Free things to do in Houston
Houston's best museums, parks, and art cost nothing. Here's the full list.
The study
Which Houston museums are free, and on which day
Every free window checked against the venue's own admission page, with what you pay the rest of the week.
1.The Menil Collection
FreeA Renzo Piano-designed museum on a 30-acre campus of bungalows and lawns, always free. Surrealists, antiquities, and the Cy Twombly Gallery. Houstonians' favorite quiet afternoon.
Montrose · Indoor
2.Rothko Chapel
FreeAn octagonal meditation space housing 14 of Mark Rothko's darkest paintings, lit only by a skylight. Silent, non-denominational, and strangely moving. Twenty minutes is enough; an hour is better.
Montrose · Indoor
3.Buffalo Bayou Park
FreeA 160-acre green ribbon along the bayou with skyline views, the Waugh Bridge bat colony at dusk, the underground Cistern art space, and kayak launches. The best free hour in Houston.
Downtown
4.Hermann Park
Free445 acres of the Museum District's front yard: a miniature train, pedal boats on McGovern Lake, the Japanese Garden, and Miller Outdoor Theatre's free shows. Bring a picnic.
Museum District · Kids
5.Discovery Green
FreeA 12-acre downtown park across from the convention center with free concerts, a winter ice rink, kayaking on Kinder Lake, and a packed calendar of free events. Downtown's living room.
Downtown · Kids
6.Twilight Epiphany Skyspace (Rice University)
FreeA James Turrell light installation on Rice's campus: a grass pyramid with an open roof where a 40-minute LED sequence recolors the sky at sunrise and sunset. Free, quiet, unforgettable.
Rice Village & West U
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7.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
8.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
9.Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park
FreeA 64-foot semicircular fountain recirculating 11,000 gallons a minute, framed by 186 live oaks. Houston's most-photographed spot and a five-minute detour from the Galleria.
Galleria / Uptown
10.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, free to tour on weekends.
Memorial & Energy Corridor
11.The Orange Show & Smither Park
FreeA postman's hand-built monument to the orange, next door to a half-acre park built entirely from mosaic scrap by 300 artists. The birthplace of Houston's Art Car Parade.
EaDo · Kids
12.Downtown Houston Tunnels
FreeMore than six miles of air-conditioned pedestrian tunnels 20 feet below downtown, lined with food courts and shops, connecting 95 city blocks. Open weekdays; a genuine curiosity.
Downtown · Indoor
13.Miller Outdoor Theatre
FreeFree professional performances (symphony, ballet, musicals, Shakespeare) on an open-air stage in Hermann Park from March to November. Bring a blanket and sit on the hill.
Museum District · Kids
14.Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
FreeA stainless-steel parallelogram across from the MFAH with rotating shows of living artists. Always free, never more than an hour, and the gift shop is excellent.
Museum District · Indoor
15.Levy Park
FreeA small, brilliantly designed urban park near Upper Kirby with a treehouse, a giant lawn, a dog park, free fitness classes, and the best playground for under-8s in the city.
Rice Village & West U · Kids
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