Is San Antonios River Walk an Obnoxious Tourist Trap?
The first time I visited San Antonio’s River Walk, it was nearly 100 degrees out, and I was ready for some respite. I had just visited the Alamo, and when I got to the bottom of the steps from street level, I immediately understood why the River Walk was a “thing.” It was a few degrees cooler than the street, where hot summer winds blew between the skyscrapers of the downtown core.
Into the pandemic’s “Cautious Outdoor Recreation and Dining” phase, I visited again and was rather disappointed with what I found. The crowds, which during previous visits had been well-behaved, had morphed into a throng of boorish ids toting plastic yard glasses of frozen beverages, dressed not for a day out but as though their days still consisted of the worn path between their bedrooms and their couches.
Much of the malaise appeared pandemic-related, but on subsequent trips, as things started to normalize, I noticed that the decay seemed to have set. Convenience stores packed with grab-and-go booze seemed to have replaced cute shops, and eateries trended away from local Tex-Mex legends and more toward national theme park-style chains with large gift shops and standardized menus. Now, I’m not into tourist trap shaming, but it had me wondering if there was really anything local left about the attraction.
In June, curious as to whether I could cross the River Walk off my list for future visits, I tried again—and this time, I got some perspective from locals.
“What a lot of people don’t know about the River Walk is that it’s actually a public park,” says Roz Castaneda, who’s in charge of River Walk Operations at Visit San Antonio. Owned and maintained by the city of San Antonio, the River Walk is really a large public work built by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration. Castaneda notes the River Walk is always open, except for a handful of ticketed special events, such as river parades or other events put on by the city each year. And they’re increasing in number—the River Walk Live! Summer Concert Series had its inaugural season in 2024.
Lincoln St. George, who manages overall downtown operations, said the city really had two options following a devastating 1921 flood: dam the San Antonio River and route most of it around the city, turning the downtown portion of the river into a paved-over storm sewer, or control the flow into the downtown area and build a park around the water below the street level.
Book a hotel on the River Walk and enjoy quiet mornings before the boat tours begin.Visit San Antonio
His recommendation for visitors? Book a hotel on the River Walk. “The boat tours don’t start until 10 a.m., so when you have a hotel on the River Walk, you can get up early and enjoy the river when it’s calm—sometimes it’s clear enough to see the bottom.”
Thankfully, I’d booked a room at The Westin San Antonio Riverwalk, so when I woke up the next morning, I was able to notice how calm and cool the river was from my balcony. As I breakfasted at Zucca, the hotel’s restaurant, I certainly noticed how much calmer the river seemed to float into my morning. It didn’t feel like a weekday in the midst of a large city—it felt more like a retreat—even though traffic still buzzed at the street level above.
The hotel is also on a quieter part of the River Walk, away from the buzz of many of the restaurants. But it wasn’t until I took a boat tour that I realized the River Walk is really much larger than the bend that winds its way through downtown. The boats, which have recently transitioned from gas to electric, are one of the most popular activities on the River Walk, and the tour guides give substantial history and wayfinding tips, with a healthy amount of inoffensive “Dad jokes” sprinkled in.
The boat tours, however, only go to the bend of the river that winds through the developments downtown. The River Walk itself actually reaches both north and south to other San Antonio attractions. The southern reach, also called the Mission Reach, is a walking and bike trail that stretches out to the King William District toward the historic Guenther House Museum and restaurant and on to Confluence Park, with its concrete art “umbrellas” modeled after lily petals to improve water catchment.
It’s called Mission Reach because it reaches the historic missions of San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. The northern reach is called Museum Reach, which passes the San Antonio Museum of Art and into the new Pearl District, a multifunctional living, dining, and outdoor space with everything from hotels and restaurants to apartments and concert venues.
The Mission Reach, a walking and bike trail, stretches out to the King William District toward the historic Guenther House Museum Visit San Antonio
The Pearl District has a wholly different vibe, and it’s a good place to escape to when the River Walk in downtown gets to be a bit much (especially on weekends). Dining downtown tends to trend Tex-Mex or similar, but in the Pearl, it’s a bit more urban. There, I loved Ladino, a sort of pan-Mediterranean grill with all the richness you’d get from a wood-fired oven for charring eggplants for dip and roasting lamb merguez.
In town, visitors can escape the national brand convenience stores by visiting La Villita (the little village), an artisan village that’s on the National Register of Historic Places and the site of the popular Night in Old San Antonio held each spring. It was quiet on the day I visited, but it was perfect for chatting with many of the artists who work at or near their shops in the area. I chatted with a painter in a little shop stocked full of acrylics on canvas and lots of eye-catching objets, and with a metalsmith who has a workshop right in La Villita, next to the Equinox Collection, where he showcases the work of other local and regional artists who make jewelry in a variety of fascinating mediums.
It feels less and less like a tourist trap the longer I stay, and one thing I notice early on is that locals all have a recommendation for where to eat. That was the lightbulb for me—San Antonio locals are also visiting and viewing the River Walk as a public work instead of a not-for-them tourist attraction. Many of the locals I spoke with recommended Boudro’s Texas Bistro on the River Walk. Taking the recommendation, I dug into a massive plate of shrimp and grits out on the patio, which was packed with other diners—many of them also local.
I also had a good lunch (and richly spiced Texas chili—no beans) across the river at Little Rhein Prost Haus, an effortless combination of the German and Tex-Mex cuisines that are so prevalent in the area. German food is still popular across central and north Texas because of the influx of German and Czech settlers here in the 19th century, so I had a fun afternoon comparing their wursts to the ones I get in Dallas.
Pearl is a dynamic neighborhood built around the historic Pearl Brewery, located just north of downtown San Antonio on the banks of the San Antonio River. Visit San Antonio
So, I counteract the cynics who seem keen to point out the River Walk was developed as a tourist attraction. It was a civic work designed for flood control that local leaders thought would eventually have tourism appeal, and they were right. Why we also seem to think there’s inauthenticity in tourism that is developed with intention, I won’t understand. Most other industries aren’t considered contrived or inauthentic when they manage their growth—why is the bar higher for the tourism industry?
Sure, there are still petty annoyances as there are in any tourism district. It can get crowded, and sometimes the revelers have had a bit too much to drink and get a bit rowdy or stop to gawk and block the sidewalk, but that’s little different from what travelers might experience in any urban environment.
For my part, the good far outweighs the bad, and I can say my visit certainly won’t be my last to San Antonio (I got more restaurant recommendations than I could possibly have stopped into on a single visit). And when I come back, I’ll visit the River Walk again.
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