1. Summary 2. Highlights 3. Background 4. Getting Here 5. Getting Around 6. Weather and Climate 7. Health and Safety 8. Things to See and Do 9. Shopping 10. Nearby

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edit Houston Travel Guide

Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest in the United States. It is huge, both in population and in land area. "Urban sprawl" is a term tailor-made for this city. Houston is an international city home to among the nation's largest Asian, Arab and Latin American populations. Houston's culture is not limited to diverse population - it boasts a world class symphony and theatre district that includes a full-time ballet company and opera.

edit Highlights

Space Center Houston - Indoor fun space museum with lots of hands-on space-science exhibits and artifacts from the full history of U.S. space exploration.
The Texas Renaissance Festival is one of the nation's largest, most acclaimed renaissance theme parks where the sights, sounds, tastes and beauty of the 16th Century come alive every Saturday and Sunday for 8 weekends October through November, from 9:00 AM to dusk.
Japanese Garden - Designed by world-renowned Japanese landscape architect, Ken Nakajima, the garden was built to symbolize the friendship between the United States and Japan, and to recognize Houston's thriving Japanese community.
Williams Tower - The 3rd largest skyscraper in Houston and largest in the world outside of a downtown or central business district. A short walk from the Galleria, also check out the ever-romantic Water Wall.

edit Background

Houston is the largest city in the United States without any appreciable zoning. While there is some small measure of zoning in the form of ordinances and land use regulations, real estate development in Houston is only constrained by the will and the pocketbook of real estate developers. Traditionally, Houston politics and law are strongly influenced by real estate developers; at times, the majority of city council seats have been held by developers. Development of the city, then, has reflected what makes life easy on developers instead of visitors or residents. What this means to visitors is that Houston covers a larger land area with less population than might otherwise be expected. Everything is spread out. No matter where you are, almost nothing will be within walking distance. The entire city is built on the assumption that nearly everyone owns and drives a car virtually everywhere they go.

edit Getting Here

By plane

Houston is served by two airports:

George Bush Intercontinental Airport , (IATA: IAH) - The larger of the two airports and is located 23 miles north of downtown near Beltway 8, between IH-45 North and US-59 North. It is a hub for Continental Airlines and serves 24 domestic and international airlines.
William P. Hobby Airport, (IATA: HOU) - Located 7 miles south of downtown and is located off of I-45 South. It is convenient if you're travelling downtown or south of the city, such as to Galveston. Its main carrier is Southwest Airlines, and it also served by Delta Airlines, American Airlines, and AirTran.

By train

Amtrak, 902 Washington Ave. Amtrak's Sunset Limited line is the only passenger train route with a stop in Houston

By car

Houston's major freeways include:

IH-45 North ("North Freeway"): To Dallas
IH-45 South ("Gulf Freeway"): To Galveston
IH-10 West ("Katy Freeway"): To San Antonio
IH-10 East: ("Baytown/East Freeway", not to be confused with "Eastex freeway") to Beaumont
IH-610 ("The Loop"): Loop around downtown
US-59 South ("Southwest Freeway"): to Victoria
US-59 North ("Eastex Freeway"): to Lufkin
US-290 West ("Northwest Freeway"): to Austin
SH-288 South ("South Freeway"): to Freeport
SH-225 East ("Pasadena Freeway"): to La Porte
BW-8 ("The Beltway"): Loop about twice as far out as IH-610.

By bus

Greyhound Lines

Downtown station, 2121 Main St.
Crosstimbers Station, 4001 North Freeway.
Northwest, 1500 West Loop North.
Southeast, 7000 Harrisburg Blvd.
Southwest, 5690 Southwest Freeway.

By boat

edit Getting Around

As Houston is a large, sprawling city, and since public transportation is limited, people living in Houston are dependent on the automobile. Houston is not a walking city.

By Car

Houston has a number of major highways that make getting around Houston fairly easy. (See list of freeways under the "Get In" section.) A number of obstacles, however, can make driving in Houston a less than pleasant experience. One is construction, which seems to be ever-present, and the other is traffic. Evening rush hour in Houston begins as early as 4pm and can last more than 2 hours. Morning rush hour is between 7 and 9. During rush hour, traffic on the highways can come to a halt. The strip of the West Loop near the Galleria, between US-59 and IH-10, is an area you should definitely avoid during rush hour if possible.

By Mass Transit

Currently, public transportation in Houston is limited to METRO, which operates bus lines as well as a the new and very popular light rail line called METRORail.

METRORail is a seven and a half mile light rail line that runs between downtown, midtown, the museum district, the Medical Center, Reliant Park, and the Fannin South Park & Ride (which is a handy place to park and is located near the 610 loop). It costs $1 for a one-way ticket, $2 for a day pass.

edit Weather And Climate

edit Health And Safety

Police

Fire Department

Hospitals

Crime

Houston is a big city and, like any other big city, has crime. Use common sense. Violent crime however has increased somewhat after the arrival of evacuees of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

Smoking

edit Things To See And Do

edit Shopping

Galleria, 5085 Westheimer Rd. (at Post Oak Blvd.), 713-622-0663. 10-9 Mo-Sa, 11 - 7 Su. Free parking (if you find the right lots). A huge indoor shopping mall with 375 stores. Upscale shopping. Food court and fine restaurants. Indoor ice-skating rink.
Baybrook Mall, 500 Baybrook Mall (IH-45 South at Bay Area Blvd.), Friendswood, 281-488-4620. 10-9 Mo-Sa, 11-7 Su.
Memorial City Mall, 303 Memorial City (IH-10 West at Gessner), 713-464-8640. Has many department stores and also an indoor ice skating rink.
Katy Mills Mall, 5000 Katy Mills Cr., Katy (25 miles west on IH-10). 10-9 Mo-Sa, 11-6 Su. In the nearby city of Katy, about 25 miles west of downtown Houston.
The Woodlands Mall, 1201 Lake Woodlands Dr, The Woodlands (30 miles north on IH-45), 281-363-3363. 10-9 Mo-Sa, 11-7 Su.

In general, prices in Houston are lower than in other major US cities.

edit Nearby

Daytrip ideas:

Galveston. Only about an hour's drive southeast from the city, Houstonians go to Galveston island for its beaches, the Strand, Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston, and Moody Gardens.
Surfside. Another beach, less crowded than Galveston. About an hour from Houston.
Schlitterbahn, New Braunfels, TX (about 174 miles west of Houston). Huge waterpark, rated #1 waterpark in America by the Travel Channel.
Kemah - Nice Boardwalk with Great Restaurants. South of Houston. On the way to Galveston Island. Kemah Boardwalk
Downtown Houston Tunnels. 25 miles of tunnels run under Downtown Houston with restaurants and retail shops throughout Downtown. Good for a rainy day.
Bluebell Creameries - See the Texas countryside in Brenham and tour the creamery. About one hour (75 mi) north west of Houston along US 290.
Houston Chinatown. Located in Southwest Houston, Chinatown is emerging as a tourist attraction in Houston.