IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO RELAX AND ENJOY THE GOOD LIFE, you’ll find world-class recreation throughout the metroplex, including Bass Hall, the Amon Carter Museum, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum — all in Fort Worth. Dallas offers the largest contiguous urban arts district in the nation, covering a 19-block area that includes a variety of performance venues, museums and more such as the Dallas Museum of Art, the Crow Collection of Asian Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, the Winspear Opera House, the Wyly Theater and the Dallas City Performance Hall. Visit the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau for a complete list of museums and performance venues.

Don’t miss these attractions outside the arts district:

Dallas Arboretum
Located in the heart of Dallas, the Dallas Arboretum features 66 acres of lush gardens and gorgeous vistas of downtown Dallas and White Rock Lake. Originally the DeGolyer and Camp estates, the gardens are home to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society.

Dallas Heritage Village
Nestled in 13 wooded acres just south of downtown, Dallas Heritage Village is a living history museum portraying life in North Texas from 1840 to 1910. The museum has 38 historical structures, a working Civil War-era farm, a traditional Jewish household, elegant Victorian homes, a school, a church and commercial buildings.

Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
Founded in 1984, the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum in downtown Dallas is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and to teaching the moral and ethical response to prejudice, hatred and indifference.

Fair Park
By far, Fair Park is the city’s largest cultural center — an historical treasure of national importance. Established in 1880, Fair Park has eight museums, an IMAX Theater, a planetarium, The Dallas Aquarium, The Cotton Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater, Music Hall at Fair Park, and the world’s largest collections of 1930s Art Deco exposition buildings.

Frontiers of Flight Museum
Founded in 1988, the Frontiers of Flight Museum was initially intended to house artifacts, documents and photographs of the History of Aviation collection that had been donated to the University of Texas at Dallas by aviation historian George E. Haddaway. Today, the museum has grown to include modern exhibits, educational programs and community events.

The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial is located about 200 yards from where the president was assassinated, on Market Street between Main and Commerce. Noted architect Philip Johnson designed the stark concrete memorial in 1970 as an open tomb to symbolize the freedom of Kennedy’s spirit. He said he hoped visitors would find a place of quiet refuge, an enclosed place of thought and contemplation separated from the city around, but near the sky and earth. In the center is a black granite slab, deliberately too square to be a tomb, inscribed simply with the president’s name. Like the Kennedy legacy itself, the memorial continues to stir controversy. It is intended to be not a memorial to the pain and sorrow of death, but a permanent tribute to the unrealized potential of Kennedy’s life.

Klyde Warren Park
This urban green space built over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway between Pear and Paul streets  downtown has quickly become the Central Park of Dallas. Klyde Warren Park provides daily free programming, ranging from yoga and outdoor concerts to film showings and book signings.

Meadows Museum
Featuring the most significant collection of Spanish art outside of Spain, the Meadows Museum on the campus of Southern Methodist University showcases works by Velásquez, Goya and Picasso.

The Old Red Courthouse Museum
The 1890s-era Romanesque building that houses The Old Red Courthouse Museum is hard to miss, and its exhibits exploring Dallas County history shouldn’t be missed. Learn about the history of the area through more than 40 interactive kiosks that tell stories through video, photographs, oral interviews and narration.

Perot Museum of Nature and Science
Located near downtown Dallas, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science provides visitors engaging and innovative experiences through an array of interactive exhibits, research and collections.

Six Flags Over Texas
With more than 100 rides, shows and attractions, Six Flags Over Texas is a nonstop thrill — and it’s just a 20-minute drive from Hampton Hills.

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
Any trip to Dallas should begin at the city’s famous visitor site, the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. The museum that spans the sixth and seventh floors of the Texas School Book Depository Building examines the life, times, death and legacy of President John F. Kennedy with photographs, artifacts and displays. More than 6 million people have visited the museum since its opening in 1989.

Trinity River Audubon Center
Explore 120 acres of prairie, wetland and forest habitats on more than 4 miles of trails. Designed by renowned architect Antoine Predock, the Trinity River Audubon Center has interactive exhibits for children and adults.