It’s true that everything is bigger in Texas and that includes summer travel options. From the Piney Woods of East Texas to the wide open spaces of Big Bend, from Galveston’s beaches to the Metroplex’s bustling streets, no matter where you hit the road across the Lone Star State this summer, you’ll find fun, fun, fun.

Get Wet:

Looking to beat Texas’ summer heat? Get wet! Dive in, swim out, float down or surf on Texas’ waterways for refreshing fun.

Schlitterbahn’s three locations in Galveston, New Braunfels and South Padre offer rolling rapids, lazy rivers chutes and tubes, and endless waves for kids to check out. While they’re slip-sliding away, parents can relax in one of the hot tubs. (One-day tickets start at $29.99 in Galveston/$39.99 in New Braunfels/$36.96 in South Padre Island. www.schlitterbahn.com

For a real river experience, pack a cooler, grab the camera and head to River Sports Tubes in Canyon Lake. Choose from short, medium or long tubing trips along the Guadalupe and pack plenty of sunscreen www.riversportstubes.com; $15/tube. Note: children must be at least 5 years old to tube).

Texas’ beaches stretch from Galveston down to South Padre Island. In Port Aransas combine beaching with bird watching and some of Texas’ best fishing www.portaransas.org; further south on South Padre Island www.sopadre.com, stay at an ocean-front condo or hotel (check out www.bridgepointresort.com for luxe beachfront digs; $225/night; or the Padre South Hotel www.padresouth.com, where all rooms have balconies overlooking the ocean and in-room kitchens; $153/night).

Lakeside fun meets luxury resort at  La Torretta del Lago Resort on Lake Conroe www.latorrettadellagoresortandspa.com. Kids will love the miniature golf course, the fantasy pool with water slides, the poolside burger hut and endless options for lakefront fun. Adults will enjoy the fine dining at Chez Roux or PRIME, the spacious suites and the spa. Rates start at $199/night for a room in the tower of $534/night in a golf cottage, as part of the Kid Krazy Family Getaway)

The Family Raft Ride is just the tip of the iceberg for family water fun at Grapevine’s Great Wolf Resort www.greatwolf.com; $189.95/nite, all-suite accommodations). You can also check out the wave pool, the kiddy slides and a host of landlubber fun, including the Northern Lights Arcade and the Howlin’ Tornado.

Rent boats and personal watercraft and enjoy Lake LBJ at the Horseshoe Bay Resort in the Texas Hill Country www.hsbresort.com; $375/night for the Summer Family Fun Package, featuring a Fun Pack for each child, complimentary sodas, daily breakfast and 50% off at the Kids’ Club).

Enjoy a serene canoe or kayak ride down Village Creek located in the Big Thicket. The languid 37-mile waterway makes an ideal paddling destination. For guides, rentals, and shuttle service, call Timber Ridge Tours (rentals, $20 per day; guided tours, $30; 409-246-4481) or Piney Woods Canoe Company (rentals, $17 per day; 409-274-5892)

Village Creek Canoe Trips are perfect family and friend “escape” trips. The gentle current keeps labor to a minimum and the white sandy banks of the creek are excellent for picnics. Take afternoon, day-long or weekend trips to Village Creek State Park, part of the Big Thicket National Preserve in Beaumont.

Get Wild:

Lions, tigers and whales? Oh, my, yes! Texas’ zoos, aquariums and wildlife preserves showcase an up-close and personal look at animals and offer a roarin’ good time.

The Houston Zoo is home to the “cutest animal in the world,” Toby, the red panda who lives near the Natural Encounters Building. Plus, visitors can ride the zoo’s carousel, watch zookeepers feed the animals or check out the more than 4,500 members of the Animal Kingdom who call the zoo home. www.houstonzoo.org; $6/children 2-11, $10/adults) The oldest zoo in Texas, the Ft. Worth Zoo  has a playbarn where kids can pretend to be animals, a 25-foot rock climbing wall, the cool Parrot Paradise and 11 other permanent animal exhibits to help families learn about wildlife. www.fortworthzoo.com; $8.00/children, $12.00/adults)

For a real wild time, visit the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, 34,000 acres with trails where you can explore and look out for ducks, cranes and gators. www.stateparks.com/anahuac; FREE)

Think that’s wild? Then, you’ll love the Congress Bridge Bats North America’s largest urban bat colony. Every evening at dusk, more than 1.5 million of the winged creatures fly out from the bridge to forage for food. Their black formation across the sky is something to behold. www.austincityguide.com; FREE)

For a trip to the Old West, complete with cattle and cowboys, visit the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District where you can watch a twice-daily cattle drive, visit the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame and ride the Grapvine Vintage Railroad. www.forworthstockyards.org, If that doesn’t quell your taste for how folks lived in the olden days, a trip to George Ranch Historical Park  is in order. Here, you can help harvest crops and feed livestock, watch daily demonstrations of pioneer life and tour historic homes. www.georgeranch.org; $9/adults, $5/kids 5-15)

You can get up close and personal with the animals at Sea World San Antonio, taking part in the Dine With Shamu Summertime Splash ($40.95/adults; $24.95/children), a poolside buffet featuring great eats and glimpses of the famous whale. At Sea World, you’ll also find penguins, sharks and the Journey to Atlantis, a thrilling water ride guaranteed to delight. www.seaworld.com; $54.99/adults, $46.99/children)

Touch, feel and even hold alligators at Texas's most unique outdoor theme park, Gator Country in Beaumont, Texas. Over 130 American gators, 6 species of crocs and 4 species of turtles; snakes. Field trips. www.gatorcountrytx.net/contactus.html)

Get Adventurous:

Thrill seekers and adventure lovers have their pick of activities across the Lone Star State this summer, whether it’s roller coasters or rockets, on land, sea or sky.

Start your adventure in San Antonio, and journey back in time with a visit to the Alamo last stand of Texas heroes in their quest for independence. (www.thealamo.org /FREE), For more Texas history adventures, visit Waco’s Texas Ranger Hall of Fame where you can see how the famed Texas lawman kept the Lone Star safe and helped tame the Wild West. www.texasranger.org; $6/adults, $3/children) For a high seas historical adventure, the Tall Ship Elissa, part of the Texas Seaport Museum in Galveston, offers an up-close look at this 19th century trading ship. (www.tsm-elissa.org; $8/adults, $5/children)

At the U.S.S. Lexington in Corpus Christi, you can take a ride in a flight simulator or watch the world go by from the flight deck of  this aircraft carrier. www.usslexington.com; $12.95/adults, $7.95 adults) For even more high-flying fun, don’t miss the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, where you can ride in historic aircraft www.lsfm.org; museum admission $8/adults, $5/children, flight experience from $225 per person) or the Space Center in Houston, where the daily offerings include a tram tour of NASA, interactive fun in the Kids Space Place and a film showcasing the history of U.S. space exploration. www.spacecenterhouston.org; $19.95/adults, $15.95/children; half-price tickets available online)

Get a feel for what it’s like to live and work on an offshore oil rig on the Ocean Star a real rig that’s become a museum in Galveston. www.oceanstaroec.com; $8/adults, $5/children).

Explorers of all ages will love the Caverns of Sonora, with daily tours of crystal cave formations, gem stone panning and hikes along the nature trail. www.cavernsofsonora.com; FREE).

Along the Kemah Boardwalk you’ll find a carousel, a Ferris wheel, a rock climbing wall and endless summer fun, complete with restaurants, shops and a marina. www.kemahboardwalk.com Further north, along the Woodlands Waterway, check out the dinosaurs in The Woodlands Xploration Station or visit the Interactive Playhouse. www.thewoodlandscvb.com/ The Waterway is a haven for shops and restaurants, so you’ll find plenty of fun all day long. Need more waterfront fun? The Harbor at Rockwall showcases the best in family-friendly dining, shopping and entertainment, with events and fun all summer long. www.theharboratrockwall.com

Get Smart

Who says learning has to stop just because school is out? Science, culture and history lessons abound in some of Texas’ most exciting museums and activity centers.

For a look at where Texas began, it’s hard to beat the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, where photographs, exhibits and an IMAX movie trace the history of the Lone Star State. www.thestoryoftexas.com; $7/adults, $4/children; combination passes additional)

Hitch a ride onboard the Texas State Railroad for a half-day excursion to see how this railroad was built and how important it was to Texas. www.texasstaterr.com; $36.50/adults; $19/children, brown bag lunch extra)

Learn about butterflies, rainforests and undersea life at Moody Gardens Visit the Aquarium and Rainforest Pyramids, catch an IMAX film, even hop on for a ride Colonel Paddlewheel. www.moodygardens.com; $46.95/per person one-day combo pass with admission to all attractions)

For more hands-on fun, check out the Houston Children’s Museum, where you can checkout a kid-friendly construction zone, learn about the environment at the EcoStation or find out how the laws of motion work at the Motion Commotion exhibit. www.cmhouston.org; $7/adults and children over one) While you’re in the area, visit the Health Museum, where the whole family can learn about how your body works and how to stay healthy through a variety of exhibits and interactive areas. www.mhms.org; $8/adults, $6/children)  In nearby Hermann Park kids under 12 and adults over 65 can fish at the fishing pier www.hermannpark.org, and folks of all ages take in free performances day and night at Miller Outdoor Theatre featuring dance, music from around the world, musical theatre and other performing arts. www.milleroutdoortheatre.com.

Love life in the “old days”? Visit the W. H. Stark House in Orange, a Queen Anne Victorian landmark with fifteen rooms of original Stark family furnishings, personal belongings, and impressive collections. Individual and group tours. www.whstarkhouse.org

Who says you need to fly to New York or Paris to feast on first-class art? Visit the Stark Museum of Art in Orange and view an extensive collection of focusing on American Western art and artifacts—one of the largest collections of its kind in the nation. www.starkmuseum.org

Have stars in your eyes? Catch a show at the Lutcher Theater in Orange while you’re in town. It features the best in big-name entertainment. The theater serves as a showplace for the finest in performing arts, ranging from traveling Broadway plays to musical groups to one-man acts. “A world-class experience!” www.lutcher.org 

The Art Museum of Southeast Texas has several Free Family Arts Days during each year. The museum—which features about 1000 works of art and more in 8-10 annual changing exhibitions—is located in downtown Beaumont’s Museum District. www.amset.org; Free of charge.

Finally, quench your thirst at the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco dedicated to the history of Texas’ most famous drink. www.drpeppermuseum.com; $7/adults, $3/children)

Pet Friendly Accommodations
Want to go on the road but don’t want to leave Fido at home? No worries. These are just some of the Texas hotels rolling out the welcome mat for your four-legged friends.

Bayfront Inn, Corpus Christi
www.bayfrontinncc.com

Castaways Condos, S. Padre Island
www.furcron.com

Grand Hyatt San Antonio
www.gradnsanantonio.hyatt.com
Bonus: the hotel offers a doggie menu

The Reef Resort, Galveston
www.galveston.com/thereef
25 lb weight limit; larger dogs OK if well behaved; $20/day surcharge