Dallas, Texas.
PENNY PINCH
The Corner Bakery (cornerbakerycafe.com) at 301 N Market St in this Texan city will dish up a fresh berry and granola parfait for $4.15. Stroll to the Old Red Museum (oldred.org), which houses the tourist information office, and pick up the Public Artwalk map (publicartwalkdallas.org) for a self-guided art tour. The star is the giant installation of bronze bulls in Pioneer Plaza. For lunch, take public transport ($5.30 for a day pass, Dart.org) to Uptown deli EatZi's ($7.40, eatzis.com). It's close to the Museum of Geometric and MADI Art (free entry, geometricmadimuseum.org) and the 5.6km Katy Trail walking track (katytraildallas.org). The Best Western CityPlace Inn ($82, bestwesterntexas.com) has decent transport links, while the buffalo burgers at Twisted Root ($10.60, twistedrootburgerco.com) make for a juicy dinner.
TOTAL: $109.45
EASY DOES IT
Hire a car with the likes of Thrifty ($50 a day, thrifty.com), and pull up in the West End at the cool, bar-like Ellen's Southern Kitchen (ellenssouthern kitchen.com) for a country-style breakfast ($9.85). Just around the corner, the Sixth Floor Museum ($17, sixthfloormuseum.com) offers a detailed look at the Kennedy assassination 50 years ago this month. Drive west under the notorious underpass to Smoke on Fort Worth Avenue ($12.75, smokerestaurant.com) for a pulled pork barbecue lunch. It's next to the retro chic Belmont Hotel ($109, belmontdallas.com).
After checking in, head to the Southfork Ranch ($14.35, southfork.com) in suburban Parker to indulge your JR Ewing fantasies at the house from the Dallas TV series. For dinner, try farm to table specialist Bolsa ($22.30, bolsadallas.com).
TOTAL: $235.25
SPLASH OUT
Tuck into the $29.70 lobster frittata at the genteel-but-plush Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek (rosewoodhotels.com/en/ mansion-on-turtle-creek-dallas) before your town car driver (about $690 for 10 hours, allenlimousine.com) whisks you off for a cultural fix. The Nasher Sculpture Center ($10.60, nashersculpturecenter.org) and Dallas Museum of Art ($17 for special exhibitions, dallasmuseumofart.org) have heavyweight collections. After lunch in star-chef haunt Stephan Pyles ($19.10, stephanpyles.com), touch down at the Arlington home of the Dallas Cowboys (tickets from $79.50, dallascowboys.com). For dinner downtown, the chef's five-course tasting menu at the old world French Room ($117, hoteladolphus.com) is a Dallas treat while, a short walk away, the Joule ($311, thejouledallas.com) is the city's hippest luxury hotel.
TOTAL: $1273.90
The writer was a guest of Visit Dallas (VisitDallas.com).
Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter
Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.