Comfort, Cascade Caverns & Kerrville on the Guadalupe

Settled in 1854 by German freethinkers (Freidenker) who rejected both slavery and the Civil War, Comfort has over 100 original fachwerk and limestone buildings in continuous private use — the most intact 19th-century German streetscape in the United States. The Treue der Union monument (1866) is believed to be the only monument in the former Confederacy erected to honor those who remained loyal to the Union — a remarkable historical artifact in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. A self-guided walking tour map from the Comfort Chamber covers 40 contributing properties.

Cypress Creek runs through Comfort's city park past bald cypress trees that have been growing along the limestone creek bed since before the town was founded. The swimming hole at the low-water bridge — a stone ford that still carries traffic — has a rope swing, clear water, and the permanent shade of the cypress canopy.

The oldest continuously operating retail store in Texas, founded 1879 in a limestone building on High Street by Peter Ingenhuett. The store sells a combination of antiques, local art, Texas wine, and genuine farm supply in the original building with original shelving. The spirit of a dry goods emporium from 1890 is mostly intact.

Comfort has developed into one of the Hill Country's better antique districts — the 19th-century storefronts along High Street and Broadway house genuine dealers with inventory from the German settler estate sales that define Comfort's particular aesthetic. The furniture and kitchen antiques here differ from the generic Hill Country market fare.

A serene riverside park along the Guadalupe River in downtown Kerrville, popular for morning strolls along paved paths through live oaks with river views.

A 250-foot-deep limestone cave system near Boerne with an underground waterfall, 65°F year-round, and a 45-min guided tour through rooms of stalactites and columns.

A Boerne brewpub on the Cibolo Creek with a shaded outdoor patio, serving burgers, Hill Country sausage plates, and house-brewed ales. A relaxed midday stop between cave and canyon activities.

A 500-acre city park on the Guadalupe with 7 miles of trails through cedar-elm woodland above the river canyon. The Kerrville Folk Festival — 18 days each May and June of acoustic and Americana music on three outdoor stages — has been running continuously since 1972, making it the longest-running folk music festival in North America. Outside festival season the park is one of the most tranquil river-canyon environments in the Hill Country.

An upscale Hill Country dining destination at 203 E. San Antonio St, Fredericksburg, celebrated for locally sourced Hill Country ingredients, an intimate atmosphere, and an excellent wine list.

The Saturday morning farmers market on Marktplatz in the center of Fredericksburg is one of the best in the Hill Country — local peach farmers from Stonewall, vegetable growers from the Pedernales valley, honey producers, and artisan food makers from the surrounding towns set up under the pavilion. The peaches from Wildseed Farms and Fischer & Wieser's jam and preserve operation both have booths.

The 1849 general store, the dance hall, and the post office form the entire town — a tiny community that became the symbolic home of outlaw country music after Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings made it famous in 1977. Sunday afternoon picking circles under the live oaks have no set performer lineup — musicians arrive and play. Cold Lone Star from the general store cooler.

Texas's oldest brewpub, the Fredericksburg Brewing Company has been fermenting German-style lagers and ales since 1994 in a historic 1890s building on Main Street. The beer garden serves brat plates, Reuben sandwiches, and pretzels alongside pints.

At evening dusk, 1-3 million Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from the old railroad tunnel 3 miles south of Fredericksburg — a column of bats spirals upward from the tunnel mouth for 20 to 30 minutes as the colony clears the vegetation and ascends into the feeding altitude. The colony moves from the caves of central Mexico to Texas each March and departs by October. Arrive at least 30 minutes before sunset to secure viewing spots on the upper observation platform.