One of the most remarkable flowerings of skyscraping architecture anywhere -- that same skyline familiar to the world from the television show Dallas -- has taken place in downtown Dallas. The West End, a former warehouse district also downtown, contains many restaurants and shops.

Near the West End are several major cultural institutions, and only a little farther away is Deep Ellum, the lively center of the city's alternative arts and music scene. A short car trip from downtown are several historic areas that give a sense of the old Dallas. To the north, where the city's establishment has long been entrenched, there's shopping galore.

Fort Worth's major sights are also found downtown -- its financial core, most of its historic buildings, and Sundance Square, the restored turn-of-the-20th-century neighborhood that is one of the city's main attractions. The Stockyards and adjacent western-theme stores, restaurants, and hotels are a few miles north of downtown, clustered around Main Street and Exchange Avenue. The cultural district, west of downtown on Lancaster Avenue, is home to four well-known museums, a coliseum complex, and several parks.