One of downtown San Antonio's great gifts to visitors on foot is its wonderfully meandering early pathways--not laid out by drunken cattle drivers as has been widely suggested, but formed by the course of the San Antonio River and the various settlements that grew up around it. Turn any corner in this area and you'll come across some fascinating testament to the city's historically rich past.

Start: The Alamo.

Finish: Market Square.

Time: Approximately 1+ hours, not including stops at shops, eateries, or attractions.

Best Times: Early morning during the week, when the streets and attractions are less crowded. If you're willing to tour the Alamo museums and shrine another time, consider starting out before they open (9am).

Worst Times: Weekend afternoons, especially in summer, when the crowds and the heat render this long stroll rather uncomfortable. (If you do get tired, you can always pick up a streetcar within a block or two of most parts of this route.)

Built to be within easy reach of each other, San Antonio's earliest military, religious, and civil settlements are concentrated in the downtown area. The city spread out quite a bit in the next 2= centuries, but downtown still functions as the seat of the municipal and county government, as well as the hub of tourist activities.

Start your tour at Alamo Plaza (bounded by East Houston Street on the north); at the plaza's northeast corner you'll come to the entrance for:

1.The Alamo, originally established in 1718 as the Mission San Antonio de Valero. The first of the city's five missions, it was moved twice before settling into this site. The heavy limestone walls of the church and its adjacent compound later proved to make an excellent fortress; in 1836, the fighters for Texas's independence from Mexico took a heroic, if ultimately unsuccessful, stand against Mexican general Santa Anna here.

When you leave the walled complex, walk south along the plaza to:

2.The Menger Hotel , built by German immigrant William Menger in 1859 on the site of Texas's first brewery, which he had opened with partner Charles Deegan in 1855. Legend has it that Menger wanted a place to lodge hard-drinking friends who used to spend the night sleeping on his long bar. Far more prestigious guests--presidents, Civil War generals, writers, stage actors, you name it--stayed here over the years, and the hotel turns up in several short stories by frequent guest William Sidney Porter (O. Henry). The Menger has been much expanded since it first opened, but retains its gorgeous, three-tiered Victorian lobby.

On the south side of the hotel, Alamo Plaza turns back into North Alamo Street. Take it south 1 block until you reach Commerce Street, where you'll see:

3.Joske's, San Antonio's oldest department store. The more modest retail emporium opened by the Joske Brothers in 1889 was swallowed up in 1939 by the huge modernist building you see now, distinctive for its intricate Spanish Renaissance-style details; look for the miniaturized versions of Mission San Josi's sacristy window on the building's ground-floor shadowboxes.

Walk a short way along the Commerce Street side of the building to:

4.St. Joseph's Catholic Church, built for San Antonio's German community in 1876. This gothic revival-style house of worship is as notable for the intransigence of its congregation as it is for its beautiful stained-glass windows. The worshipers' refusal to move from the site when Joske's department store was rising up all around it earned the church the affectionate moniker "St. Joske's."

Head back to Alamo Street and continue south 2 blocks past the San Antonio Convention Center to reach:

5.La Villita, once the site of a Coahuiltecan Indian village. It was settled over the centuries by Spanish, Germans, and, in the '30s and '40s, a community of artists. A number of the buildings have been continuously occupied for more than 200 years. The "Little Village" on the river was restored by a joint effort of the city and the San Antonio Conservation Society in 1939 and now hosts a number of crafts shops and two upscale restaurants in addition to the historic General Css House and the Arneson River Theatre.

Just south of La Villita you'll see HemisFair Way and the large iron gates of:

6.HemisFair Park, built for the 1968 exposition held to celebrate the 250th anniversary of San Antonio's founding. The expansive former fairgrounds are home to two museums, a German heritage park, and an observation tower--the tallest structure in the city and a great reference point if you get lost downtown. The plaza is too large to explore even superficially on this tour, so come back another time.

Retrace your steps to Paseo de la Villita and walk 1 block west to Presa Street. Take it north for about half a block until you see the Presa Street Bridge and descend from it to:

7.The River Walk. You'll find yourself on a quiet section of the 2.8-mile paved walkway that lines the banks of the San Antonio River through a large part of downtown and the King William Historic District. The bustling cafe, restaurant, and hotel action is all just behind you, on the stretch of the river that winds north of La Villita.

Stroll down this tree-shaded thoroughfare until you reach the St. Mary's Street Bridge (you'll pass only one other bridge, the Navarro Street Bridge, along the way) and ascend here. Then walk north half a block until you come to Market Street. Take it west 1 long block, where you'll find:

8.Main Plaza (Plaza de Las Islas), the heart of the town established in 1731 by 15 Canary Island families sent by King Philip V of Spain to settle his remote New World outpost. Much of the history of San Antonio--and of Texas--unfolded on this modest square. A peace treaty with the Apaches was signed (and later broken) on the plaza in 1749; in 1835, freedom fighters battled Santa Anna's troops here before barricading themselves in the Alamo across the river. Much calmer these days, the plaza still sees some action as home to the Romanesque-style Bexar County Courthouse, built out of native Texas granite and sandstone in 1892.

Walk along the south side of Main Plaza to the corner of Main Avenue. Across the street and just to the north you'll see:

9.San Fernando Cathedral, the oldest parish church building in Texas and site of the earliest marked graves in San Antonio. Three walls of the original church started by the Canary Island settlers in 1738 can still be seen in the rear of the 1868 gothic revival cathedral. Among those buried within the sanctuary walls are Eugenio Navarro, brother of Josi Antonio Navarro, and Don Manuel Muqoz, first governor of Texas when it was a province of a newly independent Mexico.

On the north side of the cathedral is Trevino Street; take it west to the next corner and cross the street to reach:

10.Military Plaza (Plaza de Armas), once the drill ground for the Presidio San Antonio de Bixar. The garrison, established in 1718 to protect the Mission San Antonio de Valero, was moved to this nearby site 4 years later. Military Plaza was one of the liveliest spots in Texas for the 50 years after Texas won its independence. In the 1860s, it was the site of vigilante lynchings, and after the Civil War it hosted a bustling outdoor market. At night the townsfolk would come to its open-air booths to buy chili con carne from their favorite chili queen. The plaza remained completely open until 1889, when the ornate City Hall was built at its center.

The one-story white building you'll see directly across the street from the west side of the plaza is:

11.Spanish Governor's Palace, former residence and headquarters of the captain of the Presidio de Bixar (but not of any Spanish governors); from here, the commander could watch his troops going through their drills across the street. The source of the house's misnomer is not entirely clear; as the home of the highest local authority and thus the nicest digs in the area, the "palace" probably hosted important Spanish officials who came through town.

From the front of the Governor's Palace, walk south until you come to the crosswalk; just west across Dolorosa Street you'll see a drainage ditch, the sad remains of:

12.San Pedro Creek. The west bank of this body of water, once lovely and full flowing, was the original site of both the Mission San Antonio de Valero and the Presidio de Bixar. At the creek's former headwaters, approximately 2 miles north of here, San Pedro Park was established in 1729 by a grant from the king of Spain; it's the second-oldest municipal park in the United States (the oldest being the Boston Common).

Continue west along Dolorosa Street to Laredo Street and take it south about three-quarters of a block until you come to:

13.Casa Navarro State Historical Park. The life of Josi Antonio Navarro, for whom the park is named, traces the history of Texas itself: He was born in Spanish territory, fought for Mexico's independence from Spain, then worked to achieve Texas's freedom from Mexico. (He was one of only two Texan-born signatories to the 1836 Declaration of Independence.) In 1845, Navarro voted for Texas's annexation to the United States, and a year later he became a senator in the new Texas State Legislature. He died here in 1871 at the age of 76.

Trace your steps back to Laredo and Dolorosa, and go west on Dolorosa Street; when you reach Santa Rosa you'll be facing:

14.Market Square, home to the city's Market House at the turn of the century. When the low, arcaded structure was converted to El Mercado in 1973, it switched from selling household goods and personal items to crafts, clothing, and other more tourist-oriented Mexican wares. Directly behind and west of this lively square, the former Haymarket Plaza has become the Farmer's Market, and now sells souvenirs instead of produce. Here you can enjoy a well deserved lunch at Mi Tierra or La Margarita.