Houston Parks
Buffalo Bayou (award winning & USA ranked park)
Waugh Drive Bat Colony
Cisterns at the Bayou
Ima Hogg’s Mansion & Gardens
Eleanor Tinsley Park
Memorial Park
Houston Arboretum
Discovery Green
Hermann Park
Miller Outdoor Theater
Breweries & Distilleries
- Saint Arnold Brewing Company
- Karbach Brewing Co.
- Yellow Rose Distillery
- No Label Brewing Co.
- Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co.
Houston Events
Rodeo Houston- largest in the world
BBQ Cook-off
- Last weekend in February/weekend before Rodeo starts every year
Livestock Show & Rodeo & Carnival Fair
- 20 days in March every year
Galveston Beach Mardi Gras Parade & Party
- Every February at the Kemah Boardwalk
Houston Restaurant Week
Texas Renaissance Festival- largest in the nation
Seasonal Events
White Linen Night in the Heights
Lights in the Heights
Zoo Lights at the Houston Zoo
Winter Wonder Island
River Oaks - Good Christmas Light Viewing
HEB Thanksgiving Parade
Nutcracker Market
Other Activities
Bingo in the Heights
- Every Thursday
- Draws a big young professional crowd, gets packed & CHEAP (cash only, but they do have an ATM onsite)
- https://www.lodge88.org/bingo
- Buy food or pitchers of draft beer for ~$7/pitcher
- They allow you to bring your own liquor, wine and food as well (just no coolers)
Texas-Shaped Lazy River at Marriott Marquis
Topgolf
Bowling
Movie Experiences
Pedal Parties
Sam Houston Race Track
Rudyard’s British Pub
Rent bicycles to ride around the city
Other
Shopping
The Galleria Mall
- Texas’ largest shopping center
Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park
The Nutcracker Market
City Centre
Rice Village
Houston Premium Outlet Mall
Museums
The Menil Collection
- Widely esteemed as one of the greatest and most eclectic private museums in the US with one of the world’s best collections of Magritte
- https://www.menil.org/
Natural Museum of Funeral History
Museum of Fine Arts (MFAH)
Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS)
Mixers and Elixirs Events
San Jacinto Monument & Museum
USS Texas Battleship
Art Car Museum & Parade
Beer Can House / Orange Show
James Turrell’s Twilight Epiphany Skyspace
Arts and Music
Houston Ballet
Houston Symphony
The Hobby Center Theatre
Theater Under the Stars
Houston Grand Opera
White Oak Music Hall
House of Blues
The Continental Club
Last Concert Cafe
Warehouse Live
Sports
Football — NRG Stadium
- Texans
- Tailgating starts 4 hours before kickoff
- Best tailgating in Yellow (shotgun thirty- every 30 minutes there is a beer shotgun) & Blue lots
Baseball — MinuteMaid
- Astros ($1 hotdog night varies annually)
- Sugar Land Skeeters, an Atlantic League of Professional Baseball team — plays at Constellation Field
Basketball — Toyota Center
- Rockets
Soccer — BBVA Compass Stadium
- Dynamo, professional male soccer team
- Dash, professional women's soccer team
Houston Polo Club
Bar Hopping Areas in the city
Downtown (Market Square)
Main St, Congress Ave & Travis St
- Start at Okra Charity Bar
EaDo (east Downtown)
Walker St, Dallas St & St Emanuel St
Midtown
Bagby St, Brazos St, & W Gray St
Montrose
Westheimer Rd
Upper Kirby
Heights
White Oak Dr
Washington Ave
Greater Heights / TimberGrove
W 19th & 20th St
Must-Try Houston Restaurants
Don't forget Houston Restaurant Week is August —Labor Day every year! G
Seafood
- Truluck’s — try the stone crabs!
- Gilhooley’s
- Captain Tom’s
- Pappa’s Seafood
BBQ
If you're missing AL BBQ, then you won’t be disappointed by these places!
- Blood Bros.
- Killen’s
- Corkscrew BBQ
- Gatlin’s
- Truth BBQ
Tex Mex
A moment of silence for El Rincon
- El Tiempo
- Lupe Tortilla
- Ninfa’s on Navigation
- Torchy’s Tacos
Steak
- Taste of Texas
- Brenner’s Steakhouse on the Bayou
- B&B Butchers
- http://www.houstonsteaknight.com
Crawfish
Crawfish season is around February - April. HERE is a list of local crawfish festivals.
- BB’s crawfish & seafood
- Captain Brad’s Coastal Kitchen
- Ragin’ Cajun
- LA Crawfish (Vietnamese crawfish)
- Crawfish Pot & Oyster Bar (Vietnamese crawfish)
- Little Woodrow’s
Food & Taco Truck Scene
Check out Roaming Hunger for live updates
- Taco Tierra Caliente @ Alabama Ice House
- El Taconazo Taco Truck
Kolaches
- Shipley’s
- Kolache Factory
- Any Donut Shops (A personal fave: Queen Donuts on W 18th)
Breakfast & Brunch
- The Breakfast Klub
- Snooze
- Union Kitchen (bottomless mimosas)
- Cyclone Anaya’s (bottomless mimosas)
Fast Food
- Whataburger (if you ever did PC for spring break you probably saw one of these) *Open 24 hours/serves breakfast 11pm-11am
- Taco C (we call our Taco C, Taco Cabana, not Taco Casa) *Open 24 hours
- Jack in the Box (not to be confused with Jack’s) *Open 24 hours/serves breakfast 24 hours
- Frenchy’s Chicken
Other
Nearby Cities
Close to a lot of fun/big cities:
- College Station, TX (Kyle Field & TAMU) - ~95 miles
- Austin, TX (Capitol of TX) – ~165 miles
- San Antonio, TX (Alamo/Six Flags *RIP AstroWorld) – ~200 miles
- Dallas, TX (AT&T Cowboy Stadium/Six Flags *RIP AstroWorld) – ~240 miles
- Lake Charles, LA (Casinos) - ~145 miles
- New Orleans, LA (Mardi Gras) – ~350 miles
Rivers to Float
All the cities are all roughly ~3-4 hour drive from Houston
Other Attractions
- NASA Johnson Space Center website
- Pleasure Pier
- Moody Gardens
- Schlitterbahn Water Park
- The Strand (“downtown” area of Galveston)
- The Spot (good, festive restaurant near the seawall)
Two Major Airports
George Bush Intercontinental (United Hub)
houston-airport.info
William P. Hobby (Southwest Hub)
houston-hobby-airport.com
Visit Fly2Houston
fly2houston.com