One day in Houston

Day by day

1. Day 1: Space Center Houston and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

   Space Center Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston Museum of Natural Science and Menil Collection, then Buffalo Bayou Park in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Space Center Houston

      Head straight for the tram tours when you arrive; queues build quickly from late morning. Allow Half a day to a full day.

   2. Late morning

      Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

      Focus on one building per visit; the collection is too large for a single afternoon. Allow 3 hours.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Viet-Cajun crawfish

      Restaurants along Bellaire Boulevard in Chinatown and across the city during crawfish season, roughly January to June.

   4. Afternoon

      Houston Museum of Natural Science

      Book butterfly centre and planetarium add-ons with your main ticket to avoid queuing twice. Allow 3 hours.

   5. Late afternoon

      Menil Collection

      Bring a picnic for the lawn between the buildings, a favourite local spot on mild days. Allow 2 hours.

   6. Evening

      Buffalo Bayou Park

      Watch the bat emergence from the viewing area by the Waugh Drive Bridge around sunset, then walk the trail back towards the skyline.

Before you go

• Space Center Houston: Buy tickets online in advance, especially on weekends and school holidays.
• Buffalo Bayou Park: Cistern tours are small-group and often sell out; book online.

If it rains

• Swap in Children's Museum Houston (Museum District): Go on a weekday morning; weekends and school holidays bring long queues for the popular exhibits.
• Swap in The Galleria (Uptown): Watch the skaters from the upper levels, or skate yourself; rentals are available at the rink.

Where to stay for this itinerary

Pace and daylight

The sights in this plan add up to roughly 12–14 hours of visiting over one day, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 10.2 hours in December to 14 hours in June.

Getting between stops: Tram. METRORail's Red Line runs along Main Street from downtown through Midtown, the Museum District and the Texas Medical Center to NRG Park.

More or fewer days

• 2 days in Houston
• 3 days in Houston

Questions travellers ask