Houston walking tour & city guide

Downtown and Buffalo Bayou

Downtown Houston is a cluster of bold skyscrapers connected by a network of underground tunnels that keeps workers out of the summer heat. At street level, Discovery Green is a lively park with a lake, concerts and an ice rink in winter, and Market Square has some of the oldest buildings in the city.

Buffalo Bayou Park follows the slow green river west of downtown, with walking and cycling paths, sculptures and a historic underground cistern you can tour.

The Museum District and Hermann Park

Houston's Museum District has around 20 museums within walking distance of each other, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Menil Collection, a free museum with its own quiet neighborhood of art buildings and the Rothko Chapel. Hermann Park, next door, has a zoo, a Japanese garden and a pond with pedal boats.

A classic walk through the Museum District

Start at the Mecom Fountain at the edge of Hermann Park, then follow the long reflecting pool to the Sam Houston statue and the McGovern Centennial Gardens. Walk north along tree-lined Main Street to the Museum of Fine Arts, with its sculpture garden and tunnel of light connecting its buildings.

Continue northwest through the oak-shaded streets of Montrose to the Menil Collection, set on a lawn among bungalows painted gray, and finish at the Rothko Chapel. The walk is about 4 kilometers, with plenty of museums to step into along the way.

Visiting tips

Space Center Houston, the official visitor center of NASA's Johnson Space Center, is about 40 kilometers southeast of downtown. Visit between October and April; summers are hot, humid and stormy. Houston is very spread out, so plan to drive or use the METRORail line between downtown and the museums.