San Antonio · Things to do

Open daily 9:00 to 17:30 with the Collections Center closing at 17:00, last entry 30 minutes before close, shut on Christmas Day. Free timed tickets for the Alamo Church are booked through the site; guided tours and special exhibitions cost extra. It is on Alamo Plaza and takes about an hour.

Four 18th-century mission communities south of downtown and the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Texas. The park base is at Mission San Jose, 2202 Roosevelt Avenue, with ranger-led programmes daily at 10:00 and 11:00 and a further tour at 14:30; the Mission Reach trail links the missions on foot or by bike.

Walkway one storey below the downtown streets, in three stretches: the restaurant loop downtown, the Museum Reach running north to the museums and the Pearl, and the Mission Reach heading south. Free to walk at any hour; the narrated barge cruises are the paid option.

Former Pearl Brewery turned food and shopping district at the north end of the Museum Reach, walkable from downtown along the river. There is a weekend farmers market, restaurants in the old brewery buildings, and Wednesday night markets from 17:00 to 21:00 in the autumn.

European and modern painting, sculpture and works on paper in Marion Koogler McNay's former house on a 25-acre campus at 6000 N New Braunfels Avenue, north-east of downtown. General admission is free on its Second Thursday evenings; check the site first, as it closes one day a week.