Texas Renaissance Festival
21778 FM 1774, Todd Mission, TX 77363
The largest Renaissance festival in the US, on 55 acres an hour northwest of Houston, eight weekends each October and November. Costumes, jousting, turkey legs, and themed weekends.
Insider tip
Buy tickets online; gate prices are higher. Camp overnight if you're brave.
Located in Memorial & Energy Corridor. 1,500-acre park and corporate campuses.
Also in Memorial & Energy Corridor
Houston Arboretum & Nature Center
Free155 acres of forest and prairie trails inside Memorial Park, with boardwalks, a savanna, and a nature center. Free, dog-free, and surprisingly wild for a spot ten minutes from the Galleria.
Memorial & Energy Corridor · Kids
Memorial Park & Land Bridge
FreeAt 1,500 acres, almost twice the size of Central Park. The Eastern Glades lawn and lake, the 3-mile Seymour Lieberman jogging loop, and the new Land Bridge tunnels with prairie on top and skyline views.
Memorial & Energy Corridor
Beer Can House
$A bungalow covered in 50,000 flattened beer cans by a retired upholsterer over 18 years. Folk-art landmark, five minutes from Memorial Park, cheap to tour on weekends.
Memorial & Energy Corridor
Brazos Bend State Park
$An hour southwest: 5,000 acres of wetlands with hundreds of wild alligators visible from the trails, plus the George Observatory for Saturday stargazing. Houston's best wildlife day.
Memorial & Energy Corridor · Kids