Houston travel recs

[cajunmom]

We are going to Houston over Thanksgiving (Thursday-Sunday) just because we're dying to get away for a few days and we don't have time to go anywhere further away...plus we don't want to spend $$ on plane tickets so we wanted to stay within a half-day's drive of our house.

I haven't been Houston in at least 15 years. What areas should I look at for hotels? I don't know what we'll do, really. Probably find a children's museum, and I want to go to Ikea. Lame, I know, but we don't have one here.

Any recs would be welcome!

[dr.girlfriend]

The zoo is really nice! I was surprised how nice it was, honestly. And there's a little train you can ride that goes from the zoo around the park, etc. And paddleboats. I'm guessing you have kids if you want the children's museum? For grown-up time you might want to check out the Galleria mall if you don't have a giant mall near you. That's about all I got. My parents live in the Houston suburbs. Usually they force us out to Galveston when we come, but I don't see the appeal. I've heard the town of Keema is nice, like a little beach town with shops, etc.

[njohnson1972]

Hotels near the Galleria will be nice. IKEA isn't very far from there. The Children's Museum is great, but it is closer to downtown. With no traffic, it is an easy drive from the Galleria area to the Museum district. Discovery Green is a nice park downtown with a couple of restaurants and a great play area for kids. The outlets up in Cypress Springs are pretty nice - Tory Burch, David Yurman, Coach, Kate Spade, Ann Taylor, Cole Haan etc. Lots of great restaurants, though if you are in New Orleans, it may be hard to compete with that. There is a new boardwalk down in Galveston, but I hear it is quite pricey. I haven't checked it out yet.

[mego]

www.visithoustontexas.com/
lots of coupons on this website Enjoy!

[Pom]

Can you get a deal on any of the downtown hotels? We loved the Magnolia. We also enjoy Kemah and Galveston which is of course more tourist-y.

[mrsjuleshs]

I would probably stay in the Galleria area so you are more centrally located. You can easily do the Zoo and Children's museum (both located in the museum district along with many others) in a single day. The Galleria is grat for shopping and they have an ice skating rink. You could head over to Kemah or down to Galveston. Galveston has Moody Gardens, the Pleasure Pier, and can be fun though not sure about that time of year since our weather is hit or miss. There is quite a bit to do depending on how far out you want to drive.

[Deleted]

hotwire always has houston hotels near the Galleria for cheap. You can go to Kemah for a day. It is like a pier with boardwalk. The chinese food and seafood in Houston is always a must for me. Downtown houston will be pretty dead at night. I would avoid places like the Energy Corridor. Last time I stayed there and the tolls can get pricey.