Dallas United States
Dallas is the business capital of north Texas and the anchor of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, a sprawling region of around eight million people. The important thing for a visitor to understand is the scale: Dallas and Fort Worth are about 50 km apart and are genuinely different cities, with Arlington, Irving, Plano and Denton filling the space between them. An event advertised as being in “Dallas-Fort Worth” could be in any of them.
Downtown Dallas itself is compact and walkable, with the Arts District, Dealey Plaza and the Reunion Tower within a short distance of each other. Deep Ellum east of downtown is the music and nightlife quarter, and Uptown just north has most of the restaurants.
- Dallas Arts District - The largest contiguous arts district in the United States, with the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center.
- The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza - The Kennedy assassination told from the building the shots were fired from.
- Deep Ellum - Live music, murals and bars a short ride east of downtown.
- Perot Museum of Nature and Science - Worth it for the building as much as the collection.
- Fort Worth Stockyards - About 50 km west, and the most recognisably Texan thing in the metroplex.
Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) is one of the busiest airports in the world and sits between the two cities, about 27 km northwest of downtown Dallas. The DART Orange Line runs from the airport into downtown in roughly 50 minutes for a few dollars. Dallas Love Field (DAL) is much closer at about 10 km and serves domestic routes, largely Southwest.
DART runs light rail and buses and is genuinely useful between downtown, the airport and a few neighbourhoods, but this is a car city and the network thins quickly outside the core. Downtown is walkable; anything across the metroplex is not. If a conference venue turns out to be in Fort Worth or Denton, the TRE commuter rail links Dallas and Fort Worth in about an hour, while Denton is served by the A-train from Carrollton. Budget for a car or rideshare outside the centre.
March to May and October to November are the comfortable windows, roughly 18 to 28C, and late May is at the warm end of that. Summer is punishing, regularly above 35C from June to September. Spring is also the severe-weather season in north Texas, so thunderstorms are common in April and May. Winters are mild with occasional hard freezes.
Map
1 upcoming conference in Dallas
For a downtown Dallas conference, stay downtown or in Uptown: the two are adjacent, well served by DART, and put the restaurants and museums within reach. Deep Ellum suits anyone who wants the nightlife.
The warning that matters here is about the metroplex. If your event is advertised for “Dallas-Fort Worth”, find the actual venue before booking. Fort Worth is 50 km west and Denton 58 km north, and a hotel chosen for downtown Dallas could leave you with an hour each way. Where the venue is genuinely unknown, the airport corridor around Irving is the least-bad hedge, since it sits between the two cities.
Our picks in Dallas
A curated selection of hotels chosen for location, value, and fit for conference travellers.
Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas Downtown
1015 Elm Street, Dallas, TX 75202
Dependable chain hotel in the middle of downtown Dallas with free breakfast, about 400 m from the centre. Good value for attendees...
The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas
2121 McKinney Avenue, Dallas, TX 75201
Five-star in Uptown about 2 km north of downtown, with a full spa and a well-known restaurant. Suits industry attendees combining the...
Hotel Swexan
2575 McKinnon Street, Dallas, TX 75201
Recent luxury hotel in the Harwood district with a rooftop bar and garden, about 2 km from downtown. The splurge option for...
Hotel ZaZa Dallas
2332 Leonard Street, Dallas, TX 75201
Flamboyantly decorated boutique hotel in Uptown with a busy pool scene, about 2 km from downtown. Best for attendees who would rather...
Community Notes