Texas Travel Guide
The very mention of the word Texas conjures up all kinds of images. Texas is a big place, second only in size to Alaska and in population to California. Subsequently the geography and the people are diverse. In the south along the border with Mexico, there is a heavy Hispanic influence, this contrasts with the German and Czech settlers of the central Hill Country.
In West Texas and The Panhandle is the cowboy country of every small boys dreams, this is a land of tumbleweed and desert and still looks as if John Wayne only rode through five minutes previously.
Texans are fiercely independent and proud of it. There is still a clause in their constitution that says they can secede from the union at any time.
Once a Mexican territory, the Texan revolution saw Anglo-American settlers wrest the state from the oppressive grasp of Santa Anna. Texas was briefly an independent republic but became the 28th state in 1845. Texans view themselves as being apart from the rest of the States and the Lone Star can be seen everywhere as a symbol of this.
Texas continued as a largely agricultural state until the discovery of oil in 1901. This changed everything and the state became industrialised almost overnight as the money from oil began to roll in.
There are several large and modern cities in Houston and Austin. The coastal resorts of the Gulf Coast are highly developed and lovers of the old west should go to El Paso or the Panhandle. Texas has several large and spectacular national parks including the Guadeloupe Mountains National Park and the Big Bend National Park.
When to Go
In the south it stays mostly warm all year but it can be baking hot in the summer. The Panhandle will get occasional snow in winter. The most comfortable time to visit is either spring or autumn.
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