Dallas

Dallas is Texas's most cosmopolitan city — a sprawling north Texas metropolis built on oil wealth and corporate ambition, with excellent art museums, a thriving restaurant scene, a dramatic memorial to one of history's most significant assassinations and a neighbourly character that makes it more approachable than its size suggests. Dealey Plaza, where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, is still a place of palpable historical weight. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza occupies the former Texas School Book Depository and tells the story of Kennedy's presidency, assassination and aftermath with great care — one of America's most important history museums. The area around the plaza is surprisingly walkable and moving to explore. The Dallas Arts District is the largest urban arts district in the United States — the Nasher Sculpture Center (a world-class outdoor sculpture collection in a Renzo Piano building), the Dallas Museum of Art (excellent permanent collection, free admission), the Crow Collection of Asian Art and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center cluster together. Deep Ellum, the historic African-American entertainment district east of downtown, is now the city's most vibrant bar and restaurant neighbourhood. Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff is the independent boutique and café counterpart. Texas barbecue is taken seriously; Pecan Lodge in Deep Ellum and Cattleack Barbeque are both excellent.