Dallas to Lafayette LA road trip: Drive time, distance & best stops
The best road trip stops on the Dallas to Lafayette LA drive are Marshall TX, Shreveport LA and Natchitoches LA. The distance from Dallas to Lafayette LA by car is 391 miles, with a 5h39m driving time.
Planning a Dallas to Lafayette road trip itinerary
The drive from Dallas to Lafayette LA takes you from north Texas to southern Louisiana.
Dallas has plenty of high quality cultural attractions. These include the Nasher Scupture Center, Pioneer Square and the Perot Museum of Science and Nature.
But for many visitors, the main reason to visit Dallas is the JFK assassination. Yes, you can go up to the Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly took his shot from.
Top Dallas experiences include a JFK Assassination and Museum tour, the GeO-Deck at Reunion Tower and a self-guided scavenger hunt.
How to do the JFK sites in Dallas
The best way to combine the JFK sites in Dallas is a special themed tour. This takes in the JFK Memorial, Dealey Plaza and the Grassy Knoll before heading to Lee Harvey Oswald’s rooming house. It finishes in the Sixth Floor Museum of the Texas Book Depository. On the way, expert guides take you through the assassination facts and theories. Find out more here.
Top Dallas accommodation choices include the plush Hyatt Regency downtown and the charismatically luxurious Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek.
Lafayette’s top attractions include Acadian Village, a recreated 19th-century Cajun village, which plays host to artisans and craftspeople among the historic homes.
Vermilionville is similar, but the living history museum here looks at the cultures of Native American and Creole people as well as the Acadians.
Elsewhere, the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist is famed for its stained glass windows.
Top Lafayette experiences include Cajun food tours.
For Lafayette accommodation, the SpringHill Suites and Home2 Suites tend to get the best reviews.
Dallas to Lafayette LA distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Dallas to Lafayette LA is 391 miles. That makes for a driving time of around five hours and 39 minutes. The quickest route is mostly along the I-20 and I-49. The best stops on a Dallas to Lafayette road trip itinerary are Marshall TX, Shreveport LA and Natchitoches LA.
Dallas to Lafayette LA drive: Marshall, Texas
The main city in wealthy Harrison County, Marshall, has plenty of heritage on display. The Starr Family Home has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979, and the Harrison County Historical Museum covers the region’s backstory.
The most interesting section delves into the bizarre period where Marshall became the Confederate capital of… Missouri. The Missouri Confederate leadership decamped here to lead a government in exile during the Civil War.
Accommodation in Marshall is almost entirely motel-style. Hunt here for deals.
Best stops between Dallas and Lafayette LA: Shreveport LA
Shreveport is best known for its riverboat casinos, but there are a few other strings to its bow. Surprisingly interesting attractions include the Shreveport Water Works Museum, which looks at the ways we use and treat water, and the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum. The latter is inside a masterpiece of modern architecture, and features a series of extraordinarily detailed dioramas depicting Louisiana life.
The best Shreveport experiences include scavenger hunts and the Shreveport Aquarium.
Dallas to Lafayette road trip attractions: Natchitoches LA
Natchitoches is the oldest city within the Louisiana Purchase area, with a wealth of well-preserved Creole architecture. The Oakland and Magnolia plantations within the Cane River Creole National Historical Park offer tours that go into the lives of those who lived and worked there.
Less historic but still fairly engrossing is the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. The Northwest Louisiana History Museum is in the same building.
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