Many things go into making San Antonio, in Texas, a great destination for visitors from the United States and around the world. From its famous River Walk and the Mexican markets to its diverse culinary and cultural heritage.

It is true of London-Thames, Paris-Seine, New York-Hudson and countless other cities all over the world and so it is for San Antonio-San Antonio River.

Cities settled besides rivers have their history and culture deeply intertwined with the river, which dominates and often determines the evolution and development of the city. And the riverfronts are also perhaps the best place for tourists to start their discovery of the cities. Be it a walk along the river or a cruise, the rivers as tourist guides offer a comprehensive experience.

The seventh-largest city in the United States, San Antonio, also has seen its development go hand in hand with the fate of the eponymous river, which rather uniquely originates in a cluster of springs located in the city itself. Traditionally used as a waterway for transport of goods and people, in the late 1960s, the city began an ambitious plan to develop the riverfront with the twin objective of controlling the damage caused by frequent flooding of the river.

About 20 years ago, the River Walk was extended northwards as well as southwards and made about 25 km long. After decades of constant improvement and refurbishment, the riverfront, called the River Walk emerged as the primary tourist and business destination. Today, the River Walk is perhaps the most vibrant district of San Antonio, with the top hotels, fancy boutiques, entertainment sites and countless restaurants and bistros offering a wide variety of culinary delicacies.

Having booked into the Marriott Riverwalk, overlooking the River Walk downtown, I, too, began my discovery of San Antonio, first from my hotel room window which gave me a bird’s eye view of the layout of the area and then by strolling in the neighbourhood, always sticking by the river or using it as a point of reference during my discovery, which was lively, to put it mildly.

With cafés and restaurants, as well as numerous shops and boutiques, selling all kinds of goods and souvenirs for tourists, a pleasant ambience pervaded all along and I remember vividly even today that wherever I went, the air was full of a variety of appetising flavours wafting from the numerous eateries all along and lilting tunes as numerous musicians, whether solo or in a group, performed merrily every few metres all along the River Walk.

Not just the River Walk, but the San Antonio River is also a key tourist attraction, with cruise boats regularly plying on the river. But unlike most other river cruises, these are in small, open-top boats that can seat only about 30 persons.

The river is also at the centre-stage of major celebrations in San Antonio as several river parades are organised, with numerous boats decorated to reflect the unique diversity that exists in San Antonio. Even without a parade, a walk along the river is a fantastic introduction to the diversity in cultures and cuisines that San Antonio holds and is proud to display. In the evenings, the River Walk takes on another avatar, decked up with not only the city lights, but also decorative lighting on boats and many shops along the river. The music, though, seemed to be a permanent fixture, as were the crowds.

As I was there to attend IPW 2023, the largest inbound tourism trade show in the United States, a number of festivities had been organised especially for the IPW delegates. This included a colourful river parade with numerous floats designed to showcase the diversity of San Antonio and I was pleasantly surprised to see a float depicting Diwali celebrations. Another float that caught my attention was the one depicting the rainbow colours of the pride movement. The floats had been thoughtfully designed, beautifully decorated, many with bright lights, and almost all of them were accompanied with live music, being played on the boats.

The highlight of the evening for me was the enthusiastic reception that the parade got from the bystanders, both locals and tourists, immersed in the festive spirit of San Antonio. They cheered continuously and seemed glued to the spot while the parade lasted.

History and heritage

As a city that has not only been intricately linked to the history of Texas and the United States, but also was the actual field where history was written, and rewritten, history and heritage are key attractions for tourists visiting San Antonio.

Though as a habitation San Antonio has been around for centuries, it is best remembered today as the battlefield where after a series of battles, the inhabitants of Texas, before its merger with the United States, drove back the invading Mexican Army in 1836. Though the Texans were initially defeated, the Battle of Alamo, in which American folk heroes James Bowie and Davy Crockett died, was a key turning point, not just for Texas, but the United States and Mexico as well, as it set the base for the formation of the short-lived Republic of Texas, which was finally annexed by the United States in 1845.

Over 175 years later, the Battle of Alamo and the sequence of events leading to the merger of Texas with the US is still celebrated by the residents as an historic moment and various events are organised. As I, along with some other media representatives watched, in the square outside the Church of Alamo, some Americans dressed up as soldiers of the Texan Army and carrying 19th century rifles, staged a demonstration, loading their rifles and firing, recreating the battle scene, with their shots ringing loudly in the square as hundreds watched on.

The Alamo Mission is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also has a museum, Ralston Family Collections Center, with a large collection of items dating from the epoch, with display of over 500 artefacts including rifles, pistols as well as uniforms and other gear of the soldiers on both the sides.

While the Texas Revolution is certainly a key moment for residents of Texas in general and San Antonio in particular, the history of the area dates back to not just hundreds or thousands of years, but millions! Amongst the earliest inhabitants of Texas and indeed large parts of the United States were the numerous species of dinosaurs that were widely present here over 100 million years ago.

For the fans of Jurassic Park and indeed every tourist headed to San Antonio, a visit to Witte Museum is not just highly enriching but even crucial to understand the process of evolution, as much for students of science or paleontology as it is for a curious tourist like me.

An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute, the Witte Museum is a comprehensive collection of culture, science and history, with a special focus on dinosaurs, who collectively could be called the most famous residents of the area.

The museum boasts of a permanent exhibition on dinosaurs, but it also organises several special ones, such as the two that were on when we visited the museum. One on Tyrannosaurs or T Rex and the other on Antarctic Dinosaurs.

Though I also visited other sections of the museum, dinosaurs and Darwin’s theory of evolution remained firmly ingrained on my mind, taking me back to my classroom days, which seemed to be in as distant a past as the dinosaurs themselves.

Market Square: Cuisine, culture & commerce

Besides the River Walk, Alamo and the museums, another key attraction in San Antonio is the historic Market Square Mexican Market, a large, enclosed traditional market with dozens of shops, restaurants and other commercial outlets. Every week, the area outside the market sees the setting up of several temporary shops, set up by sellers of a wide range of products as well as some food outlets, which are set up just for the weekend.

he market dates back to almost 300 years ago when the area where it stands today was gifted by the King of Spain to the original settlers for their use and entertainment in 1730. Since then, the market square has been amongst the most vibrant places in the city and has grown, in tandem with the growth of San Antonio. Today it is the largest Mexican market outside of Mexico.

Right from the beginning, it was a lively marketplace with fresh farm produce, meats as well as handicrafts. The market, its festive atmosphere and its vibrancy attracted various writers like O Henry who featured it in their works, making it immortal. Today, too, the market remains a hub of culture and cuisine as it has several areas where artistes – dancers or musicians can perform, even as dozens of food kiosks, and not so much full-blown restaurants, serve a variety of cuisines, notably Mexican and Tex-Mex. The shops here sell a wide variety of items, from small souvenirs to portaits and textiles, not to forget the iconic hats, whether Texan Cowboy hats or the Mexican sombreros.

Yet, not everything being sold in this market is from Texas or Mexico. While we were taking a stroll in the market we could not ignore the gripping voice of a singer inside the market who seemed to be completely oblivious to her surroundings. Even though I could not spend a lot of time at the market, it was enough to convince me that indeed San Antonio displays an unparalleled degree of diversity and is perhaps one of the best places for a first-time visitor like me to get an introduction to the United States, its unique history and the cultural potpourri that the country is today.