Experience the best of Amarillo

Amarillo stands on the flat, windy plains of the Texas Panhandle at about 1,100 metres, a city built on cattle, railways and oil. Old Route 66 runs along Sixth Avenue, where antique shops, diners and neon signs have survived, and on the plains west of the city, at Cadillac Ranch, ten cars stand half-buried nose-down in a field, repainted with spray cans by passing visitors.

South of the city, Palo Duro Canyon drops away from the plains in bands of red, orange and white rock, with hiking, horse riding and, in summer, an outdoor musical staged against the cliffs. The Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum at Canyon covers the region's ranching and oil history, and Lake Meredith lies in the plains to the north.

Beef is the local pride: steakhouses, chicken-fried steak, brisket and Tex-Mex fill the menus, and cattle country surrounds the city on every side. The sky is enormous, spring thunderstorms can be dramatic, and autumn gives the clearest, mildest days.