2-3 days in Houston,TX - location, attractions
Feb 6, 2011, 11:52 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
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2-3 days in Houston,TX - location, attractions
I'll be spending 3 nights, almost 3 full days on a long weekend in Houston - May timeframe. What is the best area to stay in in terms of location to key attractions and places to eat, although I imagine restaurants are everywhere! I will have a car and hope not to have to pay for hotel parking, or if so less than $10/night is preferred. I'd like to use Hilton or Marriott points unless it was a great hotel rate and I do not need 5*, just a nice, clean, safe hotel such as a mid level point wise hotel. Mainly I don't want to burn a lot of points for a weekend in Houston! Thoughts so far are include a tour of NASA, maybe a trip down to Galveston, a baseball game. But what are the key must do's in Houston? And any recommended areas or even hotels to stay at?
Feb 7, 2011, 3:58 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,188
Why are you going to Houston? No other reason than to spend a long weekend there? If you're going for a meeting or other event, where is that taking place? If going just for the heck of it, why did you choose Houston (i.e., what are your interests)? What's your budget? You can find hotel reviews at www.tripadvisor.com and other sites.
We stayed downstown at the Inn at the Ballpark (next to Minute Maid Park) in May a couple of years ago, largely because my wife was attending a convention nearby. Not too much in the immediate vicinity, but pubic transit was good, and I walked a lot. We went down to the Johnson Space Center by bus (took a while). Enjoyed the tour there. The city's art museum was good; the natural history museum (in my opinion) less so. I took a $9 tour of Minute Maid Park. My expectations were low (I was just killing time), but I actualy enjoyed it, seeing the suites, walking on the field, etc.
Staying at one of the upscale hotels downtown would jput you ner things, but they may charge more for parking than would hotels in outlyng areas.
We stayed downstown at the Inn at the Ballpark (next to Minute Maid Park) in May a couple of years ago, largely because my wife was attending a convention nearby. Not too much in the immediate vicinity, but pubic transit was good, and I walked a lot. We went down to the Johnson Space Center by bus (took a while). Enjoyed the tour there. The city's art museum was good; the natural history museum (in my opinion) less so. I took a $9 tour of Minute Maid Park. My expectations were low (I was just killing time), but I actualy enjoyed it, seeing the suites, walking on the field, etc.
Staying at one of the upscale hotels downtown would jput you ner things, but they may charge more for parking than would hotels in outlyng areas.
Feb 12, 2011, 11:16 am
#4
Join Date: Sep 2002
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No idea if this is something the OP would be interested in, or if the timing is right...but the rodeo is in town during March. Also the BBQ 24-26February.
Feb 12, 2011, 12:16 pm
#6
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I generally recommend that visitors to Houston base themselves in the Galleria area. Plenty of restaurants and shopping and access to Loop 610, with 59 and I-10 minutes away.
Space Center Houston (NASA), an Astros game, and Galveston are all good choices, funtotravel. The Battleship Texas and adjacent San Jacinto, where Texas won her independence from Mexico, are also worth visiting. The Houston Museum of Natural Science is also good.
Space Center Houston (NASA), an Astros game, and Galveston are all good choices, funtotravel. The Battleship Texas and adjacent San Jacinto, where Texas won her independence from Mexico, are also worth visiting. The Houston Museum of Natural Science is also good.
Feb 14, 2011, 8:58 am
#8
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Central Texas
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Posts: 9,859
Personally, I'd select the Galleria area over Downtown for a hotel. Any visit to Houston requires the understanding that it is an "automobile mandatory" city, but far more multi-cultural than most visitors anticipate (and more "openly and visibly so than most large US cities), Bellaire Blvd presenting a particular vibrant and varied cultural menu along its length.
Pro sports are available and accessible, and quaint venues like San Jacinto (Yes, USS TEXAS is a battleship, one of several around, but unlike the others, she's a !st generation "Dreadnaught", the only one of that genre, and even comes with pre-Dreadnaught features, reciprocating engines instead of turbines.), "The Village" shopping area, nestled between West University Place and the 'Sunset" area behind Rice, both of which feature streets of houses with decidly non-Texas looks, and "Upper Montrose/Lower Westheimer", as eclectic as Texas gets. Museums are actually better than expected.
Houston's one of the few places where I can breakfast on Menudo, lunch on Dim Sum, and have spitted lamb and eggplant for dinner (leaving barbecue and steak for manana), all with easy driving and free parking.
Pro sports are available and accessible, and quaint venues like San Jacinto (Yes, USS TEXAS is a battleship, one of several around, but unlike the others, she's a !st generation "Dreadnaught", the only one of that genre, and even comes with pre-Dreadnaught features, reciprocating engines instead of turbines.), "The Village" shopping area, nestled between West University Place and the 'Sunset" area behind Rice, both of which feature streets of houses with decidly non-Texas looks, and "Upper Montrose/Lower Westheimer", as eclectic as Texas gets. Museums are actually better than expected.
Houston's one of the few places where I can breakfast on Menudo, lunch on Dim Sum, and have spitted lamb and eggplant for dinner (leaving barbecue and steak for manana), all with easy driving and free parking.