About a Week
7 days · ~1050 miles · from Lafayette, LA
Where the atlas crosses into Texas: boudin and rice prairies to the Sabine, old US 90 to the Alamo, and the King's Highway — El Camino Real — back through the piney woods and Caddo mounds.
This trip chains: US 90: Rice & Rails · US 90 West: To the Alamo · El Camino Real: The Texas Act
The boudin gauntlet at Scott, Rayne's frog murals, Crowley's opera house and Jennings's first oil well — end amid Lake Charles's Charpentier Victorians.
Niblett's Bluff and the state line, then Spindletop's boomtown at Beaumont, where the Texas oil age gushed in 1901. Overnight Beaumont.
Deep into the German-Czech belt: kolaches and the Spoetzl (Shiner) brewery, the 'Come and Take It' cannon at Gonzales where the revolution started. Overnight Gonzales.
Seguin's world's-largest pecan, then the city: the Alamo at opening before the crowds, and the mission trail south to San José, queen of the missions. Two nights San Antonio.
A rest day for the River Walk, the full mission chain, and Tex-Mex done right — the turnaround point of the trip.
The King's Highway northeast: Bastrop's Lost Pines and San Marcos springs, up to Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas — the Stone Fort and brick streets. Overnight Nacogdoches.
The Caddo Mounds and the Mission Dolores site at San Augustine, last Texas stop on the Camino — then back across the Sabine toward Louisiana.