Texas - Gulf Coast (Chapter)

This is the Gulf Coast chapter from Lonely Planet's Texas guidebook.

America's 'Third Coast,' as it likes to call itself, is a place of many contrasts. From spring-break high jinks to drilling rigs, refineries and related industries and tiny coastal communities slumbering away in solitude.

• spot majestic and rare but recovering whooping cranes at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
• maps
• join the crowds for the tasty seaside seafood at King's Inn in Loyola Beach
• transportation
• liberate your inner beach bum in Port Aransas, which has goofy old places to stay, goofy seafood joints for chow, and laid-back bars to be a goof in
• restaurants & accommodations

Coverage includes: Golden Triangle, Beaumont, Orange, Port Arthur, Sabine Pass Area, Galveston Area, Galveston & around, The Coastal Bend, Brazosport Area, Matagorda, Palacios, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Goose Island State Park, Rockport & Fulton, Coastal Plains, Victoria, Goliad, Corpus Christi & around, Port Aransas, Mustang & Padre Island Beaches, Padre Island National Seashore, Lower Gulf Coast, Harlingen, Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Port Isabel and South Padre Island.