Go With the Flow

By
Appears in the November 2021 issue.

If the recent 40th anniversary of the Naperville Riverwalk has you craving more waterfront views, it could be just the right time to explore one of the country’s most historic riverwalks in San Antonio.

As temps have started to dip here in the Midwest, Texas weather remains mild enough to comfortably stroll the curving walkways and arched stone bridges of the River Walk. “That’s the beauty of winters in San Antonio,” says David Gonzalez, spokesperson for Visit San Antonio (visitsanantonio.com). “We will still have daytime highs in the 60s and 70s and nighttime lows in the 50s.”

Last fall, the San Antonio River Walk opened its waters to kayakers for the first time in decades. Mission Adventure Tours (mat-tx.com) offers launch reservations and kayak rentals on select mornings. It’s a great way to see the River Walk from a different view before tour boats start their daily cruises, Gonzalez says.

Two new high-rise hotels opened earlier this year along the River Walk. Canopy by Hilton San Antonio Riverwalk (123 N. St. Mary’s St., 210.404.7516, hilton.com) offers waterfront dining at Domingo Restaurante on a stone-lined patio under the shade of the building above. Farther north, Thompson San Antonio Riverwalk (115 Lexington Ave., 210.876.1234, thompsonsanantoniohotel.com) is walking distance to popular sights such as the Alamo (300 Alamo Plaza, 210.225.1391, thealamo.org) and the San Antonio Museum of Art (200 W. Jones Ave., 210.978.8100,
samuseum.org). The hotel’s dining options include a rooftop bar called Moon’s Daughters as well as Landrace, a new restaurant from one of San Antonio’s most beloved chefs, James Beard Award finalist Steve McHugh.

The holiday season is also a dazzling time to visit San Antonio—literally. “Starting the Friday after Thanksgiving, we light up more than a million lights across the river,” Gonzalez says. As a nod to the city’s Mexican heritage, the display includes luminarias lining the River Walk on select weekends in December. For more holiday sparkle, consider checking out the impressive lights at SeaWorld San Antonio (10500 SeaWorld Dr., 210.520.4732, seaworld.com), Six Flags Fiesta Texas (17000 W. I-10, 210.697.5050, sixflags.com) and the new Lightscape event at San Antonio Botanical Garden (555 Funston Pl., 210.536.1400, sabot.org), which recently completed a multimillion-dollar renovation.