Texas
The Holiday Season in San Antonio: Lighting Up the River Walk
Program No. 22273RJ
Celebrate the holidays in San Antonio, where you’ll enjoy the festively lit Historic District, view the lights of the River Walk and revel in lectures and excursions to iconic sites.
Participant Reviews
Based on 29 Reviews
SHOWING
This program is phenomenal! I learned so much about Texas, its history and their people. I'm blown away by how much I learned and how much fun I had! Absolutely recommend this program! December is a fantastic time to visit and see all the beautiful lights.
— Review left December 23, 2025
I had a wonderful and memorable trip on this Road Scholar Tour. Kim, the RS guide, was beyond superb. ALL of the lecturers were excellent. The hotel was great. I especially loved its central location and the delicious and quite filling happy hour. The excursions, especially the one to Fredericksberg to see Johnson's childhood home, were perfect. We got to eat in Blanco, Texas, at a Barbecue place, with the tagline, "Come and Eat It." This restaurant housed the best country band ever. To think I lined danced in a place called, Blanco, Texas! I learned a lot about the great state of Texas and saw many interesting and beautiful sites, and met many lovely people. All in all, a grade A, for the RS tour, The Holiday Season in San Antonio: Lighting Up the River Walk.
— Review left May 25, 2025
A wonderful trip to a very unique city. The guest speakers were great and gave us so much insight to what we were going to see on our field trips. Kim's enthusiasm made us look forward to each day.
The Holiday lights along the River walk just added to the ambiance of the trip.
A big "Thank You" to Kim for planning a wonderful itinerary and a special shout out to our fabulous tour bus driver, Rene'.
Linda Lewis
— Review left December 24, 2024
This was our first trip with Road Scholar, it was a great trip, had lots of fun and learned a lot about Texas and San Antionio.
— Review left December 23, 2024
Excellent informative as well as entertaining
— Review left March 25, 2024
I had always wanted to see the lights on the river, and glad I was able to attend this trip. I learned much about my home state during this tour. The lights on the river are certainly beautiful but I enjoyed the other offerings on this trip more so than the lights on the river walk!
— Review left December 26, 2023
This was an excellent introduction about San Antonio during the Christmas holidays. Lots to see and do. Very enjoyable.
— Review left December 24, 2023
San Antonia River Walk Tour is a Gem
— Review left December 14, 2023
Whether a first timer to San Antonio or a repeat participant to the general area, this covers a wide range of topics for the San Antonio/Hill Country area of Texas. I highly recomment it.
— Review left December 11, 2023
I thought road scholar field trips were very informative and educational. VERY ENJOYABLE.
— Review left December 4, 2023
If you have never been to the San Antonio area and would like to learn about how the Spanish settlers influenced the culture of the Southwest, then this is the trip for you! Plus, you will enjoy amazing food, the incredible River Walk, great accommodations, explore missions and the rich history to go with that - “Remember the Alamo!” and a ride to the Texas Hill Country where there may or may not be an incredible BBQ dinner waiting for you at the end of the day. Loved it!
— Review left December 4, 2023
This is a super educational trip about San Antonia and the culture there. I highly recommend. I learned so much on this trip.
— Review left December 3, 2023
This was our first Road Scholar Program, and it did not disappoint. Our adult children, 31, 29, and 27 joined us. We all loved the trip. We had never been to Texas and did not know what to expect. We left with such a great appreciation for the roll Texan settlers played in the founding of our nation. Also, hats off to courageous Texans, both past and present, that shaped what we would consider modern America today. The discussions, historical sites, architecture, art, and food were all amazing. Everything was timed perfectly. Our host Linda Jo was knowledgeable, spunky, and full of Texas sparkle! We could have not wished for more.
— Review left February 12, 2023
Likes:
both lectures about history of Texas and LBJ life were amazing and very informative.
Road trip to LBJ ranch and town and Fredericksburg was very interesting.
Linda our group leader was very good, she was always happy and made us laugh.
Dislike:
the hotel in San Antonio was not my favorite. Although the rooms were OK but the hotel was EXTREMELY crowded and noisy full of family with lots of kids. and they were playing VERY loud music 24 hours a day in all common areas. basically no peace or quite place you site and relax except to go to your room. Elevators were way slow sometimes up to 20 minutes to get one.
We extended our stay 2 more nights on our own and a hotel cross street and found peace and quite and nice atmosphere.
— Review left January 5, 2023
Superior experience! Our Group Leader, Janie, was organized and efficient, and yet flexible enough to be really fun. The two speakers, Allen Hamilton and Mary Brennan, were OUTSTANDING, both of them. We learned so much about the history of Texas and about LBJ and his impact on Texas and the country at large. The Riverwalk is beautiful this time of year. The projected show on the cathedral was a gem. Our hotel was extremely nice with many amenities, and fantastic location for this tour. We all loved the BBQ dinner with live music and dancing. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone!
My only suggestion would be that we did not have much time in the lovely town of Fredericksburg, only about 1 hour, and all the shops were closing by then. Our start time was later that day, and then we stopped with box lunches for lunch. Perhaps that schedule could be altered to allow for more time in Fredericksburg.
— Review left December 20, 2022
Very informative program. Totally changed my feelings toward LBJ. Instructors brought history alive. And the tour leader was the best we've had.
— Review left December 18, 2022
We could step from the Drury Hotel directly on to the River Walk, and were given enough free time to stroll it repeatedly.
In fact, a big portion of San Antonio's major attractions are a short-to-moderate distance away, so bring broken-in shoes and prepare for some of the most enjoyable walks you've ever had.
— Review left December 17, 2022
We had a GREAT time on this Christmas Lights tour to San Antonio. So much history there and excellent presenters.
— Review left December 3, 2022
Great trip....check out the YouTube "movie" I created - 6 minutes: https://youtu.be/0w97Oxd5DQY
Enjoy!
— Review left January 6, 2022
San Antonio ar Christmas is beautiful,; the weather is wonderful, and the people are friendly. Great time to visit the southwest.
— Review left December 27, 2021
We have done 20 trips with Road Scholar and this was definitely one of the best. The Christmas trip features the River Walk lit with tens of thousands of lights, really beautiful. The hotel was the nicest we have stayed at and the experiences were really interesting and varied. The two lecturers were outstanding and the group leader, Ginger, was a treasure. Everything went like clockwork. While we walked around in short sleeves in perfect 75 degree weather, many of the participants loved looking at their phone pictures of snow piling up at home and appreciating San Antonio even more! I highly recommend this one.
— Review left January 5, 2020
This San Antonio Christmas Lights tour is a great holiday adventure of festive lights, information, and fun. This was my best Road Scholar tour to date.
— Review left December 28, 2019
Like all my other road scholar trips it was wonderful.
I would love to see more guides follow Ginger’s lead and create ‘a day at a glance’ guide. It reduced each day to a list of times with a couple of key words. Instead of carrying around pages of 8 x 11 paper on a roughly 3 x 8 sheet that can be folded into name tag you can check out day’s itinerary.
Another suggestion would be for the guides to have a supply of passports for sale. The shipping is more than the cost of the passport. I would love to have list of six and counting trips in one place.
Thank you for all the wonderful adventures!
Elizabeth (Betty) Costello
Bettycostello915@gmail.com
— Review left December 27, 2019
The San Antonio program is excellent. One learns about the historical aspects of the area with the Alamo, L. B. Johnson influence on America (other than Vietnam), the architecture, the food, the beauty and the general culture of the area. For instance, I did not realize how much the Germans influenced this area of Texas.
— Review left December 27, 2019
San Antonio is a great city- the Riverwalk and architecture were very enjoyable.
— Review left December 23, 2019
San Antonio was delightful surprise! A beautiful and unique city. Programs on Texas History, Missions and LBJ all very intriguing. Recommend highly.
— Review left December 9, 2019
Great trip & great time to visit San Antonio!
— Review left December 8, 2019
A fun way to start the holiday season.
— Review left December 8, 2019
San Antonio at Christmas time is extra special. There is lots of diversity in a short period of time.
— Review left December 7, 2019




