How To Optimize Your Time In Houston

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How To Optimize Your Time In Houston

Are you planning a visit Houston? Are you not sure where to begin? Or have you visited Houston before and  quickly realized that you don’t know what to do, where to go, or what to bring …and thus wasted your time and now you don’t even like Houston anymore?  Yeah, I know the feeling. As someone who has lived in the city for a majority of her life, Houston can get pretty overwhelming . Like most big cities, there is always something to do here  and people are in a rush to go do them. You’ll need some help if you want to optimize your time. Luckily I’m here to provide a bit of a guide.

When to Visit

To best optimize your time in Houston you probably need to know when you’re visiting.  Depending on the time of when you go to Houston you can expect more or less time consuming factors.  For example, the month of March is basically Rodeo Season. Although super fun  ( and you should definitely go at some point) expect traffic in the inner city to be more pronounced than usual. Or hurricane season which  is from June to November ,with August and September being peak season. Although we usually don’t have direct hits from hurricanes, we still get rain in many of those instances. If you are familiar with the area, you’ll know that if some one spits in Houston you’ll get a flood warning. That being said this should not deter you from coming to visit. Its just something to keep in mind.  I recommend  coming in the spring time, which is March through May ( Although is not much of Spring, if you ask me). The Winter time is also a good choice, as its way cooler and low season for travelers, so it may be more budget friendly. And despite what some Houstonians say, we do have a winter…it just last for maybe 3 weeks and it’s not consecutive.

No matter when you are coming in, I suggest giving yourself a day to rest before you start exploring ( trust me, you’ll need it) . And when you return back to where ever you are from, give yourself a day of rest ( trust me, you’ll need it lol)

Where to Stay

There are plenty of places to consider when coming to Houston. It’ll depend on your budget and what you goal is for the trip.

If you are coming to Houston for the Nightlife and dining, I suggest staying in downtown (duh). A lot of places in downtown you can just walk to or take a short ride in an uber or Lyft to get too. I don’t recommend driving yourself ( in my opinion) because parking can be costly in some places. $20 bucks is not unheard of when getting parking and some places go by an hourly pay rate. It can also get a bit confusing when trying to find the places TO park in. Your car will be towed if you are not in the right place and that’s the last thing you want to deal with after an extensive bar crawl.

Pro tip: Most clubs and establishments shutdown by 2am, so if you want to avoid traffic and a price hike in ride shares then leave a little early. Some places do stay open longer than 2am…I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I will advice you to use your own discretion.

If you are in Houston for the cultural experience, then the museum district may be the place to be . The museum district is bordered by I-69, HermannPark, Highway 288 and Main Street.  There are many museums including The Museum of Fine Arts, The Museum of Natural Science, The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum and many many more. There are also shopping centers near by and its pretty close to residential areas, so you may be able to find an air b&b . Again, be mindful of the parking if you choose to drive your own car.

Another place to stay is  Uptown Houston. I’m going to be honest this is not my favorite area. Its way too crowded most of the time and it can get kind of pricey  depending on where you are staying and what you want to do.  Uptown Houston is mainly known for the Galleria Mall. If you up for high end shopping and fine dining and don’t mind spending a little, this is the place to be.

Pro tip: If you want to have a fine dining experience, set up a reservation like a week in advance. Some of the restaurants in this area get booked up quickly so it best to have that assurance.

Also, this goes for anywhere, but especially near the Galleria, don’t flaunt your belongings too much and lock your car doors. The Galleria is THE place for people to people watch and some people are definitely watching…what you got, so keep your wits about you.

How to Get Around

Houston is a driving city.  Almost everyone has at least one vehicle and a concerning amount  of us have large ass pick up trucks, even though they don’t work in a field that requires that.  Although we have some public transportation, it is not as extensive as say New York. You may have heard many Texas residence complain about the crazy drivers and how some parts of the highway are always under construction. It can get pretty overwhelming if you are not used to it.

If you have a car or a rental and plan on driving, make sure you keep an eye out for traffic jams and detours.  Try to leave for your destination at least 20 minutes in advance. That way you’ll have time to “get lost”. Trust me you will get turned around at times. Its better to plan for it. Luckily in Houston the roads are  just a big loop, so if you miss your exit you can  get back on track at the next. Bad news is that WILL probably lead to more traffic for you.

You can use uber and lyft to get around, but you should budget for that. Bustling places like the Galleria may have higher prices than others. The further you go out the more money you are going to spend, so maybe stick to the inner city or split the fare with a group if you are traveling with a group.

What to Do

As I mentioned before, there is plenty to do in Houston. Below is a list of places to go based on activity

Shopping

  • The Galleria
  • Memorial City Mall
  • CITYCENTRE
  • RiverOaks Shopping District

Entertainment

  • Discovery Green
  • Space center Houston
  • Beat the Bomb Houston
  • Immersive Gamebox
  • The Aquarium
  • The Houston Zoo
  • The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
  • Contemporary Arts Meuseum
  • Escape The Room Texas
  • Alley Theatre
  • Artechouse Houston
  • Downtown Houston Tunnel System
  • Houston grand Opera
  • Drunken Shakespeare
  • Miller Outdoor Theatre
  • Houston Museum of Natural Science

Restaurants

Upscale

  • Zanti
  • Bungalow
  • Guard & Grace
  • Prey
  • Rainbow Lodge

Affordable

  • Gyu KaKu Japanese BBQ
  • Nyam Nyam
  • Underground Hall
  • Underground Hall
  • District 7 Grill
  • Liuyishou

Brunch (Houston has a huge brunch culture)

  • Lost & Found
  • Bloom & Bee
  • Mo’ Brunch + Brews
  • a’Bouzy
  • Snooze
  • MAX’s Wine Dive
  • Mexican Sugar
  • The Address
  • The Honey Hole

 

These are just some places to consider. I encourage you to do your own searches and explore. When traveling to new places, that’s half of the fun anyway 🙂

Protip: Something that has helped travelers and even residences of Houston is looking in to Eventbrite. It may provide you with some ideas to truly enjoy the Houston experience.

I hope this post is helpful and your next trip to Houston is a fun one. There are many things that I didn’t cover about Houston, so I’ll add on to this post in the future. In the mean time, Happy Traveling!

 

 

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