IFLY tips Houston
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Space Center Houston (1 day)
One of the highlights of touristic Houston is approximately a 40-minute drive from downtown, Space Centre Houston, the official visitors centre of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
The centre has actual spacecrafts, spacesuits and other artifacts. Learn about the history of space travel. Watch the huge rockets they used for travelling and learn about the men on the moon.
Learn all about the history of the space shuttle project, have a look in the cockpit of a Space shuttle or try to land one. And of course you visit the Houston Control Centre and the mock-up room where you can see the whole ISS in pieces.
You can easily spend a whole day in the Space Centre and they call it an out-of-this-world experience. Tickets can be bought at the gate, or online with a five-dollar discount. More information about the directions and opening hours can be found here.
Galveston (½-2 days)
If the weather is great and you like to escape from the hustle and bustle of Houston, you should go to Galveston. This is a small romantic island tucked deep within the heart of south Texas possessing all the charm of a small southern town and just 40 minutes south of Houston.
Galveston offers 32 miles of relaxing beaches, superb restaurants, top resort hotels, marvellous downtown shopping, numerous antique stores, incredible art galleries, fabulous entertainment and one of the largest and well-preserved concentrations of Victorian architecture in the country.
A great time to go there is during Mardi Gras. More information about Mardi Gras in Galveston can be found here.
If you go to Galveston you definitely need a car. From Houston you need to follow the I-45 south to Galveston. It is 50 miles southeast of Houston. If you like to combine two trips, you can go to the Houston Space Center as well, as it is in the same direction from Houston.
Minute maid Park (1 hr)
The huge stadium in downtown Houston, The Minute Maid Park, is home to Major League Baseball Houston Astros. Besides watching a match here, you can have a look in the stadium as well. Ballpark Tours of Minute Maid Park are offered Monday-Saturday at 10:00, 12:00 and 2:00.
The stadium is located at Union Station, and was built to reflect Houston's historical relationship with the railroads and features a vintage, full-sized locomotive that runs along 800 feet of track on the left-field wall. Minute Maid Park beautifully incorporates modern conveniences like a retractable roof, yet exudes a truly classic atmosphere complete with red brick masonry and natural grass.
The tour will give you a behind-the-scenes look. You may visit such places as: the Historic Union Station, broadcasting booth or press boxes, Astros' or Visitors' Dugout, luxury suites and much more.
A tour costs us$ 9 and tickets can be bought at the Stadium or online. Minute Maid Park address is 501 Crawford Street.
Theater District (1 evening)
An interesting place to see is the Theater District. This is located in downtown Houston. The district features nine renowned performing arts organizations, and many smaller ones, in four venues.
Jones Hall for example, is home to the Houston Symphony, and is a great place to enjoy Clasis music. But there are more theatres concentrated in this area, Wortham Theater Center, Alley Theatre and Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. You’ll also find Bayou Place, which includes the Verizon Wireless Theater.
The theatre calendar can be found here.
Museum District (1 day)
Of course Houston has the Space Center, but there are many more nice museums in town. Most of them are concentrated in the museum district.
There are too many museums to mention here, so luckily they have their own website. See this website as well to find out about opening hours and entrance fees. There’s also some information about free opportunities. And at this page you can download a map of the area with all museums mentioned.
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Language of the world
Of course you like to speak a few words of the local language onboard the plane or at your destination. Here you find some simple basics of the main language spoken in Houston.