Visiting Houston for the First Time? Here’s What To See and Do

As the official visitor center of the NASA Johnson Space Center, Space Center Houston is one of the best places in the country to learn about human space exploration. Here, you can touch real moon rocks, travel to Mars in a simulated Orion capsule, and see the rocket and control center that helped astronauts land on the moon. Explore the Space Center with a rocket scientist for an expert’s take on the spacecraft and artifacts on display, or combine it with other Houston attractions on a private tour as a starting point for Houston's other highlights.

Art, science, history, spirituality, and a range of other interests share the spotlight in the Houston Museum District. The cultural hub’s heavy hitters include the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), which has an 80,000-piece collection boasting everything from Impressionist paintings to a sculpture garden, and the Houston Museum of Natural Science, home to the fun-for-all-ages Cockrell Butterfly Center. Choose a couple of museums—or even the Houston Zoo—to visit using a Houston CityPASS®, or pass through the neighborhood on a Houston sightseeing tour.

In the hot and humid Texas summer, especially, one of the savviest Houston travel tips is to spend as much time indoors as you can. Fortunately, the Galleria in the Uptown District is the state’s biggest mall, with 400 air-conditioned stores as well as an ice skating rink to help you cool off. If you need to get more shopping out of your system, head to the nearby Highland Village and Uptown Park, the neighborhood’s other destinations for upscale retail and dining.

Downtown Houston has expansive city parks, dramatic skyscrapers, and an impressive network of air-conditioned underground passageways that connect most of downtown—all of which you can explore on a downtown tunnel tour. After peering up at JPMorgan Chase Tower, Houston’s tallest building at a cool 1,000 feet (305 meters), stop by Market Square Park to check out community events and installations by local artists. If history is your thing, go back in time at Sam Houston Park, where 19th-century houses preserve Texas frontier architecture amid modern-day surroundings.

If you’re visiting Houston in February or March, it's worth adding the nearly 100-year-old Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to your list. Bull riding, barrel racing, and other rodeo competitions draw big crowds, as do the event’s barbecue contest and concerts by major artists. If you’re traveling with kids, take them to enjoy the calf scrambles, carnival rides, and interactive agriculture activities. Adult fun includes shopping for made-in-Texas boots and merch, as well as listening to live music in the beer and wine gardens.

For an alternative to the typical Houston tourist activities, catch a live performance by the city’s brightest talents. The Houston Theater District is home to permanent companies in ballet, opera, symphony, and theater, and there’s bound to be a show or two during your visit. See a classic or contemporary play at the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre, or take a seat in the Wortham Center for a performance by the Houston Ballet or Houston Grand Opera. Spanning several blocks downtown, the Theater District is a popular stop on Houston walking tours.

As one of the most multicultural cities in the US, Houston is just as much a destination for Texas barbecue as it is for Vietnamese and Mexican food specialties. See the city’s culinary diversity in action on Houston food tours, which often focus on specific neighborhoods. You can appreciate East Downtown’s street art and green spaces—and sample everything from tacos to pastries—on an EaDo food tour, or admire local architecture while tasting innovative fusion dishes on a downtown food tour.

No matter your age, you’ll find something interesting in the Downtown Aquarium’s themed exhibits, which range from the alligator-filled Louisiana Swamp to the Shipwreck where eel and octopus swim among coral reefs. Kids especially like the touch tank with crabs and stingrays, as well as the Shark Voyage train that passes through a tunnel as sharks swim overhead. Finish your visit with lunch beside the restaurant’s wall-to-wall fish tank, or round out your downtown Houston tour by checking out the nearby Market Square Park and Toyota Center with a guide.

On a nice day, Houston locals make a beeline for the city’s vast green spaces, and it's worth making time to check out the parks on your visit. With views of the downtown skyline, Buffalo Bayou Park straddles 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) of Houston’s central waterway with trails for biking, skating, and walking, as well as picnic and play areas. Better yet, kayak tours let you experience the park from the bayou itself. Fun on the water continues at Hermann Park, with a large lake for pedal boating, birdwatching, or admiring from the surrounding shaded trails and Japanese garden. If you find yourself in Uptown, Memorial Park—nearly twice the size of New York’s Central Park—has plenty of ground to cover.

The World Series–winning Houston Astros play ball at the historic Daikin Park (formerly known as Minute Maid Park), a downtown mainstay seating nearly 41,000 spectators. Catch a game to see the stadium’s unique features in action, from the train that chugs around the ballpark for every home run to the retractable roof that keeps fans and players comfortable in unpredictable Houston weather. Many Houston sightseeing tours pass by Daikin Park on the way to other attractions, but if you’d like an up-close look at the dugouts and warning track when there’s not a game, you can book a behind-the-scenes ballpark tour.