A trip to San Antonio isn’t complete unless you sample its Tex-Mex along the Riverwalk and visit at least one of the missions. Right across the street from the Riverwalk is one of the most famous. Starting in the middle of downtown, the San Antonio Missions run along the San Antonio River as a string of five compounds with original buildings. Each offers an important piece of local history and is still part of the community, often used as a church. Here’s how to see the best San Antonio Missions to visit if you have an hour, or want to take all day.
Missions in San Antonio TX
The Alamo
Mission San Jose
Mission Concepcion
The Best 3 Day Itinerary for San Antonio
Should I Visit the San Antonio Missions
Nearly 300 years ago, North America was in the middle of a turbulent time when several European countries sent settlers to claim land for their kings. The Franciscan friars built compounds along the banks of the present-day San Antonio River to settle the new world for Spain.
Working with the Catholic Church, the walled areas taught existing communities farming practices from Europe, along with a new language and a new religion. For their significance, the five San Antonio Missions were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are a National Park Service site.
The missions are integral to the history of San Antonio and Texas as a whole. Visiting at least one is a great addition to any time to the city.
The Alamo
Located right across the street from the Riverwalk, the Alamo remains a symbol of San Antonio and Texas as a whole. Though central to the Battle of the Alamo, it started as a mission.
In 1718, the Alamo was built as the first Franciscan mission. It offered protection and education to all who converted to Spanish Catholicism.
Secularized in 1793, the original residents continued to live and farm the area surrounding the Alamo. In the early 1800s, tensions rose between Mexico and the settlers of Texas (many not from Mexico). The Texas Revolution broke out and escalated; the Alamo became the center of the conflict.
On March 6, 1836, after a nearly two-week-long siege, the battle broke out between William B. Travis, commander of the Alamo and General Santa Anna and the Mexican troops, who greatly outnumbered the Texans.
The defenders of the Alamo, like David Crockett, were lost in the battle. The Alamo is now a symbol of heroic struggle against overwhelming odds, and the legend lives on.
The Alamo, or the Mission San Antonio de Valero as it was originally called, is in the center of downtown San Antonio. Most visitors to San Antonio and the San Antonio Riverwalk walk past the Alamo.
How to Visit the Alamo
If you have time to visit just one mission, this is the best San Antonio Mission to visit. You can walk through the buildings, visit the gardens surrounding the Alamo or just see the facade and take a picture. It is lit up at night.
Located at 300 Alamo Plaza. It is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the summer and from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for the rest of the year. It’s not part of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. To tour inside the Alamo church (the main building), a free-timed entry ticket is required (available online). Guided tours are available daily from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and reservations are required. Adult admission is $45 and kids (6 to 12) are $35. A self-guided audio tour is available for $20 for adults and $18 for kids.
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Mission San Jose
Outside of the Alamo, Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo is the best San Antonio Mission. It’s the largest and most intact, and it offers the official visitor center to the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
San José, as it’s known, is the most visited. Visitors walk through the wooden gates and into a walled compound centered around the church and get a feel for life like during the mission years.
In 1720, Fray Antonio Margil de Jesús founded Mission San José, which grew into the Queen of the Missions and the model for the remaining missions. Built in 1768, the limestone Spanish Colonial Baroque church called the mission’s residents to pray three times a day.
At the peak of the mission development, 350 residents lived in two-room quarters inside the protective stone walls. The large protected area contained daily activities, like bread baking and school.
As an active Catholic Church, San Jose holds services, especially on the weekends. A sign on the church door will signal when services are being held.
Mission San José offers guided ranger tours at 10 and 11 a.m. Visitors through the mission way of life. You’ll find picnic tables, an interpretive movie and restrooms at the visitor center, located outside of the mission walls.
Located at 607 San Jose Dr., San Antonio. Open daily from sunrise to sunset, the buildings are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free to enter.
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Mission Concepción
Mission Concepcion remains the same as it was dedicated in 1755. It is the oldest unrestored church in the U.S.
In 1731, an East Texas mission community struggled and needed to relocate. Nuestra Señora de la Purisima Concepción, or Mission Concepción, was the first mission south of the Alamo.
Each of the missions is used differently today, but Mission Concepción remains virtually unchanged and features original frescos. The exterior is in the Spanish Colonial Style and even features Moorish styles used in Spain at the time.
Located at 807 Mission Rd., San Antono. Open daily from sunrise to sunset, the buildings are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free to enter.
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Mission San Juan Capistrano
Originally founded in East Texas in 1716, the mission transferred to this location in 1731. Mission San Juan Capistrano had less land than other missions to use for crops and had issues with its population abruptly abandoning the mission.
Residents grew many crops, including corn, beans, chilies, melons, squash and sugar cane. Residents of each mission trader surplus produce with the other missions and Mexico. Agriculture remains as important today as it was 300 years ago.
Located 9101 Graf Rd., San Antonio. Open daily from sunrise to sunset, the buildings are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free to enter.
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Mission Espada
In 1690, the Spanish built a mission in East Texas and in 1731, the residents moved to Mission Espada. Constructed of brick, where the others featured stone, Mission Espada sits last on the Mission Trail.
You can see a loom used to make cloth from the sheep’s wool grown nearby. Near the Mission Espada, the original aqueduct remains. Constructed in the 1740s, it carried water from the nearby San Antonio River.
Located at 10040 Espada Rd., Open daily from sunrise to sunset, the buildings are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free to enter.
The San Antonio Mission Trail
Each mission is about 2 to 3 miles away from the others, and you can visit them all using a hike and bike trail. The Mission Trails Hike and Bike runs along the San Antonio River with dedicated sidewalks. In total, it’s a 10-mile trail, much of it along the San Antonio River.
There are even B cycles along the route that you can rent (via an app) and park at the Missions. Visitors can also drive between the missions.
Here’s a link to the Mission Trails Hike and Bike trail.
What to Do with Kids and Pets at the San Antonio Missions
The Junior Ranger Program is the go-to program for families to learn about a national park site. It’s free and takes about two hours to complete. My kids love the badges that the park rangers present them after completing their booklets.
The Junior Ranger booklet is available at the San Jose Visitor Center. You and your child can complete the activities for a collectible badge. This booklet takes about an hour to complete and adds to the educational experience.
At the Alamo, my boys loved exploring the Alamo and running through the Mission’s grounds, where history came alive. The Battle of the Alamo diorama and the antique weapons thrilled my boys.
BARK program
The San Antonio Mission National Historical Park welcomes pets as long as they practice the principles of the BARK program. For more information, visit its page for visiting with pets. As a rule, pets are not allowed inside of buildings, including the missions.
B–Bag waste and dispose of it in the trash
A–Always leash your dog for their safety and others
R–Respect wildlife
K–Know where you can go
National Parks of Texas
Brief History of San Antonio Missions
Before Texas became a state or the United States became a nation, a group of Franciscan friars built five missions along the San Antonio River. Starting in 1718 with the Alamo and later the Mission San José in 1720, the Spanish friars offered the Coahuiltecan Indians living in South Texas protection and sustenance.
In this area of Texas, the Coahuiltecan Indians suffered from frequent Apache and Comanche attacks and European diseases. The San Antonio Missions offered protection, and the Franciscan friars taught the Coahuiltecan Indians new vocational skills, a new religion, and Spanish and Latin.
After the East Texas Spanish missions floundered, the remaining residents moved to San Antonio. Finding wildlife, timber and water in abundance, mission life offered structure. With daily devotions, education for the children, lessons in farming, domestic skills and modern building techniques for the adults, mission life provided a community.
In 1775, the San Antonio Missions were secularized, no longer necessary for the survival of the Coahuiltecan Indians. However, the missions remain active churches in the surrounding communities. In 2015, the United Nations recognized the Alamo and the four San Antonio Missions as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Where are the San Antonio Missions
Located in downtown San Antonio, the Alamo resides 10 miles south of the San Antonio airport and steps from the Riverwalk at 300 Alamo Plaza. The San Antonio Mission Trail starts south of the Alamo.
Mission Road connects all four missions, about two to three miles apart. To visit the San Antonio Missions, take the Mission Hike and Bike trail, 16 miles roundtrip. It is a pleasant trip for adults and older kids, riding along the scenic San Antonio River.
You can drive, walk, bike or use public bus transportation to reach the missions. Lodging and food service are available near the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, though they are not located within the park’s boundaries.
Know Before You Go
- The Alamo remains hallowed ground for Texans, please remove hats and photos prohibited inside of the church, the main building.
- The Missions remain active churches with ceremonies on the weekends.
- Take a refillable water bottle. All the missions feature water fountains but not all have food service.
- Use caution on Mission Road and River Walk Hike-and-Bike Trail using rain events as this area floods.
Where To Stay in San Antonio
Located on the San Antonio River Walk, the Hyatt Regency Riverwalk is a landmark on the famed river. Known to many as the hotel with the river running through it, the Hyatt Regency Riverwalk is within walking distance of many of the top attractions in downtown San Antonio.
