Rainy Day in Houston: 18 Indoor Things to Do (That Aren't a Mall)

Houston averages 50 inches of rain, more than Seattle, and it tends to arrive all at once. The good news: this city built itself for weather. Here's the indoor plan, sorted by how much you feel like doing.

Underground and unusual

1. Buffalo Bayou Cistern: a 1926 water reservoir with 221 columns, now an art space with a 17-second echo. Book the tour online; it's the most unusual hour in the city.
2. The Downtown Tunnels: seven miles of climate-controlled walkways under 95 blocks. Weekdays only. Guided tunnel tours → explain the history.
3. The Turrell tunnel at the MFAH: an underground light installation connecting two buildings.

Museums (all within a mile of each other)

4. Houston Museum of Natural Science: half a day, minimum. Dinosaurs, gems, the butterfly center, the planetarium.
5. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: three buildings, free Thursdays.
6. The Menil Collection and the Rothko Chapel: free, quiet, perfect for a gray afternoon.
7. Children's Museum Houston: the obvious answer with kids.
8. Holocaust Museum Houston: serious, excellent.
9. Contemporary Arts Museum: free, one hour.
10. Space Center Houston: almost entirely indoors except the tram, which is covered. Tickets →.

Eat, drink, and stay dry

11. POST Houston: a 25-vendor food hall in a former post office, plus concerts and (when it clears) a rooftop park.
12. Asiatown dim sum: a rainy Sunday at a 400-seat dim sum hall on Bellaire Boulevard is the local move. See the Asiatown guide.
13. A long lunch at Ninfa's: Reserve a table →.
14. Cocktails at Anvil: it opens at 4pm.

Shows and games

15. The Theater District: Broadway at the Hobby Center, the Alley, the symphony, the opera, the ballet. See what's on →.
16. An Astros game at Daikin Park: the roof closes. Astros tickets →.
17. Downtown Aquarium: kids, fish, tigers.
18. Topgolf, iFLY, escape rooms, or the Galleria ice rink: reliable, air-conditioned, bookable.

A rainy-day route

Museum District morning (HMNS, then lunch in the Menil's neighborhood), MFAH or the Cistern in the afternoon, POST Houston for dinner, a show downtown. All of it is a five-minute ride apart. Ask the concierge to rebuild it around today's forecast.