A Practical Walk

Since our kids were studying Texas history this year, we thought it an appropriate time to take them to historic San Antonio. When you google things to do in San Antonio, the results are numerous and varied. The place is full of history, art, and amusement. Because we were only going for 3 nights, we had to be very selective of what we did. While we did splurge on a couple things (see the end of the post), most of what we did was cheap, or even free! Listed below are 13 ways that we saved on our San Antonio trip and you can too if you decide to visit!

Camp instead of a hotel. Anytime you go on a vacation, one of the biggest expenses is usually the lodging. For this trip we stayed at Government Canyon State Natural Area. It was close enough to the attractions we wanted to see, but a better price than hotels go for. Plus we got to be in nature! You can read all about my thoughts on Government Canyon here.

Bring your own food. We did purchase food a couple times, but anytime you can pack your own, you’re saving money. I planned meals for our campsite, and a picnic lunch while out exploring. We also found a Walmart right on our way from downtown to our campsite, so it made purchasing food easy.

Our first meal at the campsite was simple pasta salads I had already assembled before the trip.

Look into the best parking options. While many things were free, not all had free parking. There’s multiple parking options, so you just need to research it and find locations that fit your budget, and that are close enough to walk from your parking spot to your destination. However, keep in mind that there’s Downtown Tuesday, where certain parking areas are free at certain times. We used this to our advantage and did the San Fernando light show on Tuesday, making this free attraction even freer!

Cool floors at one of the parking garages.

Watch the light show at San Fernando Cathedral. After dark, theirs a light show on the San Fernando Cathedral that depicts Texas history with music and colorful images. This is completely free, and like I mentioned above, you can coordinate it with Downtown Tuesday for free parking!

It’s dusk and people are gathering to watch the show!

Stroll the Riverwalk. We walked at multiple spots on the river. You can pay for boat rides or riverside dining, but we enjoyed just walking and taking in the sites.

Of course, the thing San Antonio is most well-known for is the Alamo. I’ve been two times now, and both times it was a sober reminder. We sat in a little side-room where women and children had gathered while the mission was being attacked. If you ever find yourself in San Antonio, I do recommend visiting the Alamo, not for the fun of it, but more as a memorial to remember those who lost their lives. More has been added to the outside from the last time I visited, like this irrigation demonstration below. They had actual basil, peppers, and tomato plants growing! Just going into the Alamo itself is free, but you need to still get tickets, and there’s other paid options, which I’ll tell you about one we did at the end of this post.

Even though the Alamo is what everyone knows about, there were other missions in the region. You can visit them at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can see the missions, and the Espada Aqueduct. We found a nice shady spot at the park where we had a picnic lunch.

Along with the Missions Park, I want to specifically call out the San Jose mission tour. This free tour was informative and interesting. It’s on a first come, first serve basis with 50 max per tour, however on the Wednesday we showed up, we only had 3 other people in our group. Our tour guide explained how the missions were run and gave us a taste of what life was like at them. I highly recommend it!

Nestled in what used to be a quarry you find the Japanese Tea Garden. With a big fish pond, stone pavilion, flora, waterfall, and bridges. I would definitely visit the garden again if I’m ever back in San Antonio. Oh, and it’s free too!

On Wednesday evening we went to the Pearl Market (not to be confused with the Pearl Farmers’ Market, that got a little confusing when I was looking some information up). After promenading a little we ended up sitting by a fountain with little kids splashing around and bought some not-so-cheap-but-very-yummy Dori Nachos and Takis smothered in queso.

We went to the Historic Market Square. Of course this is only a frugal activity if you don’t buy anything! We purchased some ceramic house numbers to hang on our house and remind us of our trip.

Visit Centro de Artes for free! We didn’t actually have this on our schedule, but went to visit the previously mentioned Historic Market Square and stumbled upon it. I do remember seeing it when I was planning our trip, but didn’t think we’d have time, but what’d ya know, we did have time!

These were my favorite pieces at this museum.

Apparently San Antonio has many art exibits. We made sure to plan a visit to San Antonio Art League & Museum. I loved how this museum was in what looked like an old house. The lady there that day was very friendly and informative, you could tell she had a passion for art. We saw many beautiful works of art, and it was just a nice atmosphere. I’d visit this free museum again! But unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures there!

2 Things we splurged on:

We decided to purchase tickets to the Alamo Exhibit at the Ralston Family Collections Center. Even though it wasn’t cheap, it was educational. I appreciated a model they had of the mission and a narration of the events. There are artifacts to look at, including the collection donated by Phil Collins.

Another splurge we did was to dine at the oldest restaurant in San Antonio...Schilos! Their root beer was probably the best I’ve ever had!

So there you have some ideas of how to have an enjoyable time in San Antonio without spending too much. Here’s a helpful list of even more free things in San Antonio.