Young couple staying in Downtown houston for 3 days What to DO (Highland Village: hotel, home)

[stanley.g]

Hi,

My wife and i are staying in downtown Houston for 3 days. We are considering a moving there. were in our mid 20's What area's Should we visit? what is there to do in those Area's ? We do Not want to visit Musuems but would like to see the area. Shopping is a PLUS, Parks are a PLUS

We like Nature.

Please help

[vwgto]

Are you looking for areas to live, or just here to have fun and get a feel for Houston? Intown or suburbs? If you moved here, where would you be working ? Many strings here will remind you that Houston covers a huge area.

[Kiovo]

Are you staying downtown on over the weekend? There's not usually much going on over the weekends, unless there's a festival going on. Discovery Green is a nice park downtown, or you can head over to Hermann Park in the museum district. Shopping I would head over to the Highland Village area (Westheimer) or Galleria Mall. Houston is pretty spread and our mass transist system is not that great so hopefully you will have a car to get around in!

[jdw7337]

If you're there on the weekend you won't see much, the entire area is quiet and mostly closed, but if you go during the week here are the tourist basics:

Shopping:
-The Houston Tunnel System
-The Park Shoppes at Houston Center
-GreenStreet
(I would recommend heading Uptown to The Galleria as well)

Nature:
-Discovery Green
-Sam Houston Park
(you may want to venture out to Hermann or Memorial park too)

Downtown attractions:
-Downtown Aquarium
-The Houston Theatre District
-JP Morgan Chase Tower Observation Deck (60th floor)(may not be open due to ongoing renovations)
-Lucky Strike Lanes (located in GreenStreet)

Food:
-The Spaghetti Warehouse
-Vic & Anthony's Steakhouse
-There are tons of restaurants in the tunnels
-The Park Shoppes at Houston Center Food Court
-Phoenicia Specialty Foods (Greek grocer and deli)-located in One Park Place

There are many other things to do downtown besides the basic attractions and such, to figure out what you really want to do you should probably check out the downtown tourism website:
Downtown Houston

[testmo]

We have a few of the top museums in the country. Who doesnt like museums?

[Kiovo]

Originally Posted by jdw7337

If you're there on the weekend you won't see much, the entire area is quiet and mostly closed, but if you go during the week here are the tourist basics:

Shopping:
-The Houston Tunnel System
-The Park Shoppes at Houston Center
-GreenStreet
(I would recommend heading Uptown to The Galleria as well)

The Tunnel System is pretty neat, but as far as shopping, there's mostly eateries, convenience type stores, dry cleaners and starbucks. Macy's was the only retailer. Same for the Park Shoppes.

Originally Posted by jdw7337

Downtown attractions:
-Downtown Aquarium
-The Houston Theatre District
-JP Morgan Chase Tower Observation Deck (60th floor)(may not be open due to ongoing renovations)
-Lucky Strike Lanes (located in GreenStreet)

The Observation Deck is closed till early next year, but it does provide a very cool view.

Houston Downtown is not really the center of the city (location wise yes) like most other cities. People mainly go there during the week to work then go back home in the evenings and weekends. It's very lively during the lunchtime M-F. A better area (if you haven't booked hotel yet) to stay would be the Uptown/Galleria Area. There are a lot of restaurants and shopping, and depending on which hotel you stay at, you could get away with walking to these amenities. If you are staying downtown, you could also check out Midtown. A lot of bars and restaurants, the crowd is a little more business professional, mid 20's to late 30's.

[TexasTallest]

Originally Posted by stanley.g

Hi,

My wife and i are staying in downtown Houston for 3 days. We are considering a moving there. were in our mid 20's What area's Should we visit? what is there to do in those Area's ? We do Not want to visit Musuems but would like to see the area. Shopping is a PLUS, Parks are a PLUS

We like Nature.

Please help

what hotel are you staying in? is it near the light rail line? if so your just a short trip from Hermann Park (great park but a decent chunk is taken up by a golf course, and the main garden area is undergoing construction at the moment for the new centennial gardens next year, so Hermann Park may not be as good a choice as say Memorial Park [not in downtown or near light rail, but its a fantastic park thats over 1,000 acres if you want to get out and explore what nature our parks have to offer] or Discovery Green), the Houston Zoo, and (though you said you werent interested) dozens of world class museums (you said you liked Nature, there is a fantastic butterfly conservatory thing at the Museum of Natural Science thats only 7$ with hundreds of butterflys inside a glass domed structure with a 50' waterfall). there is always the night life in midtown (again, just off the light rail), though you may be surprised with downtown considering all the comments about it being desolate outside of work hours. ive heard downtown has been surprisingly active at nights/weekends recently as more cafes and bars open up along Main Street and Market Square.
assuming your not on the light rail line and are closer to Discovery Green, DG is a fantastic park that gets a good bit of activity on the weekends and may even have an event going on while your in town. Phonecia is on that side of downtown.
as has been stated, there isnt much shopping in downtown besides GreenStreet and the Houston Center. your best bet would be theGalleria or the Highland Village area on Westheimer.

[texas7]

I would skip the downtown tunnel and the Park Shops - there just isn't much shopping there. Highland Village or Rice Village are both great shopping areas. Memorial Park, Hermann Park and I love Discovery Green downtown - you can google Discovery Green and see what events they may have going on while you are here.

A lot of people don't like museums - so good that you stated that in your preferences as everyone assumes that because we have good museums that everyone loves a museum. If you like the water, the Kemah Boardwalk in the Clear Lake area of Houston might be fun to go eat at - most all restaurants and arcade games and a few bars.

[Mr. Krinkle]

People who say nothing goes on downtown during the weekend don't know what they are talking about. Probably the same people who say there is no parking downtown.

[Htxdowntown]

I'm in my mid-20's and live downtown. Check out the market square park area. There are 15+ bars and restaurants on the three blocks that surround the park and they range from a mezcaleria to an unmarked cocktail bar on the second floor of a historic building. It can get packed on weekends but there is a lot of stuff going on.