San Antonio, Texas
The Alamo city that is really a river city, and the most Mexican big city in America
San Antonio is one of the ten largest cities in the United States and the least well known of them, a Spanish mission town that became a military and tourist city and is now a fast-growing Texas metro. It is more than half Hispanic, mostly Mexican-American, and proud of it.
The Spanish founded Mission San Antonio de Valero and a presidio in 1718 on the river the Payaya people called Yanaguana; the mission, later a garrison, became the Alamo. Five missions along the river, a settlement of Canary Islanders from 1731, and the villa of San Fernando de Béxar made it the capital of Spanish Texas. The siege of the Alamo in 1836, in which the Texian garrison died to a man, became the founding myth of the Texas Republic; the German immigrants of the 1840s, the cattle drives, the railway in 1877 and the US Army — Fort Sam Houston, then the air bases that gave it the name Military City USA — made it a city. Through the 20th century it was the largest majority-Mexican-American city in the country, a fact its politics took a long time to reflect; HemisFair in 1968 gave it the tower and the River Walk its modern form.
The river is the organising idea. The River Walk, a level below the streets, winds through downtown past the Alamo, the San Fernando cathedral, the Tower of the Americas and the convention centre, then south through the King William historic district and the arts quarter of Southtown to the Mission Reach, where four Spanish missions stand along eight miles of restored river, and north to the Pearl, the old brewery turned into the city's best food and hotel district. Beyond that, the freeway loops define everything: Loop 410 encloses the older city, and Loop 1604 the sprawling north side of subdivisions, the medical centre and the university. The West Side is the historic Mexican-American heart; the East Side is the historically Black district around the Freeman Coliseum; Alamo Heights and Olmos Park are the old-money enclaves inside the loop; and the Hill Country begins just beyond the northern edge.
It is a Tejano city — bilingual in the shops and the schools, conjunto music on the radio, breakfast tacos as the civic staple, and Fiesta, ten days in April that began as a flower parade in 1891 and now involves the whole city in oyster bakes, river parades and cascarones. The Spurs, five-time NBA champions under Gregg Popovich and now rebuilding around Victor Wembanyama, are the only major-league team and the object of the city's total devotion. The McNay and the San Antonio Museum of Art are good, the missions are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Pearl and Southtown have given the city a food scene beyond Tex-Mex, though the Tex-Mex — puffy tacos, carne guisada, barbacoa on Sunday morning — is what it does best. It is a big city that feels like a small one: friendly, unpretentious, slow-talking, and still slightly astonished to be growing so fast.
The hard parts are the heat — a hundred degrees Fahrenheit for weeks in summer, with the Gulf's humidity — the sprawl, and the car: the city is enormous in area, the bus network is thin and slow, and the freeways are the only way most people get anywhere. Wages are lower than in Austin or Dallas and the poverty rate higher, with the divide between the prosperous north side and the older south and west sides among the sharpest in urban America; the schools reflect it. Texas politics — on abortion, immigration and the border, an hour and a half away — is the daily background. Against that, housing is cheaper than in any comparable American city, the winters are mild, the food and the people are warm, the military and the medical centre provide stable work, and the Hill Country's rivers and dance halls are half an hour up the highway.
Where People Live
Downtown & the River Walk
The Alamo, the River Walk's restaurants and barges, San Fernando cathedral, the Majestic theatre and the Tower of the Americas in Hemisfair park. The tourist core, and busier every year.
The Pearl & Broadway
The old Pearl brewery north of downtown, remade as the city's best restaurants, the Hotel Emma, a weekend farmers' market and a Culinary Institute of America campus; Broadway runs up past the museum and the zoo to Alamo Heights.
Southtown & King William
The 19th-century German merchants' mansions of King William, then Southtown's galleries, bars and the Blue Star arts complex on the river. First Friday is the night out.
The West Side
The historic Mexican-American heart around Guadalupe Street — murals, panaderías, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center and the city's Tejano music history. Poorer than the north, and the city's soul.
The Missions & the South Side
The Mission Reach of the river and the four Spanish missions — Concepción, San José, San Juan and Espada — still working parishes and part of the World Heritage Site; the South Side beyond is working-class and Latino.
Alamo Heights & Olmos Park
The old-money enclaves inside Loop 410, with their own school district, the McNay museum, Olmos Basin park and the boutiques along Broadway.
The Medical Center & the north-west
The South Texas Medical Center's hospitals and UT Health, the University of Texas at San Antonio's main campus, and the apartments and strip malls between; the Hill Country begins just beyond.
Stone Oak & the far North Side
The subdivisions beyond Loop 1604 where the growth is — master-planned, car-dependent, well-schooled and largely new. Six Flags Fiesta Texas and the Rim shopping district are nearby.
Must-see attractions
Paseo del Rio (River Walk)
849 E Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78205
The Alamo Mission
300 Alamo Plaza, San Antonio, TX 78205
Restaurants & places to go
Airports
San Antonio International Airport (SAT) 5.7 mi to the centre
San Antonio, TX, US — You board from the indoor waiting area — no need to plan for the weather. ✈ 14 airlines (Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines…) · direct flights to 35 destinations incl. Atlanta, Mexico City, Phoenix, Chicago, Denver… (OpenFlights route data).
✈ Serves Austin (68 mi) — the low-cost way in
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 14 airlines, 35 direct destinations
- Southwest Airlines WN (737-700, 73C, 737-300, 735, 737-800) · 16 routes: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Harlingen, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, Tampa
- AirTran Airways FL (737-700, 737-700, 73C, 737-300, 735) · 14 routes: Atlanta, Baltimore*, Cancun, Chicago*, Dallas*, Denver*, Houston*, Las Vegas*, Los Angeles*, Mexico City, Orlando*, Phoenix*, St. Louis*, Tampa*
- Delta Air Lines DL (A320, CRJ-900, 757, M90, CRJ, EMJ…) · 9 routes: Atlanta, Detroit, Memphis*, Mexico City, Minneapolis*, Monterrey*, New York, Orlando*, Salt Lake City
- United Airlines UA (CRJ-700, 737-700, A319, 737-800, 737-900, A320…) · 7 routes: Chicago*, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles*, Newark, San Francisco*, Washington*
- American Airlines AA (A319, Embraer 175, CRJ-700, MD-80, M83, Embraer 190…) · 5 routes: Charlotte, Chicago*, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Phoenix*
- US Airways US (A319, Embraer 175, MD-80, M83, Embraer 190, CRJ-900) · 5 routes: Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Phoenix*
- Interjet (ABC Aerolineas) 4O (A320) · 4 routes: Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey, Toluca
- AeroMéxico AM (EMJ, ERJ) · 2 routes: Mexico City*, Monterrey*
- Air France AF (A320, 757, M90) · 1 route: Atlanta*
- Alaska Airlines AS (737-800, 73J) · 1 route: Seattle
- Alitalia AZ (757, M90) · 1 route: Atlanta*
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL (757, M90) · 1 route: Atlanta*
- Virgin Atlantic Airways VS (A320, 757, M90) · 1 route: Atlanta*
- Volaris Y4 (A319, A320) · 1 route: Guadalajara
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
Stinson Municipal Airport (SSF) 8.1 mi to the centre
San Antonio, TX, US — Indoor waiting areas, but some gates board by bus or on foot across the apron — plan for the weather on the day.
New Braunfels National Airport 32 mi to the centre
New Braunfels, TX, US — Indoor waiting areas, but some gates board by bus or on foot across the apron — plan for the weather on the day.
Castroville Municipal Airport 23 mi to the centre
Castroville, TX, US
Pleasanton Municipal Airport 35 mi to the centre
Pleasanton, TX, US
Twin-Oaks Airport 8.4 mi to the centre
San Antonio, TX, US
Local transit
VIA
Bus · San Antonio's bus network. · Fares: VIA goMobile app · Airport: Route 5 bus from the airport
Trains & rail
Amtrak
National rail
Coaches & shuttles
Greyhound
Intercity coach
Jefferson Lines
Intercity coach
MegaBus
Intercity coach
Trailways
Intercity coach
Private aviation
On-demand charter, jet cards and the semi-private scheduled carriers that serve this city.
Jet Linx
Jet card, management · Managed fleet across US bases · Locally based jet card and aircraft management with private terminals in ~20 US cities.
Blade
Helicopter, by-the-seat · Helicopters, seaplanes, jets via partners · By-the-seat helicopters Manhattan–JFK/Newark and the Hamptons; jet charter through partners.
Wheels Up
Membership charter · King Air 350i, Citation, Hawker, Global · US membership and on-demand charter; Delta Air Lines is a major shareholder.
Aero
Semi-private scheduled · Embraer 135 (16 seats) · First-class-only scheduled flights from Van Nuys to Aspen, Sun Valley, Cabo and Europe in summer.
Clay Lacy Aviation
Charter, management, FBO · Managed fleet, light to ultra-long-range · Charter, management and FBOs at Van Nuys and Orange County; the original Hollywood jet operator.
Tours & experiences
Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours
Cultural
Narrated River Tours
Boat Tour
GO RIO San Antonio River Cruises
Boat Tour
Living Here
Getting about
- VIA Metropolitan Transit runs the bus network, with VIA Link on-demand vans in the outlying zones; fares are cheap and paid through the goMobile+ app or in cash. There is no rail, and the buses are slow across the sprawl.
- Downtown, the Pearl and Southtown are walkable and linked by the River Walk paths; the Mission Reach trail is good cycling. Elsewhere a car is close to essential, and the rideshare apps fill the gaps.
- San Antonio International (SAT) is about fifteen minutes north of downtown by taxi or the 5 bus. Amtrak's Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited call at the station at odd hours; Austin is eighty miles up I-35 and the traffic between the two is the region's problem.
- The freeways — I-10, I-35, I-37, Loop 410 and Loop 1604 — are the city's arteries, and the interchanges at rush hour are its purgatory.
Health
- The South Texas Medical Center is among the largest in the country — University Hospital (the public and trauma centre), Methodist, Baptist and Christus Santa Rosa — and Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston is the military's flagship. There is no public insurance for most residents; care is billed.
- Dial 911. Urgent-care clinics and pharmacies (H-E-B, CVS, Walgreens) handle minor problems at a fraction of the cost of an emergency room.
- Visitors must carry travel insurance; American hospital bills are the largest of any country. The heat is the main hazard from May to September — water, shade and the early morning.
Work & study
- The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is the largest, with UT Health San Antonio the medical school; Trinity, St Mary's, Incarnate Word and Our Lady of the Lake are the private universities, and the Alamo Colleges the community system.
- The military — Joint Base San Antonio, the largest joint base in the country — and healthcare are the anchors; financial services (USAA, Frost Bank), cybersecurity, Toyota's truck plant, H-E-B's headquarters and tourism are the rest.
- Wages are modest and the cost of living low; Spanish is an advantage in most public-facing work and the norm in much of the city.
Money & manners
- US dollars; cards are universal. Tip 18–20% in restaurants and bars; sales tax of around 8.25% is added at the register. Texas has no state income tax.
- It is a friendly, informal, slow-talking city where strangers say hello and 'y'all' is grammatical; Spanish and English mix freely. Fiesta in April, the Rodeo in February and the Spurs' playoff run are the calendar.
- The heat runs from May to September, with hundred-degree stretches in July and August; the winters are mild with the occasional hard freeze, and spring and autumn are the seasons to visit.