Waco sits halfway between Dallas and Austin, close enough to both that many travelers only see the freeway exits. That is a mistake if you like Texas with a bit of odd local flavor. This is the home of Baylor University, Dr Pepper, a riverside suspension bridge from the cattle-drive era, and one of the more surprising fossil sites in the United States.
The best of Waco is clustered around the Brazos River and downtown. You can walk the old Waco Suspension Bridge, visit the Dr Pepper Museum, and keep going to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame or Baylor's museums without much driving. North of the centre, Cameron Park gives the city real breathing room, with wooded trails and river bluffs.
Waco also carries harder history. The 1993 Branch Davidian siege happened outside town, and locals are understandably tired of having the city reduced to that one event. Give Waco a day on its own terms and it comes across as a compact, sometimes strange, very Texan stop with enough to reward the pause.