Top Things To Do In Houston

Houston is a big-time city with a smooth, Southern style. Whether it’s sampling savory barbecue, indulging in upscale shopping, or tapping your brand-new boots to thumping blues music, Houston dishes up a hearty helping of arts, activities and jaw-dropping, space-age thrills. National travel reviewers for Hotwire.com and Budget Travel both picked Houston as one of 2011’s top value destinations in terms of pricing and thrills. To help make your trip planning easier, here’s a list of some of the top things to do in Houston.

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  Space Center Houston

  For an authentic look behind the scenes at NASA, the NASA Tram Tour travels into working areas of the Johnson Space Center. Highlights include astronaut training for the International Space Station, the development of deep-space missions, and the latest space robotic technologies, which are playing an important role in the exploration of Mars. Visitors also can view spacecraft, spacesuits and other artifacts from our nation’s space program, as well as look to the future at the Saturn V Complex in Rocket Park.

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  Downtown Aquarium

  Here, landlubbers can take a tantalizing tour of colorful, captivating undersea landscapes as varied as a sunken shipwreck and tanks full of red-bellied piranhas, venomous stingrays and a shiver of sharks. The aquarium also has plenty of land-side attractions, including Ferris wheel rides, white tigers and a rain forest with colorful birds. There’s even a Louisiana Swamp, with gators, alligator snapping turtles and spotted gar.

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  Houston Museum of Natural Science

  There’s a reason the Houston Museum of Natural Science is one of the most attended museums in the United States. Located in Hermann Park, the museum assembles a captivating collage of scientific and historical artifacts, including dinosaurs, rare gems, spectacular shells, an African ecosystem, and the museum’s resident mummy, Ankh-hap. It's also worth taking a visual journey in the Wortham IMAX Theatre, or interact with over 1,500 butterflies in the Cockrell Butterfly Center.

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  Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

  This museum is world renowned for its nearly 60,000 works of antique and modern art gathered from nearly every corner of the world. It showcases displays as diverse as 2,500 Years of African Art, Indonesian Gold, Americana, European masterworks, modern masterpieces, and a breathtakingly expansive sculpture garden. Visitors can enhance their visit by joining ongoing gallery talks and tours, or they can learn more about various pieces using their mobile devices.

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  Houston Zoo

  Featuring a collection of more than 4,500 animals, the Houston Zoo shares its efforts to preserve wildlife with the public. From its newer Galapagos tortoise and jaguar exhibits, to its popular red panda (known as the "world’s cutest animal"), the zoo provides hours of interactive adventure. It also schedules special "Photo Days" throughout the year so that shutterbugs can take advantage of a variety of light, weather and horticultural conditions.

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  The Children's Museum of Houston

  Parents’ magazine ranked The Children’s Museum of Houston as the nation’s No. 1 children’s museum. Here kids can build robots, race boats, use a make-believe debit card to buy groceries, or take a wet, wild adventure into FlowWorks. They can even test-drive 24 different jobs such as becoming mayor or anchoring the news. There are also plenty of safe, interactive things to do for kids under two. If you have kids, this is one museum you have to add to your list of things to do while you're in Houston.

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  Kemah Boardwalk

  The Kemah Boardwalk is where rides, shops, music and Texas-sized tastes all come together along the beautiful Galveston Bay. Located just 20 miles from downtown Houston, this bodacious strip of fun is a great way to cool off in the sea breeze. Explore an aquarium full of Caribbean sea life, ride a riotous roller coaster and enjoy the views from the top of a huge Ferris wheel. There's plenty of shopping and fun food, as well as water to splash in. Summertime features "Rock the Dock" music performances on Thursday nights.

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  Water Wall

  Located adjacent to The Galleria, the Water Wall is a towering work of art that inspires hearts. As such, it’s also one of the city’s most popular places for proposals and weddings. Designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, the multi-story structure was built to be a "horseshoe of rushing water" opposite the Williams (formerly Transco) Tower. This beautiful fountain is 64 feet tall and sits among 118 oak trees.

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  The Galleria

  This national icon of shopping sophistication is the top shopping destination in Houston with over 24 million visitors a year. Underneath The Galleria’s spectacular glass atriums, this ode to consumerism has more than 375 fine stores and restaurants, a renowned ice rink and two Westin hotels. It’s the perfect venue to peruse all the leading names in fine apparel, jewelry and gifts, including Neiman Marcus, Cartier, Gucci, Tiffany & Co., Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, Ralph Lauren Collection, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Nordstrom.

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  Hermann Park

  Located in the heart of Houston, the 445-acre Hermann Park is the city’s most significant public green space, hosting more than six million visitors per year. It is also home to the Houston Zoo, Miller Outdoor Theatre, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston Garden Center, and Hermann Park Golf Course. While in the park, visitors can feed the ducks, rent a pedal boat for the lake or take a train ride. The park even has nature trails, and a Japanese garden.

To visit the attractions above that charge admission, make sure to use a Houston CityPASS ticket booklet. You'll save nearly half off combined admission costs and skip most main-entrance ticket lines, giving you more time to enjoy each attraction. Houston CityPASS includes admission to Space Center Houston, Downtown Aquarium, Houston Museum of Natural Science, and your choice between the Houston Zoo and an All-Day Ride Pass at Kemah Boardwalk, and a choice between Museum of Fine Arts, Houston or The Children's Museum of Houston. Some special exhibits are not included with the CityPASS and may require an extra fee.

Passes can be purchased online or at any attraction that accepts CityPASS. Use CityPASS and discover the best things to do in Houston.