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Houston Attractions
Bus Tours
The easiest way to familiarize yourself with Houston is to take a bus tour of the city. offers sightseeing excursions through the city's theater and museum districts as well as Hermann Park and the exclusive River Oaks neighborhood.
Driving Tours
Scenic drives wind through Memorial Park and residential River Oaks, with its large live oak trees and beautiful houses.
Walking Tours
An area suited to walking tours is the original business district. Allen's Landing Park, at the corner of Main and Commerce, marks the site where Houston's founders, two brothers by the name of Allen, came ashore in 1836. Nearby Old Market Square is all that remains of Houston's original business section, bounded by Congress, Preston, Milam and Travis streets.
The 1845 Kennedy Trading Post, on the square at 813 Congress St., is Houston's oldest commercial building on its original site. The old Cotton Exchange Building is a four-story, Victorian-Italianate structure on the southwest corner of Travis and Franklin streets. Built in 1884, it served as a cotton exchange until 1923. The Old Sixth Ward is a residential-commercial area of Victorian gingerbread frame houses just northwest of downtown.
Sports and Recreation
Sports thrive in Houston. National League Baseball's Houston Astros, (877) 927-8767, play at Minute Maid Park. Houston's NFL football team, the Houston Texans, (832) 667-2000, hits the turf at Reliant Stadium. The University of Houston's Cougars, (713) 743-9444, play football at Robertson Stadium, and Texas Southern University's Tigers, (713) 313-6830, play in the Astrodome at the junction of I-610 and Kirby Drive.
The NBA's Rockets, (713) 758-3865, and the WNBA's Comets, (713) 758-9622, play basketball in Toyota Center at 1510 Polk St. The AHL's Houston Aeros, (713) 974-7825, also play hockey in this 19,000-seat arena, which features professional and amateur boxing and nonsporting events; phone (713) 758-7200. The various Rice University Owls teams, (713) 522-6957, draw large crowds to their 70,000-seat facility. The indigenous Texas rodeos always are sellouts.
Houston has many public tennis courts. Golf is available at many public courses in the city: Bear Creek, (281) 859-8188, at 16001 Clay Rd.; Clear Lake, (713) 488-4653, at 1202 Reseda Dr.; Memorial Park, (713) 862-4033, at 1001 Memorial Loop Dr. E.; and Woodlands Resort and Conference Center, (281) 367-1100, at 2301 N. Millbend.
Polo is played near Memorial Park, at the Houston Polo Club, 8552 Memorial Drive at I-610; phone (713) 681-8571. There is professional wrestling at Toyota Center. Check the newspapers for a complete schedule of sporting events.
Challenger Seven Memorial Park, at 2301 W. NASA Blvd. and Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, 22306 Aldine Westfield Rd., (281) 443-8731, contain hiking trails as well as picnic areas. Memorial Park, 6501 Memorial Dr., features the Lieberman jogging trail, a lighted, 2.9-mile course, as well as paths for bicycling and skating. Track cycling can be found at the Alkek Velodrome in Cullen Park, 19008 Saums Road; phone (281) 578-0693.
Tom Bass Park Section II is at 3602 Fellows Rd. and contains jogging and nature trails as well as a 20-acre spring-fed fishing lake. As well as canoeing, visitors can enjoy a view of Houston's skyline from the Buffalo Bayou Park. Boating is popular at Clear Lake Park, 5001 NASA Pkwy.
Cypress Trails Equestrian Center at 21415 Cypresswood Dr. in the town of Humble offers horseback riding trips along the trails threading through the undeveloped land around George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The equestrian center offers rides at other locations as well; phone (281) 446-7232.
Horse racing, both Thoroughbred and quarter horse, takes place at the Sam Houston Race Park, 7575 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. W. Simulcast racing is available daily. Phone (281) 807-8700.
Note: Policies concerning admittance of children to pari-mutuel betting facilities vary. Phone for information.
Performing Arts
Houston has been musically inclined from its earliest days. As a result, a wide variety of musical entertainment, ranging from classical to modern, is currently available in the city.
The stage of Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana St., is used throughout the year for productions by the Houston Symphony Orchestra, phone (713) 224-7575, and the Society for the Performing Arts; phone (713) 227-4772. Wortham Theater Center, at Texas Avenue and Smith Street, is the home of the Houston Grand Opera, phone (713) 228-6737, and the Houston Ballet; phone (713) 227-2787.
The dramatic arts have flourished in the city. The centerpiece of the downtown theater district is Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby St., phone (713) 315-2525, home of Theatre Under the Stars, phone (713) 558-8887, and the Houston Broadway Series; phone (713) 629-3700. Professional repertory can be found downtown at Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave., (713) 228-8421. Houston Center for the Arts, 3201 Allen Pkwy., is the venue for Stages Repertory Theatre, a performing arts company for original works and children's theater. The Verizon Wireless Theater at 520 Texas Ave. in Bayou Place attracts big name performers and touring productions. In addition to various performances, two art galleries can be found at DiverseWorks Artspace, 1117 E. Freeway.
March through October the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park presents free musicals and dramas as well as ballets and the Houston Symphony. Rock concerts are held at Toyota Center.
Special Events
The Go Texan Parade opens the 19-day Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at Reliant Park in February. The River Oaks Garden Club sponsors the Azalea Trail through River Oaks in March, when many houses and gardens are open to the public.
The city's cultural institutions, as well as those from other regions and countries, are presented during the Houston International Festival. This event, held from late April to early May, features music, dance and theater on eight different stages. For golf lovers, the Shell Houston Open is played in April at the Redstone Golf Club in northeast Houston.
A 16th-century English village is re-created 45 miles northwest of Houston, between Plantersville and Magnolia, for the Texas Renaissance Festival. Food, merchants, craft booths, entertainers, street characters, royalty, jousting, games and skills of the period are presented weekends from early October to early November. Also in November is the 4-day International Quilt Festival, which features new and antique quilts, classes, lectures and special events at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The Thanksgiving Day Parade, a tradition since 1950, marches through downtown on Thanksgiving Day. During the second week in December the Harris County Heritage Society conducts three candlelight tours through seven historic structures in Sam Houston Park.
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