With the fourth largest population of any US city, Houston can’t hide its miles of seemingly endless strip malls and gridlocked traffic. Though known for sprawl and lack of planning, Houston has a revitalized downtown with a new light rail line, glorious modern architecture, stadiums, and several state-of-the-art performance centers. Houston’s prosperity, built on the wealth of its oil and maritime industries, shows in its immaculate streetscapes, parks, and public buildings. Yet beyond the skyscrapers, culture abounds in an impressive array of world-class restaurants, museums, and cultural organizations.
Houston covers 600 sq. mi.—and that’s just within the city limits. The Houston Metroplex is a vast agglomeration of suburbs, shopping malls, freeways, and mini-downtowns sprawling over thousands of square miles on the Gulf Plains. Downtown Houston, with its compact street grid, is the geographic and historic heart of the city. Much of downtown’s foot traffic goes subterranean in a network of underground tunnels that connect most major buildings. Freeways are the prime geographic indicators, and everything is either inside or outside The Loop (I-610). Houston’s ritzy shopping is in the Uptown District, which runs along Westheimer Rd. from downtown to The Galleria, a complex of high-end chain stores. The Museum District lies south of downtown and is bordered on the south by Hermann Park, Rice University, and the Texas Medical Center. The Katy Freeway, or I-10, runs west and is the axis of much of Houston’s new development. Houston’s vibrant gay community is concentrated in the trendy Montrose District. There is a small Chinatown just east of downtown, and a more suburban, sprawling Chinatown and Little Vietnam, or DiHo, along Bellaire Blvd. east of U.S. 59.
Cheap motels dot the city’s major approaches, such as the Katy Freeway (I-10W) and the Southwest Freeway (U.S. 59). Some have rates in the $30 range, but they are often unsafe, dirty, and noisy. Motels along South Main Street (on bus route #8) are more convenient. Most campgrounds in the Houston area lie a considerable distance from the city center: Lake Houston State Park, 30 mi. to the northeast, and Brazos Bend, 35 mi. to the southwest, are the nearest.
Houston’s cuisine takes its cues from its immigrant cultures, seamlessly blending Louisiana’s Cajun influence with soul food, Texas barbecue, and Mexican food. With the downtown areas newfound success has come pricier restaurants. Affordable, diverse options can be found throughout the city and on suburban commercial strips. If you’re looking for the best tacos or a refreshing bubble tea, head to ethnic enclaves like the East End, Chinatown, or Little Vietnam.
Johnson Space Center. The city’s most popular attraction, Space Center Houston, is outside Houston city limits in Clear Lake, TX. Admission includes a tour of the center’s historic mission control, an abandoned prototype hangar, and the astronaut training facility, as well as educational film screenings in the Giant Screen, Texas’ largest movie theater. The complex also houses models of the Gemini, Apollo, and Mercury crafts. No visit is complete without taking a moment to touch the moon rock on public display. (1601 NASA Pkwy. 1. Take I-45 south to NASA Rd. (Exit 25) then head east 3 mi.; or take bus #246. ☎281-244-2100; www.spacecenter.org. Opens between 9-10am and closes between 5-7pm; call ahead. $19, seniors $18, ages 4-11 $15.) The Level 9 Tour takes visitors to areas of the Space Center not usually open to tourists, including the New Mission Control Center, the Robotics Lab, the Space Environment Simulation Lab, and the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. For the wannabe rocketman (or woman), it’s the only way to see the sights. (☎244-2115. 4hr., 1 per day M-F 11:45am, $70. 12-person max., over 14 only. Reservations recommended.)
The San Jacinto Battleground State Historical Site. This park commemorates Sam Houston’s victory over Santa Ana’s Mexican troops with a 570 ft. monument that, in true Texas fashion, is taller than the Washington Monument in the nation’s capital. A small museum of Texas history (told from a Texans point of view) sits at the monument’s base. The Battleship Texas, on the other side of the park, is the last remaining ship of the Dreadnought era and the only surviving battleship to have served in both World Wars. Visitors can explore the ship at will, even descending into the bowels of the engine room. (Take Hwy. 225 E. to the Battleground Rd./Hwy. 134 Exit and head north. Park open daily 9am-6pm. Free. Museum: ☎281-479-2421. Open daily 9am-6pm. Free. 35min. multimedia slide show daily every hr. 10am-5pm. $4.50, seniors $4, under 11 $3.50. Battleship: ☎281-479-2431. Open daily 10am-5pm. $7, seniors $4, under 11 free.)
Hermann Park. This 445-acre park provides respite from urban life as well as numerous opportunities for recreation. McGovern Lake, the reflecting pool, the Southern Pacific steam locomotive, and the Miller Outdoor Theater are free and open all day long. The Japanese Tea Garden was designed by renowned landscape architect Ken Nakajima. Pleasure-seekers can rent a paddleboat on McGovern Lake ($8) or ride the Kiddie Train ($2.25). Near the northern entrance of the park, the Houston Museum of Natural Science includes a planetarium, IMAX theater, and 60 ft. high butterfly center, in addition to various traveling exhibits. Weiss Energy Hall covers oil, and the science associated with its production. The Houston Zoological Gardens, at the park’s southern end, features over 700 species, including a special section for animals native to Texas including the Texas Tan Tarantula, Barred Tiger Salamander, and Ornate Box Turtle. (Museum of Natural Science: 1 Hermann Circle Dr. ☎639-4629; www.hmns.org. Exhibits open M-Sa 9am-5pm, Su 11am 5pm. Free Tu. Museum $9, seniors and under 12 $7; IMAX $7/$4.50; planetarium $6/$5; butterfly center $6/$5. Museum exhibits free 30min. before closing. Japanese tea garden: www.japanesegarden.org. Open daily 10am-6pm. Free. Zoo: 1513 N. MacGregor. ☎533-6500; www.houstonzoo.org. Open Mar.-Sept. 9am-7pm; Oct.-Feb. 9am—6pm. $8, seniors $5, ages 2-12 $4.)
Downtown. Downtown Houston reads like a Who’s Who of famous modern architects. Those who brave the heat at street level will be rewarded by over a century of the richest samplings of business architecture in the United States. At 70 floors, the JP Morgan Chase Tower, designed by I.M. Pei in 1981, is Houston’s tallest building. The public is welcome to take the elevator to the observation deck on the 60th floor to take in the 20 mi. vista to the west. Outside the tower in the courtyard stands Juan Miró’s largest freestanding sculpture in the United States. (600 Travis St. M-F 9am-5pm. Free.) One block north on Travis St., the public can peek through giant windows to see the Houston Chronicle’s printing presses in action. Two blocks farther up Travis St., Market Square Park is the historic center of the city of Houston. Having declined into a parking lot in the mid-20th century, it has been restored as a handsome park square with tiles that vividly recount the history of Houston in black-and-white photos. Six miles of tunnels connect Houston’s downtown buildings to parking, and are a site in and of themselves, creating a veritable underground city that protects residents from the (sometimes) deadly heatwaves. The Buffalo Bayou, recently re-engineered and re-landscaped, forms the northwestern border of the downtown area.
Art Attractions. At Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts, the Caroline Weiss Law building showcases contemporary and modern collections, while the Audrey Jones Beck building displays everything from ancient European art to Impressionist pieces. Be sure to see Bouguereau’s famous painting, “The Elder Sister,” and the Glassell Collection of African gold, considered one of the best of its kind in the world . (Museum: 1001 Bissonet. ☎639-7300; www.mfah.org. Open Tu-W 10am-5pm, Th 10am-9pm, F-Sa 10am-7pm, Su 12:15-7pm. $7; students, seniors, and ages 6-18 $3.50. Audio tour $10/5; Th free. Garden: 5101 Montrose Blvd. Open daily 9am-10pm. Free.) Across the street, the Contemporary Arts Museum forgoes a traditional permanent collection and instead rotates the works of well-known international artists in its large, dramatic rooms. (5216 Montrose Blvd. ☎284-8258; www.camh.org. Open Tu-W and F-Sa 10am-5pm, Th 10am-9pm, Su noon-5pm. Free.) Founded in 1987 by the Menil Family, the Menil Collection spans five buildings in a residential neighborhood west of Montrose. Showcasing Surrealist paintings and sculptures, Byzantine and medieval artifacts, and other European, American, and African art, the Menil Collection also features touring installments. (1515 Sul Ross. ☎525-9400; www.menil.org. Open W-Su 11am-7pm. Free.) Richmond Hall contains nothing but the neon light sculptures of Dan Flavin. (1500 Richmond Ave. Same hours as the Menil.)
Bayou Bend. Ima Hogg was once one of the city of Houston’s wealthiest women, and when she left her mansion and collections as the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, Houston gained one of the finest collections of American decorative art in the US. Hidden among the collection are portraits by John Singleton Copley and silver pieces by Paul Revere. (1 Wescott St. ☎639-7750; www.mfah.org/bayoubend. Enter from Memorial Dr. and walk across the suspension bridge over the bayou. 1hr. tours leave every 15min. Tu-Sa 10-11:30am and 1-2:45pm. On Sa afternoon, Su, and all month in Aug. visitors receive audio tours in lieu of guides. $10, seniors and students $8.50, ages 10-18 $5, under 10 not permitted on tours. Gardens open Tu-Sa 10am-5pm, Su 1-5pm. 1hr. garden tours by reservation. $3, under 10 free.) For the European counterpart to Bayou Bend, visit the Rienzi Mansion, located along the same ravine. Rienzi exhibits Georgian English decorative art including gilded footstools. (1406 Kirby Dr. ☎639-7800. Open M and Th-Sa 10am-4pm, Su 1-5pm. $6, seniors $4. Viewing of the house is only available via tour; call ahead.)
Other Museums. In the late 1800s, members of the all-black units in the American army were nicknamed “Buffalo Soldiers,” both because of their naturally curly hair and as a sign of respect for their fighting spirit. The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum contains artifacts, memorabilia, uniforms, and weapons illustrating the history of African Americans in the armed forces. Though the artifacts rival the Smithsonian’s collection, the museum’s limited funds means that some of these objects aren’t even protected by glass. (1834 Southmore Blvd. ☎942-8920; www.buffalosoldiermuseum.com. Open M-F 10am-5pm, Sa 10am-4pm. $2) The Museum of Print History is in a less convenient location than its counterparts in the Museum District, but its unique subject matter sets it apart. The collections contain hundreds of documents, maps, and facsimiles produced by antique printing presses, as well as dozens of the presses themselves. Visitors can watch artists-in-residence use a model of the Gutenburg press. (1324 West Clay. ☎522-4652; www.printingmuseum.org. Open Tu-Sa 10am-5pm. Free.) The cylindrical architecture of the Holocaust Museum is meant to evoke a concentration camp’s smokestack. The museum has a rotating art gallery and two films about the Holocaust. (5401 Caroline St. ☎942-8000; www.hmh.org. Open M-F 9am-5pm, Sa-Su noon-5pm. Free.) It looks like it belongs in 18th-century India, but Mandir is neither old nor a museum. Mandir is a brand-new temple of Swaminarayan Hinduism, made by thousands of pieces of marble that were carved in India. The Swaminarayans welcome the public, provided you remove your shoes and cover your shoulders and legs. The temperature inside the temple is 20˚ cooler because of the marble, allowing the mind and body to relax. (1150 Brand Ln. Take U.S. 59 S to Kirkwood Exit. ☎281-499-7974; www.swaminarayan.org. Open daily 9am-8:45pm.)
From March to October, symphony, opera, ballet companies, and various professional theaters stage free performances at the Miller Outdoor Theatre (☎284-8352; www.milleroutdoortheatre.com), in Hermann Park. Pick up a schedule at the on-site concession stand or online. The annual Shakespeare Festival struts and frets upon the stage in August. The downtown Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave., puts on Broadway-caliber productions at moderate prices. (☎220-5700; www.alleytheatre.org. Tickets $19-63; M-Th and Su student rush tickets 1hr. before show $13; F-Sa matinee $21.) Bayou Place, 500 Texas Ave., contains the Angelika Film Center, which plays foreign as well as mainstream domestic films. (☎333-3456. $8, students $6.) Bayou Place also holds the Hard Rock Cafe and the Verizon Wireless Theater (☎230-1666), where big-name music tours often perform. The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby St. (☎315-2400; www.thehobbycenter.org), features a dome ceiling with a fiber optic display of the Texas night sky and hosts Theatre Under the Stars, America’s largest nonprofit producer of musicals, as well as traveling Broadway productions in the Broadway in Houston Series. Jones Hall, 614 Louisiana St. (☎227-3974), stages more of Houston’s highbrow entertainment. The Houston Symphony Orchestra performs there from September to May. (☎224-7575. Tickets $25-106.) Between October and May, the Houston Grand Opera produces seven operas in the nearby Wortham Center, 501 Texas Ave. (☎546-0200; www.houstongrandopera.org. Tickets $30-275; student rush tickets available day of show $15-30; call ahead to reserve.) Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros (www.astros.com) play at Minute Maid Park (☎295-8000), located at the intersections of Texas, Crawford, and Congress St. near Union Station downtown. From February to mid-March, both the Reliant Center and Reliant Arena house the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (☎832-667-1000; www.hlsr.com). It’s nothin’ but net in the new downtown Toyota Center at Polk and Crawford St., home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets (www.rockets.com), while the NFL’s Houston Texans (www.houstontexans.com) pass the pigskin at Reliant Stadium, 8400 Kirby Dr.
Since the 2004 Super Bowl, downtown Houston has been reclaiming its stake in the city’s nightlife. Most nightlife is concentrated along Main St., which is closed to traffic between Capitol and Congress St. from 4pm-2am on weekends to make way for partiers. METRORail heads right down Main St. and runs until 2am on weekends. Montrose is the center of the gay nightlife scene, but while its bars tend to be mostly gay, dance clubs in Montrose have a mixed crowd.
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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