By Phyllis Domingo, REALTOR® · San Antonio Relocation Specialist
Wineries, rivers, dance halls, and limestone towns all within an hour of San Antonio. Here are the day trips locals actually take.
The Hill Country is the best commute in Texas
One of the great joys of living in San Antonio, Boerne, or any of the surrounding towns is that the entire Texas Hill Country is your weekend backyard. Fredericksburg, Gruene, the river parks, and a dozen limestone hamlets sit within an hour's drive, which means day trips are effortless and repeatable.
Here is a locals' tour of the classics, plus the order to do them in so you never hit the crowds.
Fredericksburg: the wine trail and main street
Fredericksburg is the Hill Country's wine capital, and you do not need to leave town to taste well. Tasting rooms line Main Street: Grape Creek on Main, Narrow Path, and a dozen more within walking distance of each other, with Becker Vineyards and Barons Creek a short drive out in the country.
Between tastings, browse the shops on Main, tour the Pioneer Museum, and eat German food that would make the town's founders proud. Go on a weekday or early on Saturday to beat the tour buses.
Gruene and New Braunfels: the river towns
Gruene, the 1800s cotton town on the Guadalupe, is one of the best free day trips in Texas: the historic dance hall (the oldest in the state), the general store, and riverside cafes, then a tube or kayak trip on the river when the weather cooperates.
New Braunfels itself adds Schlitterbahn, Wurstfest in November, and a downtown that keeps getting better. Families come for the water and stay for the live music.
Guadalupe River State Park and the swimming holes
When the summer heat arrives, the rivers take over. Guadalupe River State Park, about 30 minutes north of San Antonio, has clear swimming holes, limestone ledges, and trails along one of the prettiest stretches of river in the state. Spring-fed swimming holes and tube rental outfitters line the Guadalupe all the way to New Braunfels.
Pack a picnic, rent tubes, and let the current do the planning. This is the day trip that turns visitors into residents.
Boerne and Comfort: the short hop
Boerne's Hill Country Mile needs no introduction if you live here, but it makes a perfect visitor loop too: coffee and pastries on Main Street, a walk along Cibolo Creek, and the nature center's trails. Comfort, 15 minutes further west, is the quieter, quirkier cousin, with antiques, galleries, and a legendary general store.
The locals' tip: make a loop of it, Boerne out and Comfort back, or the reverse, so every drive is new scenery. And always, always stop at the bakery.
