San Antonio: The Don'ts of Visiting San Antonio 

As a local I appreciate you shouting out the missions! Beautiful historical sites to see. Dont forget the barbacoa and bigred!

Splashtown is permanently closed. A cool, free thing to do is the Japanese Tea Garden, which is across the street from Breckenridge Park (where the zoo is located). We also have the Natural Bridge Caverns and there is an African type safari that you could go on, very close to the caverns. 😁

The best Mexican food is the mom and pop restaurants inside loop 410. Avoid the tourist traps ones.

Being born and raided in SA, great job on this video :) Thanks so much for starting off with the missions, my husband was baptised at San Jose. He and I both worked the Riverwalk most of our adult lives, it's where we met and eventually got married on Marriage Island, right in the middle of the river. We love our hometown, and proud of the culture. Southern hospitality at it,s best.

This video couldn't come at a better time. Going there in a month. As always amazing job Mark thank you!!

Great video! I've lived in San Antonio for almost 12 years and love it. It's vibrant and friendly. It's not a tourist stop, but I highly recommend stopping by an HEB while in San Antonio. You know, in case you're looking for some homemade flour tortillas, barbacoa(slow cooked beef cheek meat), or cute snacks like Texas shaped tortilla chips and brisket queso dip. You won't be disappointed.

Love your channel Wolters. As a native San Antonian, you hit the nail on the head with this video. Great job!

I’m from a small town between downtown and New Braunfels, and let me tell ya. 1. It’s really cool to see a video done about my home. 2. It’s insane to hear that you’ve only barely scratched the surface! 😱 I’ve lived here for almost 26 years, and growing up, there was always something to discover, explore, and enjoy. There were so many things I was waiting to hear you mention, and since you didn’t, I thought I’d tell you about some things I enjoy about SA, and for you to maybe check out next time you come! 1. Natural Bridge Caverns and their Wildlife Ranch! Exiting I-35 N for 3009, you’ll find yourself heading straight into two of the coolest places I love to go. Our Natural Bridge has nothing on Virginias, but walking in caves, spelunking, seeing underground springs is always a magical experience to enjoy. If I’m not there for the caves, I just walk around the main building and down to the gift shops where I can eat some homemade fudge, walk in the air, or buy a bag of dirt to sift through for gems and fossils! It’s nextdoor neighbor is in my opinion the best part of the whole place, the wildlife ranch! Driving through acres and acres of land seeing and feeding animals from all over the world is always a surreal feeling! Getting close to the giraffes, having ostriches come up to you, and having a zebra whinny right next to you? Woah! If I remember correctly, they’ll be opening their new habitat for cheetahs soon! But I don’t think those will be free range though lol. 2. Alright, I’ll admit New Braunfels is a pretty cool place, the shops, the beer, and the texas take on German food, is all fine and dandy, but if you keep going through it, you’ll make your way to Gruene, TX, home of the Oldest Dancehall in Texas. Line dancin and wine tasting are just the beginning of this itty bitty town. They have antique shops, bed and breakfasts, live music, good food, and lots of good ol’ southern hospitality. But my favorite part personally is the old drug store where I always end up feeling like Mary Bailey in “It’s A Wonderful Life”, sitting at the bar waiting to have her ice cream. 3. The Wildlife Ranch is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but there’s one place offers other insane experiences and at half the price not too far down the road. The Snake Farm. Try not to be fooled by the name, it’s not just about the snakes, I swear! There’s white lions, hyenas, capybara, camels, fox, mandrills, and the actual star of the place, Big Sammy, the alpha American Alligator. A total mixing pot of animals that you can’t even find at the San Antonio Zoo! 4. The Glass Bottom Boat tours at the Institute of Research of San Marcos. Not only can you see all the little critters and plants on the River floor, but you can also have a chance at watching the divers do research down there too! And afterwards, you can go and visit their little museum and aquarium as well! This one is a bit far, I know. Some people don’t consider this area San Antonio anymore, but in Texas? If it’s not more than an hour and a half away, it’s “just outside of town”. I bet you could tell, time and distance mean something completely different than it does in other states. 😂 Regarding New Braunfels and San Marcos, there’s a lot to do, whether it’s shopping, swimming, or eating. Check out when the farmers market is open in New Braunfels, feed ducks or wade with them at Landa Park, or shop at the San Marcos Outlets! 5. There are so many other places of interest for art lovers, nature lovers, book lovers, food lovers, etc. The McNay Art Museum, the Witte Museum, the Big Enchilada, the Tower of Americas observation deck, the Tower of Americas Restaurant, the Ghost Walk, Worlds Largest Boots at North Star Mall, La Cantera, San Antonio Aquarium, Japanese Tea Gardens, Brackenridge Park, the Cat Graves (it’s two plaques, but it’s still special), the sculpture garden, the Riverwalk Grotto, the Wooden Nickel Company, the haunted Black Swan Inn and the Hotwells Ruins Hotel, the infamous Donkey Lady Bridge, Bracken Cave to see the bats, the Buckhorn Saloon, and strangest of all….the toiletseat museum. Yup. That too. (And if you’re military, the Fort Sam Quadrangle Museum.)

Local here, I LOVE my city so much! There is so much to do and so many secret gems all over the place!

as a san antonio local, i wanted to gauge the channel by this video and I think this was a great job! you touched on the touristy stuff (of course) but you really nailed the local experience by including things like king williams, pearl, and day trips to fredericksburg and austin. definitely looking forward to using your videos as a guide to other cities.

So cool to see Mark mention my home of New Braunfels in a video! I’ve been watching for almost 10 years for all the European travel advice, cultural know-how, and recommendations. Thanks for the amazing content!

It’s cool to see someone as excited as you are about my home town.

I'm from San Antonio and I approve of this message!

Great info as always Mark👍

You have been an amazing preparation channel for our many trips around the world. Thank you for always putting in the time with such awesome detail and positive feedback that runs true. There are a few areas that we hope to add for future posts about San Antonio: -The Pearl is an awesome visit just a few minutes away from downtown. Historically the area was a beer dispensary. Now filled with many hip food spots, farmers market, and a cool play area for the kids and family. -Warning, drive at your own risk. Worst drivers in the Nation. Be careful with merges, freeway entry and exits. The infrastructure also doesn’t help with traffic lights on freeways and turnarounds. As always we appreciate everything you do, keep up the awesome content!

You are awesome! I like the positive spin you put on the dont's.. way to go! Great work!

Great job! You are one of my favorite travel channels, and I am so happy to see you reviewing SA.

Born and raised in San Antonio. Thank you for spotlighting it's beauty 💖💖

Love watching people enjoy The Village. Thanks.

You are so correct! As. A Texan I’ve been to San Antonio many times and I always learn something new!!

Nice video Mike. We're going on our first USA road trip in 2 months and (new orleans, texas, route 66, LV, LA) and your videos have been a huge help!!

Literally just visited San Antonio on Sunday! Thanks for this video!

Great tips! Looks like I'll be there during Fiesta 2022!

I loved that you take the time to go into details about each trip. I'm also happy you visited my country, Belize. ❤

This is great, thank you so much for your wonderful explanation and your passion for the city.

From SA! Thanks for the kind words. Definitely a lot to do!

My home city! I’m so happy you made this video :)

Great presentation, well done, Thank you!

Thank you for such an awesome homage to my hometown!!! 💯

found this VERY informative-hope to go there soon

I love, love, love the Botanical Gardens here!

YOU are SO amazing !!!! I love watching you :) thank you so much for sharing all your trips with us ! :) stay safe !

So true! The Missions are sweet!!! Dude, what a great video and tips! I've lived here for 8 years, I'm reinvigorated to explore my neighborhood!

Just in time. We'll be there the first week of February. Thanks

Ok, I saw your video here and as a lifelong San Antonian, I watched it and was waiting for you to mention it. You didn’t. It ALWAYS gets overlooked and I don’t know why! It’s one of the very first things I recommend to people from out of town. It’s like it’s invisible! It’s only the tallest structure in our city! The Tower of the Americas or just, The Tower as we call it. It was built for the 1968 World’s Fair and at 750’ high it’s the best view of the city. It’s got a bar and slowly revolving restaurant at the top. Go when the weather is good for a great 360 degree view out on the open air observation deck. You ride a glass elevator on the outside of the column so you get the sense of height immediately. Go on a clear, cool night and it’s spectacular. Seeing all the city lights going straight out from it is beautiful. Since we are an old city based on old Indian and Spanish trails, we don’t have as much of a grid system of streets like a lot of cities. Everything radiants from a central hub (downtown) like spokes on a wheel. Still, for the life of me I don’t know why it always gets overlooked. Always! It’s worth it, trust me. I’ve lived here for 55 years and it’s still one of my favorite places. So weird, it’s invisible. Ha Ha! Enjoy! It’s a mandatory thing to do downtown if you ask me. It’s not like it’s hard to find, just look up.

As a San Antonio native, one don't I'd highly highly recommend is don't come to San Antonio between mid December and mid February, because we have a horrendous tree pollen (called cedar pollen here, though it comes from a tree called juniperus ashei) that can make your life miserable with congestion and a throat that feels like you have been gargling razor blades. For the last month half the city has been asking themselves do I have omicron or is it the cedar pollen since the symptoms are actually very similar.

3:02 Windcrest, Texas during Christmas is a must-do!

Mark! It's so awesome to see your take on my town. I would love to show you around some of the more hidden gems around; there are so many throughout our massive land area. But you covered it so well.

Greetings from Dubai. My hometown San Antonio is changing everyday. Coming back with my Nigerian husband want to show him a great time. Thank you for sharing this video. 🙂✌

Just moved to north SA and love it here! Thanks for the tips as always! Love watching your all of your vids! ❤️

Great job again Mark! You always seem to hit the good points and find the best food. I used to wake up at 6 am on my days off just for breakfast tacos when I lived there. 🌮 😋

born and raised in SATX, my family has been here since mid 1850s, and this video made me want to visit San Antonio. good job

Awesome video

That's crazy I was there around the same time you was ! I loved the river walk Im surprised you didn't talk about the boat ride on the river !

We absolutely LOVED San Antonio. I think we missed seeing a few things, so hopefully we'll make up for it on our next visit. Bucees..... too peopley for me. Felt like Black Friday.

As a San Antonio resident, I approve this video. Great job! :-) I would HIGHLY suggest finding a Mariachi band and have a few beers listening to them.

I live in Seguin. The river walk is a must see as a few years ago they really updated it. LOTS of good food.

I'm born/bred in San Antonio Texas. Thank you for talking about my beautiful wonderful city!

I live in Austin but San Antonio is my favorite city in Texas. Great food, culture and great vacation spot. So much to do there.

Me too - San Antonio is easily my favorite of the seven cities that l have toured in Texas! l hope to go there again in October.

Great video! I love how happy you get talking about Texas haha. As a Texan and fellow traveler, there is so much to do in Texas. I’m not sure if you’ve explored West Texas much, but I definitely recommend staying at El Cosmico in Marfa, hiking at Big Bend National Park (Boquillas Canyon Trail is my favorite - it’s right along the Rio Grande River and the other side is Mexico!), Monahans Sandhills State Park, and Guadalupe Mountains National Park! Also on the Gulf Coast, Padre Island National Seashore is amazing and so is Port Aransas! Biplane Rides over Mustang Beach is a MUST! In the Panhandle, Palo Duro Canyon State Park is incredible and you have to do the Lighthouse Trail! I live in the Hill Country and it’s the perfect spot for exploring Texas haha. Hope you like these recommendations! 💗

after all of these years you FINALLY did my city!

Great video!

Great video ! If you want to go to the river walk but experience the local way, walk from downtown to the Pearl. It’s more residential, and the restaurants closer to the Pearl have way better food and way better vibe.

If you are in San Antonio on the first Friday of the month then we have an artist meetup on South Alamo called First Friday. There are galleries open, beer and food. Also the Kind Williams historical district is near by. Also we have a mall called La Cantera near UTSA that pretty cool for night life.

Oh my gosh!!! The missions were my favorite thing about San Antonio! My husband was attending a conference and we stayed at a hotel on the Riverwalk so we saw the Alamo and the attractions nearby but I took off in the rental car to visit those beautiful missions. Love love LOVE the missions!

I lived in San Antonio as a kid. We had many many field trips to the missions and to the Alamo. I was probably too young to truly appreciate it...so time to go back!

Very good video 👍👍👍👍👍

I once visited Sa when I was young,will go back soon

I love your enegry, sir. Thank you for a great video.

And we have great fishing too. Canyon Lake, Brauning lake and Calaveras lake. I like to go camping at Garner State park

Great suggestions! Going to an historic city and ONLY checking one attraction is akin to going to San Francisco ONLY to look at the Golden Gate Bridge and then saying goodbye. ✌

San Antonio native here... you nailed the review

This video is making me homesick for Texas!

Great video! I want to go now.

The coolest thing about the Riverwalk is that my school lights up two weeks before theirs because the river starts at my school (University of the Incarnate Word). My school has a huge event about it, called Light the Way. So that is another thing to go to when visiting San Antonio!! It's been going on for 30 years now!

Thank you, from a native San Antonian, for speaking so highly of our fair city! Sometimes, as a resident, we forget what an interesting place we live in! Thank you for the reminder! Next time you are here, don't forget to ride the Brackenridge Eagle!

It's clear Wolters has an appreciation for San Antonio and the unique things it offers this country. Thanks for seeing it the way a lot of us who live here and love it see it! Now, I need to go to the mercado and get myself a new leather belt.

Rays Drive Inn is where the puffy Taco was born here in San Antonio. Henry was the Brother that Branched off . Both Places have the Best Puffy Taco in Town

Appreciate you showing love to my city🙏🏼 and loved your NOLA video too man By the way my high school and elemtary school are right next to the King Williams area and we got to be apart of a lot of the fiesta parades and stuff because my schools are historical figures for the city

Biking between the Missions is super fun. The electric bikes you can rent with your phone make it super easy to do the 20+ miles. A lot of nice places to eat along the way.

Thanks for mentioning the UNESCO site designation. There are only 1,154 sites worldwide!

7:19 Schlitterbahn is the BOMB!

just subscribed i am soo happy i found this video :) you're an amazing story teller i started binge watching your videos.. very informative knowlegeable and fun!!! :) i will show this video to my mom too

While in New Braunfels don't forget to stop in at Gruene hall and the shops in Gruene.

Very interesting...

I live 4 hours from San Antonio and honestly I loooove taking a road trip there.

I miss San Antonio I was born and raised there. I go there regularly to visit family. Miss Barbacoa & Big Red on weekends.

Lived here all my life and one tip I’d give is if you do want to drive into downtown you can park at Rivercenter mall and walk everywhere .. including the river Walk and to the Alamo very easily.

Great Video. Which restaurant was the puffy tacos that were pictured in this video from? Thanks.

As a San Antonio native, I thank Mr. Wolters for his review. It was both exhilarating and entertaining. Well done, Sir

As a local this is like one of the only good San Antonio travel videos I've ever seen

Planning a trip and this video was very helpful. Any thoughts about going to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo?

I did a Summer Camp in 2001 out in the Hill Country. Did a weekend away to Fredericksburg (lovely) and frequent weekends to San Antonio itself. Spoilt myself on my last night in San Ant and stayed at the Emily Morgan - BEAUTIFUL!

The Pearl area is a must!! It’s the nicest and newest part of the River Walk, Southerleigh Brewery is amazing, which is connected to the Emma Hotel and Farmer’s market on the weekends! All at the Pearl. And if you’re feeling a little crazy come check out the Bakery Pub in Lytle! It’s just south of SA. We have a cool vibe and some amazing craft beer!! Great video man!

I was there a few years ago, but never tried the puffed up tacos. I will definitely try it the next time I'm there. It looks scrumptious. Thanks for sharing this video!😊❤😊

As a local you pretty much covered the basics on what to see and visit. And you are correct when you said about the food options. Don’t only stick to down town SA. The pearl offers excellent food options and family friendly atmosphere that you have to see to believe. If you love animals and bringing them with you on your trip, that would be an excellent place to let them Roam and play.. Hemisphere park is one of the parks I enjoy a lot, small, pet friendly and very enjoyable when you are winding down on your day and just need somewhere to relax and chill..

You said there was a Tex Mex restaurant right across the street from where your standing. That would be Taco Haven. I grew up in this neighborhood. I still live in SA and have wonderful memories of that area. I love my city.

Thank you Mark. You cover the town so well and your recommendations were very good. Have you been downriver on the newer part of the Riverwalk? There aren't as many huge trees, but the city has added so many attractive water features. Also, there are a set of locks to manage the water flow since the river does go through Downtown. I got started on breakfast tacos almost every single day, going to school in San Marcos, TX. Keep up the good work!

Nice video

I used my mobility scooter to get from my hotel to the tourist area of San Antonio. It can be a narrow path for a scooter by the Riverwalk, finding an elevator to it can be a pain, and not long after you leave the tourist area the sidewalks are suboptimal for mobility scooter use.

San Antonio has some great music! Jazz Tx and Sam’s Burger Joint. Both near the Pearl.

Our City is a great city.....as for Tex-Mex we have 1000's of them. Hydrate, hydrate in the summer.! Thanks for the video

If you’re drive to New Braunfels ( pronounced new Bron-fulls) tube the Comal river, it’s about a two hour float and it’s really relaxing

I highly encourage a visit to the missions. They are a beautiful part of history and less than an hour away from down town.

I lived in San Antonio for over three years. I loved it! Fiesta was such a fun time! I went to Henry’s every week

Ahhh just went there last week and could've used these tips.

I LOVE my city!

I’m just wondering where you got those tacos??? That salsa verde looked amazing. My method is taking a big sip of the salsa cup, then taking a bite😂

Come have fun here in San Antonio! Also don’t forget to try Texas barbecue: it is delicious with an emphasis on the beef! That’s no lie about downtown parking. Check to make sure your hotel has a parking garage and also how much they charge. I might also recommend the Tower of the Americas. A neat tower with a bar and restaurant at its top. Also downtown is the River Center Mall a big mall with an IMAX theater in it. The cathedral light show is on certain nights check to see when things have been a little crazy with the lockdowns. Everything is open now but you still might check by phone with each place to check on their restrictions or hours. Hope you come see us soon!