Things to see in Dallas

The Adolphus (see Hotels ), with its baroque splendour, is the place to seek respite amidst Downtown's hubbub. The epitome of old-style southern refinement, the hotel was built in 1912, by Adolphus Busch, the Missouri beer magnate. In its day, it was not as imprisoned by modernity as it unfortunately is today, hemmed in by other buildings. Inside, however, the city may as well be on another planet. High tea, in the English style, includes the hotel's own scones topped with Devonshire cream and raspberry marmalade, finger sandwiches, fruit tarts and hand-dipped chocolate truffles.

The Texas School Book Depository was a rather ordinary building in downtown Dallas until the infamous assassination of US President John F Kennedy on November 22 1963 as he travelled in an open limousine through Dallas on a pre-election visit.

Lee Harvey Oswald, the 24-year-old Dallas citizen who was accused of the crime, and was himself shot dead by nightclub owner Jack Ruby just two days later, had a filing job at the depository. The deadly shot was fired from the sixth floor of the building, which is now the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza documenting both the assassination itself and the life and times of JFK.

Visitors can immerse themselves in the events of the fateful day, with a minute-by-minute account of the action as well as recordings of news broadcasts and even material showing mourning vigils in India and Germany. Other exhibitions focus on the four investigations into the crime, the legacy of Kennedy's administration, and the various theories on who carried out the assassination. The corner staircase where the rifle was found, and down which the assassin is thought to have escaped, has been reconstructed according to official police photographs. Background information to the shooting is provided through displays on the 1960s political, cultural and social movements, and visitors can add their own comments to memorial books which are kept as part of the museum archives

The Plaza itself is simply an outdoor grassy area on the north side of Elm Street, surmounted by an unadorned white stone platform where people go for a few quiet and thoughtful moments.

The actual JFK Memorial is nearby in downtown on Main Street and Market Street, at the Dallas County Historical Plaza, and was designed by New Yorker Philip Johnson, a friend of the Kennedy family.

In such a landlocked city, this square is made all the more attractive by its impressive water displays and its calming trees and streams. There are 172 'blubber fountains' (low dome-shaped fountains), while the Central Court Fountain has 360 fountain heads. Around 2.25 million litres (0.5 million gallons) of water pass through the plaza, and at night, coloured lights play on the shimmering cascades. The huge, 60-storey glass building is part of the design and is based on a prism, a favourite theme of architect I M Pei, who also designed the glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris (France, that is, not Texas). There are other designs by Pei around the city and discovering them makes a good theme for an unusual exploration. The Dallas City Hall ( ), which houses Henry Moore's largest bronze sculpture, is one example. The Morton H Meyerson Symphony Center ( ) is another.