An insider’s guide to Oklahoma City

Intersected by America’s legendary Route 66, Oklahoma City exemplifies the bold spirit of the modern American West. In this welcoming city, travellers can visit a working cattle stockyard, shop for authentic Western wear, tour world-class museums or kayak down a wild river under the vast prairie sky. Visitors will find inventive cocktails, stellar Mexican cuisine and exciting tasting menus featuring local produce all across the city.

Start exploring with a self-guided tour of the domed Oklahoma State Capitol. The grand building is known for its impressive collection of art, including a striking bucking bronco sculpture outside, as well as paintings of Indigenous life by the late American artist and politician Enoch Kelly Haney. Nearby, the First Americans Museum, which opened in 2021, holds exhibitions on the history and culture of the state’s 39 Indigenous tribes. Expect to find video interviews and artefacts, from baskets to baby cradles, as well as the onsite 39 Restaurant, which serves dishes inspired by First American culinary traditions and ingredients, such as bison tartare and courgette-corn fritters.

To the west of the Capitol building, the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum remembers the 168 victims of the deadly 1995 homegrown terrorist attack. The sombre-yet-hopeful site includes an expanse of empty chairs (one for each person killed), a reflecting pool and an exhibition exploring the impact of the bombing.

Dating back to 1911, The Skirvin Hilton provides a convenient downtown base for travellers, with newly renovated rooms in a three-winged skyscraper. Alternatively, the Classen Inn, a revived mid-century motel, has brightly decorated interiors (think lime-green zigzag-patterned wallpaper and orange fringed bedspreads) and an onsite shop selling tasty snacks and drinks. Located near the National Memorial, the modern Citizen House features elements of a social club, a coworking space and a luxury hotel in a single, art-filled building.

Cattle ranches still rule the plains surrounding Oklahoma City, and this heritage is saluted at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, located north east of Downtown. Collections dive into cowboy history and Western art, with displays featuring rodeo saddles and Old West firearms.

See contemporary cow wranglers at work and watch a livestock auction at the Oklahoma National Stockyards, the largest stocker and feeder (terms used to describe young cattle) market in the world. It’s the centrepiece of the Stockyards City neighbourhood, where visitors can shop for Western wear at Shorty’s Caboy Hattery or Little Joe’s Boots before tucking into a juicy T-bone at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse. Open since 1910, Cattlemen’s is the oldest continuingly operating restaurant in Oklahoma and serves up huge portions — try the chicken-fried steak (a breaded, deep-fried cutlet in gravy) with a side of fried okra.

A short stroll from Downtown takes you to Bricktown, home to restored 19^th- and 20^th-century warehouses and filled with restaurants, boutiques and entertainment venues. Enjoy mini golf and laser tag at Brickopolis or head to Chicksaw Bricktown Ballpark to cheer on the city’s Minor League Baseball team, the Oklahoma City Comets. The American Banjo Museum displays more than 400 instruments and other artefacts related to these chordophones. Visitors can also cruise the mile-long Bricktown Canal in an open-air water taxi, as a guide shares details about the area's history and architecture.

North of Downtown, neon signs light up Automobile Alley, a historic neighbourhood where car dealerships once operated. Today, it’s home to independent shops (try Johnny and June for all-American souvenirs) and cool restaurants like Sidecar Barley & Wine Bar, which serves small plates and wine in a one-time Pontiac showroom. Automobile Alley also draws culture fans with Factory Obscura, known for its immersive art experiences, and the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, which holds creative artworks, theatre productions and dance performances.

America's storied Route 66 runs through the up-and-coming Britton District. The neighbourhood is made up of refurbished 20^th-century buildings that now host shops, bars and gallery spaces, including Hideout Art, a studio where visitors can buy artworks and learn painting techniques. Restaurants and bars appeal here, too; local favourites include the Mexican bar and cantina El Coyote (try the green chilli double cheeseburger) and Zero Tolerance Coffee & Chocolate.

With OKC’s renowned sunsets (it’s those wide prairie skies), outdoor recreation is also a major draw to the city. Travellers can run or cycle along the nine miles of paved trails at Lake Hefner or go whitewater rafting at Riversport, with its adjustable, human-controlled rapids. Hikers and birdwatchers should head to Stinchcomb Wildlife Reserve, where 1,000 acres of hardwood forest and marshland are home to whitetail deer, scissortail flycatchers and other flora and fauna. Downtown, the 17-acre Myriad Botanical Gardens is composed of green spaces loaded with native trees and flowers. The gardens’ newly renovated Crystal Bridge Conservatory also features a tropical plant display with water lilies and palms, plus a two-storey waterfall.