River Walk

The River Walk [1] is truly on the beaten path, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the shopping options are run-of-the mill tourist spots offering T-shirts, knickknacks, overpriced art, and decorative furnishings.

For some reason, the most popular shopping experience along the River Walk is the Rivercenter Mall (809 Commerce St., 210/225-0000, www.shoprivercenter.com [2]), a three-story structure that offers a cool respite on hot days, but that’s about the only refreshing thing here. Rivercenter contains all the shops and food options found at most malls across the country, but there are a couple distinguishing features—the Rio San Antonio River Cruises depart from a “lagoon” on the ground level, and the IMAX theater showcases an Alamo movie to complement the real deal just around the corner.