Visiting Houston March 4-9th,2013....things to do????

[westhou]

Originally Posted by greene99

I live near this area and can help you out.

I would definitely spend time in Hermann Park, completely free and can be reached by the metro line. The Japanese gardens are free too. Worth a walk round Rice University, great architectural images, that's free, could even include popping over to Rice Village for a meal. The museums and zoo are close to the Med center but there will be a charge. If I recall the Holocaust museum is free and I think some of the other museums have free entry on a Thursday. I would definitely take the metro into downtown and visit Tranquilty Park and Discovery Green, great locations for downtown/architectural photography.

At the med center, see if you can sign up for a tour, very impressive, that used to be free and might still be!

Those are all great. I took my camera out once and explored all the places you mentioned.

[westhou]

Here is something unique you might want to try too while you're here:

Boat Tours

[RocketSci]

Staying in the Med Center area (I live nearby), here are some of my recommendations to do and see:

Very close nearby (walk or take short metro hop)
- Livestock Show and Rodeo - cheap admission, can spend several days here, it is more than a rodeo
- Hermann Park reflecting pool area - people watch (free)
- Japanese Gardens (free)
- Hermann Park Zoo
- Hermann Park kiddie train (why not?)
- Miller Outdoor Theater (free) (no events scheduled, but maybe?)
- Museum of Science - includes theaters and events
- Museum of Fine Arts - fine museum
- Contemporary Art Museum (free)

Take a bus or rail ride and look around
- Metro Rail (downtown to the Astrodome) - all of the major cultural attractions
- 27 Inner Loop Crosstown - see the varied Inner Loop neighborhoods from the Med Center, to wealthy River Oaks, Heights, up and coming East End, along with much of the good and bad - makes a loop and returns to back to TMC
- Downtown Circulator - runs on weekdays downtown, save a few steps as it hits many of the highlights

Downtown must do's
- look at the big shiny buildings - ride the circulator and stop where you want, walk the rest of the way
- Discovery Green - very active park by the convention center
- Phoenicia Market - near Discovery Green, big selection of mid east foods and pastries
- look for a festival - Discovery Green, Sam Houston Park (city hall), or maybe theater district
- see a show - theater, music, opera
- see a movie and have a drink - Sundance Theater at Bayou Place, +more
- see Buffalo Bayou - walk along the path behind the Wortham Theater, can follow for miles west
- the tunnels! - miles of tunnels under the city - look for a map online

Reach out and visit neighborhoods - be sure to verify the latest correct bus schedule!
- Take the 27 Inner Loop Crosstown to visit Montrose area (Richmond, Alabama, Westheimer), River Oaks (West Gray), Rice Military (Washington), Heights (19th, 20th), East End (Harrisburg)
- Take the 2 Bellaire to visit West University (Kirby), Rice Village (north on Kirby a few blocks), Bellaire (Rice), New Chinatown (West Belt)

Walk a little further to visit neighborhoods, stores and shops
- Rice Village - west of Rice University between University, Kirby, Sunset - worth it on a nice day
- Montrose - up Montrose Blvd to Westheimer (both directions) OR take Metro Rail to Ensemble Station and go West (not as fun) - OR on weekdays take the 34 Montrose Crosstown bus to Westheimer

just a few ideas...

[txdemo]

Why not rent a car? You can rent a small car for less than $200 for the week.

[bu2]

The Azalea Trail is that week. Not free, but definitely something to consider. Tours of homes (mansions) and gardens in the River Oaks area. If you didn't have a car, you could take the train downtown and a bus down Allen Parkway to Shepherd and walk from there.

[bu2]

And even if you don't do the Azalea Trail you still will probably want to go to River Oaks if you are into photography. The azaleas all over the city are in bloom around that time. River Oaks is the most spectacular and the homes and gardens are very impressive. But you will also see them in the neighborhoods on both sides of the Rice Village (Southgate, West University Place).

There are some nice fountains. The Mecom fountain is on Main Street at the entrance to Hermann Park. Hermann Park has a reflecting pond in the center of the park. There is a fountain on Bertner in the middle of the Medical Center and another at South Main and Bellaire on the edge of the Medical Center. The Water Wall on Hidalgo just south of the Galleria is a popular gathering spot.

The views of downtown from Allen Parkway just west of downtown are spectacular. You can get a good view of the city from some of the parking garages in the Rice Village. Also some of the ones in the Texas Medical Center. You might be interested in Memorial Park. Its out Memorial Drive (runs parallel to Allen Parkway on the other side of Buffalo Bayou). Its not a pretty as usual as the drought killed about 1/3 of the pine trees. But then that might make for interesting photography. The Houston arboretum is there as well. The nicest panoramic views of the city are probably along Hwy 288, especially south of Loop 610. But with public transit in the 288 corridor, you will be limited to inside 610. Hwy 288 is a designated scenic corridor, so there are no billboards.

In addition to the normal Metro routes, if you are staying in the medical center, you will probably want to know about the circulator routes in the Texas Medical Center. They will get you close to Rice University and Hermann Park which border the northern edge of the medical center. They can also get you to Hwy 288 at S. McGregor.

[bu2]

If you really want to see some contrasts, you could take the #2 Bellaire bus as suggested before. It goes along Bellaire Blvd. from the Texas Medical Center to the southern boundaries of West University Place and Bellaire (affluent upper middle class communities) to Hispanic areas with lots of Central American immigrants (Fiesta Supermarket at Bellaire and Hillcroft is a cultural experience in itself) to Sharpstown Mall which has become heavily African American to about a mile beyond Sharpstown Mall where you hit about a 3 mile stretch of strip centers with almost nothing but Chinese and Vietnameses businesses, a very Houston style China town. There's even Dyansty Mall (very small mall-not sure if that's still the name) near Bellaire Blvd and Beltway 8. In some of the restaurants you might be the only person (I'm presuming English is your first language) who's first language is English. Near Hillcroft and the Southwest Freeway just northeast of Sharpstown Mall are a bunch of Indian businesses and restaurants and some Iranian businesses and restaurants.

Do be aware that outside of Loop 610, other than the park-n-ride busses, the bus riders are almost all young or old or poor and overwhelmingly minority. I don't know what you are used to with mass transit, but didn't want you surprised. The trains and some of the inside 610 buses are much more mixed in ages, ethnic groups and income levels. The biggest reason for that is that it takes a really long time to travel on a bus with all the stops, generally about 30 minutes to Loop 610 from downtown vs. 10 minutes in a car. Make sure you check out the bus schedules so you know how long it takes. And some of the buses aren't frequent-for example the 27 bus which you might want to use. Last I checked it only ran every 30 minutes in rush hour. The #2 bus is one of the most frequent busses (and make sure you do look at the schedule and route map as some buses with the same number end in different places-the #2 used to and might still have routes that end along Bellarie Blvd and miles away in Fondren Southwest).