Experience the best of Marfa

Marfa began in the 1880s as a water stop on the railroad and became an art town after Donald Judd moved here from New York in the 1970s. His Chinati Foundation fills former army buildings with large works in concrete and aluminium, and the Presidio County courthouse of 1886 stands above a small downtown.

East of town, a roadside viewing area on the highway looks out for the Marfa lights, glowing orbs that some nights appear over the plain and whose cause is still debated. The Davis Mountains rise to the north, with the McDonald Observatory above Fort Davis, and a mock designer boutique built as an artwork stands by the highway to the north-west.

Meals are simple ranch-country food, Tex-Mex, burgers and barbecue served from food trucks and old shopfronts, with mezcal and sotol, a spirit made from a desert plant, behind the bars. Days are bright and nights cool on the plateau at around 1,400 metres, with the gentlest weather in spring and autumn.