San Antonio Hotels

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
Spain's missionary presence - and the dual purpose of territorial defense and religious conversion for the natives - can probably best be felt at the ruins of the four missions south of town. Together, Missions Concepción (1731), San José (1720), San Juan (1731) and Espada (1745-56) make up San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Stop first at San José, the most beautiful, and host to the national park visitor center, where you can learn what life was like here from an informative film and a few exhibits. Free tours are offered at each mission. From the Alamo, take S St Mary's St to Mission Rd. Bus 42 serves some of the Mission Trail from downtown (Navarro and Villita Sts).

Menger Hotel
Menger Hotel Bar is a great bar for a summer's day when it's too hot to stay outside, or for a rainy winter's one. Modelled on the British House of Lords, it's dark, woody, and serious, yet still manages to be laidback. Teddy Roosevelt used to hang out here in his Rough Rider days.

San Antonio Museum Of Art
The well-established San Antonio Museum of Art has a noteworthy collection of Spanish Colonial, folk-Mexican and pre-Columbian works.

Alamo
The mission church and a few barrack-wall fragments are all that remain of the Alamo, moved to the present sight as the Mission San Antonio de Valero in 1724. (The well-recognized church façade dates from 1846.) Today the church serves as a shrine to the fallen, including several Wild West luminaries of the day - James Bowie, William Travis and Davy Crockett.

Witte Museum
The Witte Museum - it's pronounced 'witty' - is a great place to spend the day with kids. The Science Treehouse, a high-tech activity centre complete with a sky cycle ride, is a marvellous diversion. Kids begin downstairs with lots of cool physical-property displays designed to tire out the little darlings before getting to the more cerebral displays upstairs.

Guenther House
The Pioneer Flour Mill founder built this house next to his factory in 1860. Today the cafe in the home's lower level and garden uses the company's flour, cornmeal and tortillas to make delicious dishes like sweet Belgian waffles.

Club Rive
If you're looking for a nightclub overload Club Rive is probably the place to come. Four nightclubs in one, here you can smoke a hookah, dance to a techno beat, watch exotic dancers vibrate or listen to live music.

Mi Tierra Café
Big, comfy red-velvet booths, lots of colorful streamers, and even guitar-playing troubadours - go to this 50-year-old Market Square veteran for excellent pageantry a la Mexicana.

Twin Sisters Bakery & Cafe
Tofu ranchero (with hot salsa) for breakfast and turkey burgers for lunch - Twin Sisters keeps it light and fresh. In the heart of the downtown area, a welcoming spot that will appeal to health-conscious diners.

Esquire Tavern
The Esquire Tavern is a 1933 speakeasy with a catwalk balcony perched high over the water. Come here for cheap drinks, colourful regulars and the longest bar in Texas (or so they claim). It's a local classic and a long-standing favourite - the real McCoy, if a little rough. A few tables on a rear balcony overlook the river far below.

Buckhorn Saloon and Museum
The Buckhorn Hall of Horns, Fins & Feathers is one of the best kitsch spots around. The halls of mounted stuffed animals are as disgusting as any such collection, but this one features extra oddities such as a two-headed cow and a nine-legged goat.