Houston Museum District

The district’s top museums include the sizeable Holocaust Museum Houston; Children’s Museum of Houston, with interactive exhibitions and hands-on activities; Health Museum, with walk-through body models; and Houston Museum of Natural Science, with a planetarium and IMAX theater. For history buffs, there's the Revolutionary War at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum and Houston Museum of African American Culture. The Museum of Fine Arts, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Lawndale Art Center, and Houston Center for Photography appeal to art-lovers.

• Many sightseeing tours and walking tours of Houston include a stop in the Museum District.

• Eight of the museums, including the Houston Center for Photography, Diverseworks, The Jung Center, and the Contemporary Arts Museum, offer free entrance. Most other museums also offer free entrance at selected times.

• There are numerous options for restaurants, cafes, and accommodation in the Museum District; many of the larger museums have their own cafes.

• Most of the museums are fully accessible for wheelchairs and strollers.

The Museum District is located just south of downtown Houston around the boulevards of Main, Caroline, and West Alabama. Metro line 700 runs through the Museum District, with three different stops (Museum District, Hermann Park/Rice U, and Wheeler Stn) dropping you within walking distance of all the different museums.

Museum opening hours vary, so it’s worth checking in advance; many museums are either closed on Sunday or open for the afternoon only. Thursday is a great day for budget travelers, when museums including the Fine Arts, Buffalo Soldiers, African American Culture, Natural Science, Health, and Children’s museums are all free to visit (free entrance hours vary, so be sure to check ahead). Alternatively, the Holocaust Museum is free on Sunday.

After visiting the museums, there are plenty of things to keep you busy in Houston’s Museum District. Visit the Rothko Chapel, designed by painter Mark Rothko; watch artisans at work at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft; or peek inside a 10-foot-tall (3-meter-tall) brain at the Health Museum. Afterwards head to Hermann Park to visit Houston Zoo, watch a show at the Miller Outdoor Theatre, hire a pedal boat on the lake, or stroll around the Japanese gardens.