Start from 26 curated places around Midland, TX, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Luigi's Italian Restaurant
Midland's oldest Italian restaurant, open since 1958 and still anchoring downtown with housemade pasta, thin-crust pizza, and a full bar in a comfortable red-sauce room. Generations of Midlanders have celebrated everything from business deals to graduations here. The lasagna and hot pastrami sandwich are perennial orders, and the wine list punches well above what you'd expect in West Texas.
Wall Street Bar & Grill
A long-running downtown steakhouse and bar set in a historic building, where oilfield executives and locals alike gather for prime cuts, fresh seafood, and cold drinks. The bar scene is lively on weekend evenings, and the Saturday brunch draws a loyal crowd. The classic American menu is executed consistently well, and the space has real character.
Trails & outdoors
Midland Trail Park Full Loop
An 11.9-kilometer loop trail on the eastern edge of Midland accessible from FM 307, flat by design and suitable for hiking, jogging, cycling, and walking. The park is a rare greenspace in the Permian Basin where the landscape opens up, and the trail is wide enough for side-by-side conversation. Families with kids and cyclists use it heavily on weekend mornings.
Sibley Nature Center Trails
A 49-acre urban nature preserve on East Wadley Avenue in Hogan Park, with two short walking trails through native West Texas vegetation and educational signage identifying regional plants, birds, and wildlife. The center's mission is interpretation as much as recreation, making it more than a simple park walk. Birdwatchers find it reliably productive for Permian Basin species, and the knowledgeable staff make a real difference.
Things to do
Midland RockHounds at Momentum Bank Ballpark
The Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics plays at a well-maintained, fan-friendly ballpark on the western edge of Midland with a dedicated standing-room berm, outfield picnic decks, and an active kids' play area. The stadium atmosphere is genuinely warm, and a hot summer evening at a RockHounds game is one of the more pleasurable West Texas experiences available. Tickets are inexpensive and easy to walk up on game night.
Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
A state-of-the-art 1,800-seat concert hall on the UTPB campus hosting more than 150 performances annually—Broadway touring productions, major concerts, ballet, symphony, and comedy acts. The acoustics are genuinely excellent, and the building itself is a striking piece of architecture that feels out of scale with the surrounding West Texas landscape in the best way. Worth checking the calendar for whatever's on during your stay.
Landmarks & sights
Permian Basin Petroleum Museum
The largest petroleum industry museum in the country, spread across 60,000 square feet along I-20, with interactive exhibits tracing oil from geological formation to refinery, plus the world's largest collection of Chaparral race cars as an unexpected bonus. The scale model of a working oil field is genuinely impressive, and the history of wildcatting in the Permian Basin is told with real depth. A proper half-day commitment.
Bush Family Home State Historic Site
A modest 1950s clapboard house on West Ohio Avenue where George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush, and young George W. Bush lived from 1951 to 1955, restored to its period state with original furnishings and family photographs. The guided walk through the yard and interior provides an unexpectedly intimate window into mid-century Midland life and the family's Permian Basin oil days. The contrast between the small house and what it launched is the whole story.