The Texas Triangle

Fourteen nights around Texas, which is a state large enough to fill a fortnight without once leaving it. Flights, car and hotels are arranged together from the UK with a road book for the driving.

It begins in Fort Worth, where the Stockyards still drive a herd of longhorns down Exchange Avenue twice a day, and Billy Bob’s next door claims to be the largest honky-tonk in the world. Two nights in Austin follow, with the bats streaming out from under the Congress Avenue bridge at dusk between March and October, and live music on Sixth Street most nights of the week.

Then two nights in the Hill Country, which is the most surprising part of Texas: swimming holes like the Hamilton Pool Preserve at Dripping Springs, the German settlement at Fredericksburg, and Luckenbach, a town of three buildings and a famous song. San Antonio follows for two nights, with the Alamo and the River Walk, then Galveston on the Gulf for two, and Houston for two to finish, with the Johnson Space Center on the edge of the city.

Around 890 miles over a fortnight, and unusually regular: seven stops of two nights each, so there is a rhythm to it rather than a scramble. Big Bend and Marfa can be added if you want the far west of the state. Worth asking which town the Hill Country nights are in, as the page gives the region rather than a name. The itinerary is bespoke and departures are arranged around your dates. It suits anyone who thinks Texas is one thing and is about to find out it is several.