive through Texas Hill Country which rises like a lush green oasis out of the dusty Texas desert. Crystal streams, towering cedar trees and acres of Texas bluebonnets can feel like a mirage. The 25 counties of the Hill Country look more like Pennsylvania or Vermont than the Lone Star State. Rock walls and stone buildings, rivers and towns with funny names give way to winding roads, winding rivers, wildflowers, forts and ghost towns.
Stay: 1 night
Hyatt Regency Lone Pine Resort, Austin
Day 9 Austin - San Antonio
San Antonio has become the real travel destination in Texas. Although the Alamo, the location of the famous battle between General Houston and General Santa Ana remains at the top of the list, Riverwalk, a delightful Spanish plaza right on the riverfront ranks close behind. You can spend countless hours strolling, dining and enjoying the area. Missions San Jose, San Juan, Espada and Concepcion have all been preserved as landmarks are open to the public as a part of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
Breakfast included
Stay: 1 night
The Oge House on Riverwalk, San Antonio
Day 10 San Antonio
If theme parks are your pleasure San Antonio offers Seaworld San Antonio and Fiesta Texas, with the only 'floorless' roller coaster in the southwest, the HemisFair Urban Park, Tower of the Americas and the San Antonio Zoo. History lovers will enjoy the University of Texas Institute of Texan cultures and the King William Historic District. Nature lovers can get underground at the Natural Bridge Caverns and Cascade Caverns located beneath Texas Hill Country.
Breakfast included
Stay: 1 night
The Oge House on Riverwalk, San Antonio
Day 11 San Antonio - Houston
You can get up close and personal with NASA at the Johnson Space Centre/Space Centre Houston, the actual home of most US astronauts. Regular tram tours take you through a good deal of the working facility where you can observe the payload bays, track live updates on current flights, touch space rocks and marvel at a full scale model of the space shuttle. The San Jacinto Battleground State Park the very place where Texas gained its independence from Mexico in 1836 when General Sam Houston defeated General Santa Ana (we all thought it was the Alamo) is a great contrast to cutting edge space technology.
Houston is no different than other places in Texas for makin' em big. Two of the top 10 attractions in Houston are larger than life. The Houston Museum of Natural Sciences is one of the largest collections in the world. They say if it's in natural history, it's likely represented at the museum. The Menril collection is one of the greatest private art collections in the US. It's housed in a specially commissioned steel and cypress building displaying modern, tribal, ethnic and surreal art along with antiques, a Rothko Chapel, a Byzantine Museum and more.
If neither of these strike your interest there are hundreds of other things to see and do in America's fourth largest city.
Stay: 1 night
Lovett Inn, Houston
Day 12 Houston - Lafayette
We wanted to put one more completely unique stop on your itinerary on your way back to New Orleans. Lafayette, Louisiana is the quintessential Cajun city. At the Acadian Cultural Centre unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, you'll discover the story of the Acadian 'Cajuns' who settled in the bayous and marshes of this French province after they left Nova Scotia. Exhibits explain the migration from one French province to another, as well as the contemporary culture of the Acadians. Nearby Vermilionville is a 23 acre Cajun Creole heritage and folklife park that recreates life in the Acadiana area from 1765 to 1890. Leave yourself some time for nightlife in Lafayette. There's usually music playing somewhere.
If you want to 'get out into the swamp' the half day Atchafalaya experience is a must. The Atchafalaya Swamp, America's largest river swamp is Louisiana's answer to the Grand Canyon. Protected as a National Wildlife area, the vistas are pristine. The trips are designed to enable visitors to get out into the wild portion of the Atchafalaya and explore six distinctly different areas. Back on land there will be time to explore more of the Lafayette area and surrounding Cajun Country. If you're up for a drive the Jean Lafitte Scenic Byway takes you through several authentic historic towns deep in the bayous and backways. The Alexandre Mounton House and Lafayette Museum introduces you to the local history and culture in the home built by Jean Mouton, founder of Vermilionville.
Breakfast included
Stay: 1 night
Bois Des Chenes, Lafayette
Day 13 Depart New Orleans
As you leave New Orleans, know that you have visited a totally unique part of America in the Deep South.
