From the city guide, checked October 28, 2026.
Space Center Houston
A space and science center at 1601 E NASA Parkway, next to NASA's Johnson Space Center. Exhibits include the shuttle replica Independence mounted on the original NASA 905 carrier aircraft, the Starship Gallery of flown spacecraft, a spacesuit collection and an Artemis exhibit. NASA Tram Tours take visitors onto the Johnson Space Center site; the Mission Control tram tour costs extra and is not part of general admission. Hours are usually 10 am to 5 pm, but the center says they can change without notice, so check the hours page before you drive out.
The Museum District
The Houston Museum District association lists 21 member institutions and calls the area one of the most highly concentrated cultural areas in the world. The list includes museums, Miller Outdoor Theatre and the Houston Zoo in Hermann Park. The Menil, the Rothko Chapel, the MFAH and the natural science museum below can fill a full day.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH)
The main Sarofim Campus has three gallery buildings: the Audrey Jones Beck Building, the Caroline Wiess Law Building and the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building. Adult tickets (19 and over) are $24, seniors 65 and over pay $20, and children 12 and under are free. The museum is closed Monday and Tuesday and stays open until 9 pm on Thursday and Friday. The first 30 minutes in the museum garages are free; the Kinder Garage is at 5500 Main Street.
Houston Museum of Natural Science
At 5555 Hermann Park Drive, inside Hermann Park. Four floors of prehistoric beasts and gems, plus the Cockrell Butterfly Center and the Burke Baker Planetarium; the museum says an average visit takes more than two hours. Adults pay $25 and children 3 to 11 pay $16, and admission is free on Tuesdays from 5 to 8 pm. The Cullen Hall of Gems & Minerals is closed for now.
The Menil Collection
A free art museum; the main building is at 1533 Sul Ross Street. The 30-acre campus also holds the Cy Twombly Gallery (1501 Branard Street), the Menil Drawing Institute (1412 West Main Street) and a Dan Flavin installation at Richmond Hall. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11 am to 7 pm.
Rothko Chapel
John and Dominique de Menil opened the chapel at 3900 Yupon Street in 1971. It holds 14 large murals by Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk, dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr., rises above the reflecting pool outside. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm (the hours list shows Thursday until 4:30 pm); it closes about twice a month for events. Visitors are asked to keep silent and not take photos inside.
Hermann Park and the Houston Zoo
The park at 1700 Hermann Drive holds the Japanese Garden, McGovern Lake with pedal boats, a small railroad and a carousel, as well as the science museum and the zoo. The zoo (6200 Hermann Park Drive) is open daily 9 am to 5 pm, closing at 4 pm from November 11 to January 3. Timed tickets are sold online only, not at the gate.
Buffalo Bayou Park
A 160-acre park just west of downtown, from Shepherd Drive to Sabine Street, between Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive. Trails for walkers and cyclists run its full length. From the Waugh Drive Bridge you can watch more than 300,000 Mexican free-tailed bats leave at dusk. The Cistern at 105-B Sabine Street is a 1926 drinking water reservoir, decommissioned in 2007 and now open for tours.
Discovery Green
A 12-acre park downtown at 1500 McKinney Street, with a one-acre kayaking lake, a children's water park, dog runs, an amphitheater and two restaurants. Open daily 6 am to 11 pm, free, with more than 600 free events a year.
San Jacinto Battleground
A state historic site at 3523 Independence Parkway South in La Porte, east of Houston. On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston's army defeated the Mexican army here in 18 minutes and won Texas its independence. The 1,200-acre grounds are free and open daily, 9 am to 6 pm. The 567-foot monument and museum open Wednesday to Sunday; the monument costs $14 for adults and $6 for children 11 and under.
Prices and hours checked on October 28, 2026, on each place's own site.