Dallas

• VisitDallas (Dallas Convention and Tourist Bureau), 325 North St. Paul Street, Suite 700, ☏ +1 214-571-1000. There is much information on their site, and you can also contact them individually or via an email form on this page. (updated Aug 2021)

Being in the American South, Dallas has a subtropical climate with mild winters, hot summers, and a very wet spring and fall in between. In winter and summer it can also be a very dry place, as it receives warmer, drier weather from the Mojave Desert in the west and the Great Plains in the north.

Winters are generally mild, with average highs in the 50s and 60s F (10-20 °C) and average lows around the freezing mark. It often snows in Dallas a couple of times a year, and there is the rare day when temperatures will not get out of the 30s F (0-5 °C), but for the most part winter is just drier and cooler. There is, however, the danger of freezing rain and ice storms.

Spring and fall bring very pleasant temperatures, but spring is also known for its storms. Because Dallas lies within Tornado Alley, springtime weather can be quite volatile and severe storms often occur. Summers are hot, with temperatures often surpassing 100 °F (38 °C) and mostly low humidity.

Average rainfall in Dallas is 37.1 inches (942.3 mm) per year, and average snowfall is about 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) per year.

See also: air travel in the US

The sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW ^IATA), halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth (equally inconveniently for both), is American Airlines' largest hub and is served by all other major domestic carriers.

Various shared-ride shuttle services are available, with door to door pickup and drop off, costing ~$30 for ~20 miles (~30 km), which will get you to most places. Like all major airports in the United States, you can easily hail a cab outside of any terminal by following the signs for the taxi stand, and most car rentals and chain hotels have courtesy shuttles.

The DFW Airport DART station is outside terminal A on the lower level and offers a direct light rail connection to downtown. To get there, take an escalator to the airside Skylink tram (fastest way) to Terminal A. If you have baggage to claim, claim it, then take an orange TerminalLink bus on the lower level of any terminal to Terminal A. From there, follow the yellow signs for DART light rail. Once at the station, take the Orange Line to downtown, where you can transfer to any other line. Alternatively, you can take a DART bus in the opposite direction to CentrePort/DFW Station on the TRE and catch a commuter train to downtown. Be aware, however, that the TRE runs only once an hour during most of the day. Using DART is covered in more detail in the Getting Around section.

• 🌍 Dallas Love Field (DAL  ^IATA). Dallas' original airport, and the home base of America's largest low-cost carrier, Southwest Airlines. Alaska Airlines and Delta have some flights here, in addition to Southwest. Together, they operate to most major destinations in the continental US. When DFW Airport opened in the 1970s, the U.S. federal government passed the Wright Amendment, a law that restricted flights to/from Love Field to within Texas and its neighboring states. Scheduled passenger service to Love Field was expected to end. Thanks to Southwest's rapid and sustained growth, however, it never did. The Wright Amendment was gradually repealed from the 1990s to 2014, and DAL has grown even faster since then. 

Love Field is within the city limits, not far northwest of downtown. Due to the city's strategy of promoting DFW only, a rail link has never been built to DAL, but you can take the Love Link bus (DART route 524) from Love Field to Inwood/Love Field Station, served by the Green and Orange Lines. There are also various shared-ride shuttle services available which offer door-to-door pickup and drop off. They cost ~$30 for ~20 miles (~30 km), which will get you to most places.

Private aviation

As a major hub for American oil & gas industries, and serving as home to several Fortune 500 headquarters and regional offices, Dallas is a major business jet center. There are hundreds of planes based at private airports in Dallas and surrounding areas, including corporate aircraft and privately owned luxury planes. Many of these planes are available through charter operators and air taxi companies that provide shuttle flights, with the most common routes flown between Houston or Oklahoma City.

Air charter brokers such as Alliance Air Charter and Private Jets Dallas offer access to charter planes in Texas across the country. Aircraft can range from twin-engine propeller planes to luxury Gulfstreams and executive aircraft. There are several Dallas-area airports focused on private and business aviation, including Addison Airport (FAA LID: ADS), Dallas Executive Airport, formerly known as Redbird Airport (FAA LID: RBD), Arlington Municipal (FAA LID: GKY), Mesquite Metro (FAA LID: HQZ), Lancaster Regional (FAA LID: LNC), Grand Prairie Municipal (FAA LID: GPM), Terrell Municipal (FAA LID: TRL), and more.

Two Amtrak routes serve Dallas/Fort Worth:

• The Texas Eagle between San Antonio and Chicago
• The Heartland Flyer between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.

From Fort Worth, you can reach Dallas via either Amtrak's Texas Eagle, which runs daily, or the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) commuter rail line, which runs from downtown Fort Worth to Dallas with stops in Irving and close to DFW Airport. TRE trains run every half-hour during rush hour and every hour outside it, and take just over an hour for a full journey from Fort Worth to Dallas. Note that TRE trains do not run on Sundays.

Amtrak's long-distance trains are slow and unreliable, and can run hours behind schedule. Most track is owned by the private freight railroads, and while private freight trains are legally required to pull over for Amtrak passenger trains, this is hardly ever enforced. In practice, Amtrak trains frequently pull over to allow long, slow freight trains to pass. Arriving from Houston involves a train change of five or more hours in San Antonio. However, Amtrak offers views and legroom that you can't get while flying and a unique laid back experience that you can't get while driving. If you want to meet people, taking the train is one of the best ways to do it. That being said, if you're short on time, flying is a better option.

To get to Dallas from Oklahoma, take I-35 then I-35E at the fork, or US 75 south. From Houston, take I-45. From Austin, take I-35, then I-35E at the fork. To get here from Louisiana, take I-20 west. Dallas is the junction-point for most cities within a 200- to 300-mile (300- to 500-km) radius, with good road service to and from. Any road map of the United States should have enough information to get you into Dallas with no problems.

• Greyhound. The terminal is near the center of downtown at 205 S. Lamar.
• Buses also run to and from Shreveport on the weekends, sponsored by the casinos in that city. These are more geared toward locals seeking to get their gambling fixes, but ask around if you're interested.
• Megabus. Service from Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Memphis, and Little Rock. The bus stops at the DART East Transfer Center at 330 N Olive St. Fares from $1.
• Echo Transportation. Independent bus charter with full-size motor coaches, shuttle vans, luxury sedans and SUV's. Travel within DFW, beyond to other Texas destinations and across North America.
• El Expreso. Mexican trans-border bus line, also serving destinations throughout the southeastern United States. The bus stop is at 1050 N. Westmoreland St. #124 in Dallas.
• Autobus Americanos. Mexican trans-border bus line with service to various points in Mexico. The bus stop is at 627 N Westmoreland St in Dallas.
• Turimex Internacional. Mexican trans-border bus line with service to various points in Mexico. The bus stop is at 501 E. Jefferson Blvd in Dallas.
• Omnibus Mexicanos. Mexican trans-border bus line with service to various points in Mexico. The bus stop is at 201 E. Jefferson Blvd in Dallas.

The car is by far the simplest and most reliable way to get around Dallas. Local rental companies offer better prices, but national chains offer more convenient locations and return policies. As in most cities, the worst traffic is in the direction of the city center during the morning and away from it in the afternoon. The roads where rush hour is the worst, especially in the mornings, are I-35, US-75 (where what would be a 20-minute trip without traffic can become a 1-2-hour trip with traffic), and the stretch of I-635 between them.

Dallas' street system is built on three nested grids. The smallest grid, running west-by-southwest to east-by-northeast, covers only the central business district and neighborhood of Deep Ellum in downtown. The next-largest grid runs southeast from Love Field through downtown and South Dallas to end at the 7,000-acre (30-km²) Great Trinity River Forest, the largest urban hardwood forest in the nation. The rest of the city and most of the suburbs roughly adhere to a simple north/south by east/west grid of one-mile (1.6-km) square blocks.

• US-75 is also called or "Central Expressway," or "Central," and changes into I-45 south of Downtown.
• The road east of downtown that connects US-75 and I-45 is called I-345. Though rarely mentioned in daily life, it is the subject of heated debate in Dallas politics in 2020: some city leaders have proposed burying it underground or demolishing it entirely and replacing it with a boulevard, while others want to keep it.
• The Mixmaster is a hectic and confusing 5-mile (8-km) stretch southwest of Downtown where I-35E and I-30 briefly merge into a single highway.
• Woodall Rogers Freeway (TX-366) is the 2.6-mile (4.2-km) highway that forms the traditional northern boundary of downtown, connecting I-35E in the west to U.S. 75 in the east.
• I-635, the highway that runs the north and east perimeter of the city, is also called LBJ, or Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway.
• There are two branches of I-35: I-35E, which runs north-south through Dallas; and I-35W, which runs north-south through Fort Worth. They merge at Denton in the north and Hillsboro in the south.
• I-35E is called I-35, Stemmons Freeway, and just "Stemmons," but rarely by its official name.
• TX-114, the highway that runs from I-35E to DFW Airport, is also called John W. Carpenter Freeway, or Airport Freeway.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit, or DART, runs an extensive light rail network and dozens of bus routes. The light rail system hits many tourist destinations around downtown and connects to many of the suburbs, but generally works best for commuters. Buses will get you almost anywhere from the train stations, but are slow, very infrequent during off-peak hours, and not always reliable.

Dallas also has two commuter rail lines: the Trinity Railway Express (TRE), which links downtown Dallas to downtown Cowtown (Fort Worth), and the A-Train, which runs from the end of DART's Green Line to Denton, a northern exurb of both cities.

As Texas culture and the urban sprawl of the Metroplex strongly encourage the use of cars, locals will generally be unable to help you use public transportation, but you can get an excellent trip plan by visiting the DART website, calling their information phone number (☏ +1 214-979-1111), or using DART's GoPass app, through which you can also buy and use mobile passes.

Bus drivers will check passes upon boarding, but light rail trains operate on the honor system, with infrequent random pass checks that occur most often during rush hour. This doesn't mean you can ride without a pass - fines for being caught without one can be quite steep.

• You can pay any local DART fare (except the GoLink on-demand service) by tapping a contactless credit card or NFC-pay-enabled device (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, etc.) to the blue and gray contactless readers at stations and on buses. Just tap your card or device to the reader and you will automatically be charged for the cheapest pass that meets your needs.
• Traditional paper passes are available at all DART rail stations and some grocery stores for cash or card. Keep your pass until you get off in case your train is fare-checked.
• All passes except the Single Ride pass are valid for unlimited travel and transfers on DART buses and trains (plus the TRE, up to D/FW Airport) until they expire.
• Single Ride bus passes are only sold on buses, only sold for exact change in cash (not a credit/debit card), and only available in paper form.
• If you want to ride the TRE past the airport or take the A-Train to Denton, you'll need a regional pass. Regional passes cost twice as much as local passes, but are valid on Fort Worth and Denton's transit systems as well as on DART.
• You can buy mobile passes in DART's GoPass app. To use a pass you bought in the app, you must activate it before you board your bus or train.

The awkwardly named GoPass Tap card is available at many area convenience stores and at Akard Station downtown. It works the same as the other passes, but is reusable - you simply tap it on a card reader as you board or transfer instead of buying a new ticket. The card itself is free, but you must load it with at least $6 (the price of a day pass) to start. You can reload it in the stores that sell it or on the GoPass website, which also has a map of all the stores that sell the card. If you're planning on staying in Dallas for a while and using DART often, the card or the app is your best option. Visit the GoPass site for more information.

Two dockless e-scooter companies operate in Dallas (Lime and Bird) along with the local dockless bike-share company, vBike. Each has a mobile app that can be used to find and rent nearby bikes or scooters. In Dallas, scooter and bike-share is most useful for short trips around downtown and for shortening walks to or from public transit.

• 🌍 Dallas Museum of Art (DMA), 1717 N Harwood St, Dallas, TX 75201, ☏ +12149221200. 1100-1700 daily; closed Monday and Tuesday. World-class art museum downtown befitting Dallas' status as a center of the oil, finance, and technology industries. Exhibits from all historical periods from antiquity to the present day. General admission is free; only temporary exhibits require admission. 0. (updated May 2024)
• 🌍 Nasher Sculpture Garden. Large museum and garden adjacent to the DMA with an extensive collection of mostly modern sculpture. $10, with discounts for some types of visitors. (updated Nov 2023)
• Trammell Crow Collection of Asian Art - A smaller museum, also adjacent to the DMA, featuring rotating collections of Asian art. At the bottom of the pyramid-topped Trammell Crow building. Admission is always free.
• The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum (The Samurai Collection) - Small Uptown museum displaying a private collection of samurai arms and armor. The museum is only open Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., although the museum's website says you may be able to set up a weekday appointment if you call in advance. Admission is always free.
• 🌍 Perot Museum of Nature and Science, 2201 N. Field Street, Dallas, TX 75201, ☏ +12144285555. 1000-1700; 1100-1700 on Sundays. Large museum and garden adjacent to the DMA with an extensive collection of mostly modern sculpture. $25 Adults 13+ / $15 Youth 2-12, with discounts for some types of visitors. (updated May 2024) - A large science museum featuring permanent educational exhibits that are mainly geared toward kids but may also be entertaining for adults, plus more serious temporary exhibits that appeal more to adults.
• Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum - Museum displaying various artifacts and eyewitness testimony from the Holocaust. $16 for adults and $12 for students.
• Frontiers of Flight Museum - A museum dedicated to the history of flight and space exploration. Dozens of aircraft and hundreds of artifacts from many time periods are on display. Some of the most notable include the Apollo 7 command module; the only Vought V-173, an experimental plane said to resemble a "flying pancake;" the only XQM-93, a '70s drone prototype; and an entire Southwest Airlines 737. $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $7 for youths 3-17, and free for children three and under.

• Dallas Cowboys. Dallas' famous football team, plays at AT&T Stadium a short ways west of Dallas in Arlington (updated Oct 2018)
• Texas Rangers. They are from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, specifically in the city of Arlington. Dallas' professional baseball team is the 2010 and 2011 American League Champions. 
• FC Dallas. Major League Soccer team that plays at Toyota Stadium in the northern suburb of Frisco. 
• Dallas Wings. WNBA (women's basketball) team that moved to the Metroplex in 2016. The Wings had been the Tulsa Shock from 2010 to 2015, and the Detroit Shock before that. They play home games at College Park Center on the UT Arlington campus. 
• Arlington Renegades. Football team playing during the spring in the second-level United Football League. The Renegades play at Choctaw Stadium, very close to the Rangers' ballpark (which in fact was the Rangers' home before that team's current park opened). 

The major supermarket chains in Dallas are Kroger, Tom Thumb (which is owned by Safeway), Albertson's, and Fiesta Mart. Walmart has several stores in Dallas, most of which are also open 24 hours, and some Tom Thumb and Kroger stores in Dallas are open 24 hours as well. 7-Eleven convenience stores (the first of which was in Dallas) are abundant and open 24-7, but they have limited selection and high prices. Many specialty and organic supermarkets such as Whole Foods Market, Central Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Trader Joe's can also be found throughout the area.

Due to its large expat and immigrant population, Dallas also features a large variety of ethnic grocery stores, including Indian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, and of course, Mexican. These tend to be found in North Dallas, Northwest Dallas, West Dallas, and in the suburbs of Carrollton, Garland, Irving, Richardson, Plano, and Frisco.

• West End - This is an attractive enough historic neighborhood with buildings in a turn-of-the-century redbrick vernacular—the notorious School Book Depository is one of them—in the northwest quadrant of downtown. The area is mostly popular with suburbanites and tourists out for dinner and a quick stroll around the neighborhood but has a number of bars as well.
• Deep Ellum is a district of bars, dance clubs, music venues and tattoo shops east of downtown on Main, Elm and Commerce streets. It is a hipster haven for young people and a weekend destination for music lovers of all ages, and is named for being on the far ("Deep") end of Elm Street ("Ellum.")
• Uptown and McKinney Ave - This is where Dallas' beautiful people go to see and be seen. Trendy to the n^th degree, this neighborhood contains very upscale, fashionable clubs.
• Lower Greenville has many older drinking establishments.
• Downtown is home to a burgeoning nightlife district and upscale restaurants.
• Addison has some famous drinking spots tucked in among its many restaurants, notably The Flying Saucer.

If you're looking to fill a mini-fridge or cooler with your own beverages a bit of planning might be required. Alcohol is only sold in certain parts of the city and in certain suburbs so getting to a liquor store can involve some travel. Also, Texas' liquor laws specify that any store that sells liquor cannot open on Sunday nor stay open after 9PM any other day. Stores that sell beer and wine cannot sell either from midnight to noon on Sunday. A smartphone app that locates liquor stores (and shows their hours) is very useful as many of those stores in the Dallas area tend to be well inside neighborhoods as opposed to along highways, and hotel desk staff can tell you if you're in a 'wet' or 'dry' area of Dallas. Liquor stores can become quite crowded after 8PM (especially on Saturday) and remember to be extra-alert after dark. In 'wet' areas beer and wine is easily and safely available at grocery stores.

For useful information on Dallas' nightlife, food, and music-scene offerings, pick up a free copy of the Dallas Observer, the local alternative weekly, at many places around town (particularly in Downtown) or check out GuideLive (an offshoot of the Dallas Morning News) online.

• Belgium (Honorary), 1308 Dandury Dr, Mansfield, ☏ +1 817 229-4259. 
• Canada, 500 N Akard St Ste 2900, ☏ +1 214 922-9806, fax: +1 214 922-9815, dalas-gr@international.gc.ca. 
• El Salvador, 1250 Mockingbird, Suite 240, ☏ +1 214-637-1500, fax: +1 214-637-1106. 
• Peru, 13601 Preston Rd., Suite E650, ☏ +1 972-234-0005, toll-free: +1 972-498-1086. 
• Germany (Honorary), 325 N Saint Paul St Ste 2300, ☏ +1 214 752-3684, fax: +1 214 761-1700, whart@hartlawintl.com. 
• Italy (Honorary), 6255 W Northwest Hwy, ☏ +1 214 368-4113, fax: +1 214 768-1418, vdenardo@mail.com. 
• Mexico, 8855 Stemmons Fwy, ☏ +1 214 252-9250, fax: +1 214 630-3511. 
• Netherlands (Honorary), dallas@nlconsulate.com. 
• Royal Danish Consulate, 2100 McKinney Ave, Ste 700, ☏ +1 214-661-8399, fax: +1 214-661-8036. 
• Royal Norwegian Consulate, 4605 Live Oak St, ☏ +1 214-826-5231. 
• Peru, ☏ +1-. 
• Sweden, 3808 Miramar Avenue, ☏ +1 214 521 2312, fax: +1 214 522 0148, dallas@consulateofsweden.org. 
• Switzerland (Honorary), 2651 N Harwood St, ☏ +1 214 965-1025, fax: +1 214 871-0879, dallas@honrep.ch. 
• South Korea, 14001 North Dallas Pwky., Suite 450, ☏ +1 972 701-0180.