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Texas (TX)
San Antonio
Things to Do in San Antonio
San Antonio River Walk

San Antonio River Walk: Address, Phone Number, San Antonio River Walk Reviews: 4.5/5

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San Antonio River Walk

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San Antonio River Walk
4.5
26,671
#1 of 260 things to do in San Antonio
Scenic Walking Areas
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About
The Paseo del Rio is San Antonio's favorite attraction. You can shop, dine, lounge in a cafe, or simply stroll along and let the strumming mariachi soothe your spirit.
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The area
Address
Neighborhood: Downtown
Best nearby
Restaurants
843 within 3 miles
Domingo Restaurant
256
0.2 mi$$ - $$$ • Mexican • American • Vegetarian Friendly
La Panaderia
459
0.1 mi$$ - $$$ • Bakeries • Cafe • Vegetarian Friendly
Biga on the Banks
1,595
0.2 mi$$$$ • American • International • Vegetarian Friendly
Bohanan's Prime Steak and Seafood
1,785
0.2 mi$$$$ • American • Steakhouse • Vegetarian Friendly
Zinc Bistro and Wine Bar
1,141
409 ft$$ - $$$ • American • Bar • Wine Bar
Boudro's Texas Bistro
4,789
238 ft$$ - $$$ • American • Southwestern • Vegetarian Friendly
Texas de Brazil
610
0.1 mi$$$$ • Steakhouse • Brazilian • Latin
Colonial Room Restaurant
374
0.2 mi$$ - $$$ • American • Vegetarian Friendly • Gluten Free Options
Zocca Cuisine D'Italia
1,851
0.2 mi$$ - $$$ • Italian • Vegetarian Friendly • Vegan Options
Schilo's
2,050
369 ft$ • American • German • European
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Attractions
165 within 6 miles
San Antonio River
3,657
160 ftBodies of Water
The Alamo
19,381
0.2 miHistoric Sites • History Museums
Briscoe Western Art Museum
843
0.1 miArt Museums • History Museums
The Buckhorn Saloon and Texas Ranger Museum
1,316
0.1 miSpeciality Museums
Alamo Plaza
1,215
0.1 miPoints of Interest & Landmarks
San Antonio's Official Visitor Information Center
201
0.1 miVisitor Centers
Majestic & Empire Theatres
1,287
0.1 miTheaters
Ripley's Believe It or Not! San Antonio
573
0.1 miSpeciality Museums
St Joseph Catholic Church
444
0.2 miChurches & Cathedrals
Torch of Friendship
20
422 ftPoints of Interest & Landmarks • Monuments & Statues
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
26,671 reviews
Excellent
17,888
Very good
6,531
Average
1,783
Poor
330
Terrible
141
ttiottn1
Ohio296 contributions
A must see; highly recommend!
Apr 2022
After visiting the Alamo on a rainy Monday morning, we did the river walk in the afternoon. It was cool (only 65-70 deg) with off and on rain all day, sometimes heavy but we wore our raincoats and were able to stay warm & dry by ducking into buildings or under bridges when it really poured. It was not crowded at all with plenty of time to meander the walk and shop the stores. The river boats were NOT running so unable to do that. But I would recommend the river walk when in San Antonio even if you are just enjoying the ambiance. Tip: Park at the city owned Houston Street parking garage for a max charge of $10 for the day; it felt safe and was near the river walk.
Written May 5, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Tim J
Brookline, MA440 contributions
Very Nice Walking Experience, Chlorine Smell is Evident
Oct 2021
The Riverwalk was an odd experience. On the one hand, the pathway cut into the earth is well maintained and grants you access to a bevy of restaurants, museums and arts villages acting as an artery for downtown San Antonio. I spent long stretches of my time in the city, when not at the Alamo or Buckhorn Saloon, seeing where this would take me and was rarely disappointed. If you want to take a River Walk cruise I'd recommend waiting for later in the afternoon/evening as the lit-up areas do provide a certain ambiance that I image looks far more impressive from the water out. If you are at any point confused in where you are going there are several map areas that you can utilize to locate your position and determine your next course of action.

I'd recommend making your way to La Villita and the San Antonio Museum of Art, especially the restaurant at the SAMS Tre Trattoria who make the Nutella X3 which was rated as the best dessert in San Antonio while we were there. If you want to stick closer to where the Alamo is the Rainforest Cafe is one of the most unique bars/restaurants I've eaten at in recent memory and is an experience worth having on a random Friday/Saturday night. If you're worried about it being handicap accessible, there are ramps you can use at various points to descend to the River Walk and we did see a few people in w/c or other assistive devices enjoying the River Walk with us.

The one negative is the water itself. I've seen a lot of riverways (Providence, RI for one) and this is the first where the lime green water looks nearly fake or at least heavily treated. I get why, it doesn't tend to move much meaning bacteria, algae and other undesirable pathogens can accumulate making it necessary to keep clean. It smells clearly chlorinated on warm days, I can imagine that smell becomes more potent on hot days. If you are sensitive to that you may way to stay at street level or limit your time in the River Walk itself.
Written April 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
cfiair
United States28 contributions
Romantic, Friendly and amazing stroll alone
Feb 2020 • Couples
The San Antonio Riverwalk is along the San Antonio River about 12ft or so below the road area, lasting over quite a few miles. The main river portion has frequent stairs that lead up to the road level, so you won't be more than a block or so away in front or behind you.
There is an off shoot loop from the main river, where many of the shops are located and is well worth the stroll. We suggest you pause along the way to visit a shop, have a drink or snack at any of the shops. We walked about 6 miles every day, just by strolling, so we got our exercise and had a fun time.
Now boat tours that last about 1/2 hr. are available, costing about $15, and strongly suggested. The seating can be a bit crowded, but it all depends on timing. While the day time cruise is enjoyable and you can indeed see things, the evening cruise is romantic as the different lightings enhance the images.
Don't forget to pause at the "theater" on the river, some may recognize it from a movie seen as well.
So come enjoy and you can fill up several days, without doing the same things twice.
Enjoy!
Written February 19, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Sam p
The Colony, TX21 contributions
PARKING IS SA IS A RIP OFF
Apr 2022
To the City of San Antonio ! Get Public Parking under control. It's ridiculous to charge 40 dollars for parking only for couple hours of stay. Just couple days ago a party of us 5 people decided to visit the river walk near the Alamo plaza so we go there around 8pm. No people on site all public parking are auto pay no security or a parking attendant no lights just a lot of hooded characters walking around looking suspicious. I've tried one machine and they wanted 40 dollars next parking over said 5 dollars on the sign but when I placed my credit card it was charging 10 dollars per hour. Now let me see we were going to spend over 3 hours having dinner and a walk and parking should have been the last thing to worry but no no...we had to pay extortion rates to park in your city. That's what I call gauging big time and the city is culpable. San Antonio your city needs to do better otherwise you will have a lot of people pissed off. Personally I am not coming back and so are the others with me it's not fun anymore or safe.
Written April 16, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Tiffany A
Opp, AL1,812 contributions
Current reality devastates lovely past memories
Jul 2021
If you haven't been to a place for 39 years, you expect things to have changed somewhat, but with beautiful optimism, you hope the essence is preserved amid the "progress."

Sadly, I am unable to report that the riverwalk of San Antonio is still as charming and lovely as it was 4 decades ago. Not even in the same league. I know, few things are, I'm not really surprised. If you have cherished memories of this place, and want to re-live or share them, please reconsider.

The current state of affairs is that the riverwalk is dirty, too crowded to enjoy, eat, shop, see anything for fear of bumping people or falling into the river, being pick-pocketed, stepping in/on something disgusting, etc... trash floating in the disgusting looking river, hardly any landscaping anywhere, the ugliest boats possible chosen for tours.

The restaurants can't or won't open all of their seating, and so many of them were not bothering to dry the wet outdoor seating at all from a rain that had happened a couple of hours earlier - on an extremely crowded Saturday night. The buildings are still charming, and the musicians performing for diners are priceless, but an apathetic pall hangs over this place.

And for the privilege of parking 3 blocks away from this, you get to pay $25 for less than 3 hours
Written July 18, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Travelaandd
Loveland, CO315 contributions
Very Pretty
Jan 2021 • Couples
First time here and the river walk is very pretty. Unfortunately really crowded at night. We enjoyed walking it during the day. And the lights are beautiful at night but we didn’t spend much time there as the crowds were just too much to feel comfortable during Covid. I wouldn’t recommend eating at a river side restaurant at night unless you don’t mind people all around you.
Written January 19, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Susan G
Maben, MS103 contributions
An interesting place
Apr 2022
The Riverwalk is a nice place to stroll during the day and a hopping place at night. Spring and fall are the best times to visit when the weather is not too hot or too cold. This is a unique feature to the city of San Antonio, and everyone should see it at least once!
Written May 1, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
C P
Chicago, IL26 contributions
Beautiful walk and fun boat cruise
Mar 2022
Clean and nicely landscaped. Being March, there were some flowers blooming but I'm guessing it only gets more beautiful in the next couple months. It is more congested in the restaurant area but still comfortable to walk through. The restaurants get very busy around 5 or 6 so plan on a wait of almost an hour. We only ate at one restaurant on the Riverwalk during our stay (Casa Rio) and it wasn't very good. We found the restaurants on the city streets to be better.
Written March 31, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Cynthia1866
Ridgefield Park, NJ109 contributions
It used to be so beautiful
Apr 2022
I was here years ago and loved it…not this time…the river walk has a lot of mentally disabled homeless. People are sleeping and urinating all over the riverwalk. I was here with my adult daughter= we are “city” people and street smart enough to know we didnt feel safe walking at night.
Written April 17, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
The Places Where We Go Podcast
Simi Valley, CA943 contributions
San Antonio has a gem with its River Walk area
Dec 2021
The Riverwalk area was such a wonderful experience during our time in San Antonio. We happened to be here on a busy football weekend, which brought in the crowds, a higher level of festiveness with entertainment along the river. You can easily spend several hours walking along the river, stopping for lunch or dinner at one of the restaurants. We were impressed with the cleanliness of the area. Adding a boat ride is another recommended activity in the area. We took our ride in the evening as the surrounding cityscape was lit up for the holidays. San Antonio has a little gem here that takes it to a higher level as a tourist town.
Written February 5, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Frequently Asked Questions about San Antonio River Walk
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