Houston, Texas Recommendations

[nsh]

My family is heading to Houston for the holidays and will be staying near Rice University. I have a few refugee interviews for my work but aside from that we have 10 days to enjoy the area. Our group includes my husband, 6 yo daughter, and my parents (in their 70s). We will have a car. We definitely plan to take a day trip to Johnson space museum and visit the zoo. Aside from that, I would love any recommendations for must see family friendly activities and eateries!! I have never visited the area as a tourist and welcome your advice and tips.

PS- I am excited to carry my P.U. along with my new TB wool scarf and Iberian PIKA on the trip

[logella]

Welcome and enjoy your stay here. Technically I’m 30 or so miles north in The Woodlands - far flung suburb.

You’ll be in the heart of the museum district with the science/history museum and the children’s museum likely a hit with your daughter. Definitely hit those.

You can also spend some time at the Galleria if you’re into that sort of thing.

Be sure to ha e some BBQ while you’re in town. There are tons of great places but one I’d recommend is Truth. It’s in the Heights area and while your there you can explore some of the small funky shops in the Heights shopping district.

That’s all I’ve got for now but I’m sure more will come to me later.

[RDR3]

We enjoyed taking our kids to the Science museum and definitely the Johnson Space Center

[fredlet]

In the Rice U area: Chuy’s TexMex on Westheimer, Amy’s Ice Cream and 59 Diner all close by!
Oh! And any of the Pappas restaurants (Pappdeaux,Pappasitos...)

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[RichardMcG]

In the Rice U area: Chuy’s TexMex on Westheimer, Amy’s Ice Cream and 59 Diner all close by!


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I LOVE Amy's - the Mexican Vanilla is some of the best you will ever eat! I am also a pretty big fan of Niko Niko's. It is pretty authentic Greek food - very similar to what you would eat while in Greece.

[ayazgood]

The Museum of Fine Arts has some nice exhibits going: https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/

The Natural History Museum is very good: IMax movies, Cockrell Butterfly Center, premier rock and gem collection, very good (recently updated) dinosaur collection, planetarium, etc.: Permanent Exhibitions | Houston Museum Of Natural Science

The zoo Christmas lights are a local tradition: https://www.houstonzoo.org/events/zoo-lights/

For walkabouts, the Arboretum (next to Memorial Park) is easy and nice, as are the large pond and the zen garden at Herman Park (same park as the zoo and the natural history museum). Also, Buffalo Bayou Park (near downtown) has bike and walking/jogging paths, with free bike rentals if you know where to find them.

Rice Village is the university town like area near Rice U, with shops and restaurants.

Dickens on the Strand in Galveston is another local tradition: https://www.galvestonhistory.org/eve...-on-the-strand

Moody Gardens rain forest and aquarium in Galveston are good: https://www.moodygardens.com/attractions/

Never been but the children's museum has a good reputation: https://www.cmhouston.org/?utm_sourc...ign=gmbhouston

Yes, the space museum is worth visiting: https://spacecenter.org

[RDR3]

We eat at Pappasitos every year when we visit family in Houston

In the Rice U area: Chuy’s TexMex on Westheimer, Amy’s Ice Cream and 59 Diner all close by!
Oh! And any of the Pappas restaurants (Pappdeaux,Pappasitos...)

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[nsh]

Y’all are always so amazing to help out with great suggestions!!! THANK YOU! The food spots sound so good too.
One last thing:I have been doing research and saw the City Pass (https://www.citypass.com/houston) bundle package. It sounds like a good plan and provide some savings because we would likely visit all those places included on the pass...If anyone has a negative or positive experience with it please share

[nsh]

Also, the Palestinian refugee diaspora communities highly recommended Fadi’s to me on Westheimer for authentic Middle Eastern cuisine. I will report back here on the meal

[sarah_atx]

The Menil Collection is a free art museum / private collection. Definitely worth going, and if the kiddo gets tired at least it was free

[logella]

Being that I've lived in the Houston area all my life I've never used the City Pass here but have been to all of the locations visited. I've used City Pass elsewhere around the world and found it to me worthwhile most of the time. Can't really go wrong especially if you truly get to skip the line although there likely won't be too many lines really to worry about this time of year.

[logella]

One more thing. As far as Mexican food goes skip Pappasitos and Chuys and go to Lupes. Much better fajitas.

[KathyH]

We eat at Pappasitos every year when we visit family in Houston

All the "Pappas" family restaurants are soooo delicious. Pappasitos and Pappadeaux are my personal favorites.

Pappasitos = Incredible Tex-Mex with homemade tortillas.
Pappadeaux = Louisiana-style dishes

[Jimbo3b]

When we lived there in the 90's we had kids that age. A couple really cool free things were the ship channel tour and the ferry from Galveston to Bolivar Peninsula.

https://porthouston.com/sam-houston-boat-tour/

[nsh]

And we are off to Houston!!! My red Birkenstock’s will look way cooler without socks when we are in a warmer climate than Boston I am loving the PIKA and PU combo Will update with pics from our fun tours and good eats when we return!! Packing wise: Hubby has a Synapse 19, Daughter has an LLBean junior bag and then we all decided to share one carry on roller Tumi for our clothes and toiletries! Not super minimalist but not bad for a family of three for a 10 day trip