ffgap

Lost my license during a recent business trip. In my home country, it will take at least 4 weeks until I get the replacement license. As a consequence, I can't get a rental these days.

I was planning on visiting Houston (for pleasure) between Dec 26-28 or so. It will be my first time ever in Texas.

How doable is Houston without a car? Will be flying in and out of IAH.

By the way, feel free to suggest places to explore. But the most urgent thing on my mind is if I'll be fine in Houston or if one of the public-transport friendly US cities may be a safer bet. (Just until I get my license replacement, of course.)

YadiMolina

I don't think anyone would classify Houston as high up on the public transport scale, but it's doable. There's a light rail system downtown and a lot of buses. See the METRO website. Uber is convenient but not cheap. One initial issue is transport to and from the airport. Airport taxi/uber is about the only alternative there, bus service is lousy. Houston is a sprawling suburban city. If you are staying downtown and doing zoos and museums, you'll be fine. If you plan on visiting friends out in the suburbs or wanting to see NASA, you'll be racking up significant bills and time spent in ubers.

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ffgap

That's useful, thanks!

M60_to_LGA

Where are you planning to stay, and what would you like to do?

I used to go to Houston for work regularly, and I'd usually be fine without a car. From IAH you can take a public bus straight to downtown - it's not the most luxurious experience, but it's doable. Downtown is small but walkable, with some good food/bar options. You can take the Metro (light rail) to the Fine Arts Museum. The Montrose area has decent food and bars too, although the public transport links to downtown aren't great - you have buses that go down Westheimer, but that's about it. Otherwise, there's shopping (Galleria, etc.).

But what specifically attracts you to Houston? I mean, I've gone and had a perfectly pleasant time on trips to Houston, but I wouldn't choose it as a vacation destination.

lsquare

I'm aware that there is no rail link between the downtown core and IAH. Apparently, bus 102 will take me downtown. How long will that take? Where can I buy a Q card? I'm assuming I can buy and top-up with a credit card? Hopefully, I buy a Q card upon arrival at IAH.

Where are some good places to go for shopping? I'm reading the Galleria is a good shopping center and probably the best in Houston? Is it easily accessible by transit?

I know Houston is car country, but I have no intention of renting a car for a short 24-36 hour stay. Any other places accessible by transit?

Where would you guys stay? The Westin is attached to the Galleria. Is that a good option?

Any good BBQ restaurants that are accessible by transit, preferably by the LRT system?

YadiMolina

First, there's this thread asking about the exact same thing.

Don't bother with a physical Q card for a 36 hr stay, I don't think you can get one at the airport anyway. Download the RideMetro app, look for Pay Your Fare, add the credit card and such, then show the ticket / pass / QR code to the driver.

The Galleria is at the intersection of Post Oak and Westheimer just west of 610. Post Oak has a Bus Rapid Transit line down the middle going north south and Westheimer has an east-west route that will take you downtown. You'll be far from any light rail lines. ridemetro.org has the route map and information.

The Galleria has a lot of high end stores, and a lot of restaurants, both on site and across Westheimer. None are bbq though. You'll have to google the nexus between Houston's best BBQ and transit lines.

M60_to_LGA

You can also just pay your bus fare with cash (quarters preferred, as you're not getting change). If you ride the light rail, you can buy a ticket with cash or a credit/debit card at machines located on the platform.

I personally prefer staying downtown when I'm in Houston, but that's because my office was right there and I know enough decent-to-good restaurants and bars in the area to keep me occupied. It was nice to be able to walk from my hotel to the office and then go out with coworkers afterward without having to be in a car for half an hour. However, if you're planning on spending most of your time in the Galleria area, I would stay out there.

The Galleria malls are fine, but it's not like they have anything unique and amazing that you can't find in a high-end mall in any big city suburb in America.

EmailKid

I have taken 102 a handful of times, and IIRC it takes about an hour

From what I read about a year ago, and IME, it does not work too well

I just used quarters.

M60_to_LGA

Bumping this, because I just returned from a carless week in Houston.

The buses still cost $1.25, which you can pay with both singles and quarters.

The Westheimer bus (route 82) runs pretty frequently between downtown, Montrose, and points west. I think it's something like 15-minute headways during the day, which makes it actually a rather surprisingly useful bus route for Houston. I feel like it's more frequent now than I remember it from previous trips pre-covid, but who knows.

The bus between downtown and the Heights (route 40), however, is not as frequent. I had to wait about half an hour on Sunday afternoon to get back downtown, which was a bit annoying. The Heights is a very nice neighborhood with some beautiful old homes and a fun little shopping strip on W. 19th St. I spent a few hours there wandering around some antique shops and grazing on tacos, and it was quite pleasant.

The 102 bus to the airport took me about an hour to/from downtown. I had heard horror stories about long traffic delays getting to the terminals due to construction, but I had absolutely zero difficulty.

Downtown seems filled with a lot more crackheads than I remember from before covid. Of course, that's the same story in pretty much every US city, sadly.

Some restaurants I ate at that I really liked - Gloria's (high-end Salvadoran and sort of pan-Latin, on Louisiana in Midtown). Postino - sort of a wine bar/bistro combo with delicious brunches and bruschetta plates (a few locations, I went to the one in the Heights). The bar in the C. Baldwin hotel is also pretty cool - very neat modern decor, and they made a decent aperol spritz. And La Carafe by Market Square is a classic dive bar in an old wooden building that only serves wine and beer (and has FINALLY started accepting credit cards, as of about a month ago, the bartender said.)

EmailKid

Thanks for the update

DART in Dallas has raised its prices, so it's nice to see that Houston remains a bargain at $1.25. But of course it's a big city, unless you stay inside "the loop."

I am amazed that hole in the wall in Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas is now all over Texas. Used to go to Gloria's original location when it was anything but upscale (that location long gone), though I have visited its new Oak Cliff location when it did go upscale since (a few years ago). I knew about other Dallas locations, but not about Houston, San Antonio, etc.

I've taken #102 a few times, and it takes forever between downtown and IAH (as posted above, about an hour), actually same time it takes from DFW to downtown on light rail Green Line on DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit). In favor of Houston, I've never encountered homeless people on the bus ..... maybe there's more room to spread out in the rail car.

TheChangingMan

La Carafe is a great bar. They had just started taking credit cards the last time I visited but the cash register had to be seen to be believed