Why? Everything is bigger and better in Texas, so they say, and a holiday in Dallas-Fort Worth proves the point. Dallas, and its less glitzy 'twin', Fort Worth, epitomise everything that is great and glorious in the Lone Star State. Holiday in Dallas for the sophisticated shopping, remarkable restaurants and glamorous atmosphere, but nip over to Fort Worth to break in your new cowboy boots at the Stockyards.
When? Spring and Autumn are the best seasons to travel to Dallas-Fort Worth, when the pleasant weather allows for a full festival calendar, including rollicking rodeos, and the aroma of barbecued Texan steaks fills the air. Summers are broiling hot and winters a little too cool with odd snow showers.
Who for? Everyone from sophisticats to wanna-be cowpokes enjoy a holiday in Dallas-Fort Worth, which is one of the top desirable destinations in the country, its myth having been built up in many a hot TV show and movie.
More Info: Find all the details you need to plan a Dallas-Fort Worth holiday in our up-to-date Dallas-Fort Worth travel guide, from information about public transport to the opening times of major attractions and dates of local events.

Downtown over the Trinity River, Dallas © Dallas CVB

The two biggest cities in North Texas, Dallas and Fort Worth, are 30 miles (48km) apart but have been drawn together into one urban concentration known as the 'DFW Metroplex' with a combined population of more than four million.

The two cities are, however, very different halves of a whole. Dallas, its soaring glass-sided skyscrapers seemingly growing like mushrooms out of the prairie, is full of glitz and glamour. Its urban landscape is vigorous and classy, its citizens enjoying the good things in life from fashionable clothing to flashy cars. This thriving city is the ninth largest city in the United States, having grown from a frontier outpost with 20 streets in 1841 to a centre for big business and big banking, helped along a little by 'black gold', the oil that was discovered 100 miles (161km) east of the city in 1930.

Fort Worth, the western half of the Metroplex, is the gateway to the Wild West. Having started out as 'Cowtown', a base for cattle drives, Fort Worth still reflects a laid-back and slightly 'cowpoke' attitude, although surprisingly it has also developed into a cultural centre with world-class museums and a thriving performing arts sector.

Dallas is certainly the place for visitors to enjoy a rich shopping experience and upmarket wining and dining, but Fort Worth is the venue for exciting and interesting attractions and a taste of western culture.