Galveston, TX opinions

[comax]

I too am thinking of visiting the galveston area! We are from Long Island NY and love the beach and beach areas. Its kind of up in the air right now, we may do outer banks NC if we decided NOT to fly but if we have $ to fly, I notice that we could get to houston pretty cheap! I have 4 kids 16, 14, 11, and 7. Any others areas near galveston that are a MUST see? perhaps areas that tourists may not go...and/or hidden gems? I think we"ll stay in houston 4 nights galveston 3! how far apart is houston from galveston? amount of time sound good? any advice appreciated! thanks

 

[HunnyPots]

I too am thinking of visiting the galveston area! We are from Long Island NY and love the beach and beach areas. Its kind of up in the air right now, we may do outer banks NC if we decided NOT to fly but if we have $ to fly, I notice that we could get to houston pretty cheap! I have 4 kids 16, 14, 11, and 7. Any others areas near galveston that are a MUST see? perhaps areas that tourists may not go...and/or hidden gems? I think we"ll stay in houston 4 nights galveston 3! how far apart is houston from galveston? amount of time sound good? any advice appreciated! thanks

Houston is about a 30 minute drive from Galveston. And as much as I love Galveston, I don't recommend it if you're looking for a real beach vacation. No way does it compare to Outer Banks, NC!
On the other hand, if you love history, victorian architecture, and lots of
19th century charm, you'll have a great time. There's plenty to see and do in Houston, much like any other big city. Space Center Houston is popular but my kids were bored out of their minds. It just depends on what you're looking for in a vacation.

 

[brerrabbit]

I live at exit 30 off the Gulf Freeway which means I am 30 miles from Galveston. No it is not the prettiest beach in the world but don't get to shaken up by that. We have to many rivers that bring silty water to the Gulf and that stains the water and the sand. From the San Jacinto, to the Trinity, to the Brazos and Colorado (and actually not the Mississippi) Rivers and the fact that the water is very shallow for a Gulf (you have to be almost 50 miles offshore before the water gets more than 200 feet deep) the water looks bad, but I assure you, it's just silt. You have a great list to work from with Moody Gardens, Kemah Boardwalk and the museums in Houston. If you are in your car I would recommend going to the West end of the island and crossing San Louis Pass on the toll bridge and going to the beachs in Brazoria county. Less people and you can drive on the beach in that area. The beaches are a little more raw, (not graded every day) but a lot of fun. Also in Galveston there is the railroad museum on the Strand, the Strand, (harbor side of the island where the cruise ships depart from) the Alissa (tall sailing ship) and the offshore drilling museum. You can take the ferry to Bolivar but since Ike, there's not much over there but it's a boat ride across the channel and the beaches over there are wide open for miles. You can also tour the Bishops palace and some other historic homes. At the airport there is the Lone Star Flight museum with some WWII planes which is right next to Moody Gardens and Schliterbaun (slippery road in German) water park. If you plan there are a ton of things to do that can fill up a week very easily.

 

[Deb & Bill]

... how far apart is houston from galveston? amount of time sound good? any advice appreciated! thanks

It depends on where you are in Houston. We used to live up near the Houston Intercontinental airport (Humble area) and I worked in Lamarque, TX. It was about 65 miles to get there. I'd leave at 5:45AM to get to school by 7:30AM. Galveston was about another 15 miles from there.

Traffic in Houston is horrendous and I would never, ever, live there again. I hated taking over an hour to get to work (when I worked on the SW side of Houston and my husband worked on the South side in the Medical Center area). Then it was over an hour to get home at night.

The Gulf Freeway is all the way on the south side of Houston, a good distance from Intercontinental, but close to Hobby Airport (SWA flies into Hobby).

To me, Houston is just a big city. Dirty, crowded and not that exciting.

 

[comax]

As far as getting hotel in houston...like all cities I am sure there are bad areas and nicer ones....what are those areas called....I really dont even need to stay in the city! Perhaps a suburb outside houston maybe even between houston and galveston. any suggestions? thanks so much! Its always a gamble when making reservations to a place you know nothing about!

 

[Deb & Bill]

As far as getting hotel in houston...like all cities I am sure there are bad areas and nicer ones....what are those areas called....I really dont even need to stay in the city! Perhaps a suburb outside houston maybe even between houston and galveston. any suggestions? thanks so much! Its always a gamble when making reservations to a place you know nothing about!

Houston has two roads that circle the city - Loop 610 and Beltway 8. I wouldn't get any hotel within Beltway 8 (and it is the outer loop) except for a few very expensive hotels in the Medical Center area, the Galleria area or downtown near the baseball stadium (like the Four Seasons). Even then, you have to be careful.

Clear Lake City might have some nicer ones and that is outside the Beltway and on the Gulf Freeway toward Galveston and the location of Johnson Space Center. I'd avoid anything on the east side of the city totally. Avoid anything near Hobby Airport.

 

[Planogirl]

As far as getting hotel in houston...like all cities I am sure there are bad areas and nicer ones....what are those areas called....I really dont even need to stay in the city! Perhaps a suburb outside houston maybe even between houston and galveston. any suggestions? thanks so much! Its always a gamble when making reservations to a place you know nothing about!

I would look for a place from Clear Lake City on south. Friendswood is a nice area too. I wouldn't bother with LaMarque or Texas City if you see those names.

I loved living in Houston. So many museums and festivals and always a lot going on. True that traffic was bad but we just made sure to work on the side of town that we lived on. But then traffic is bad in the Dallas area too so I probably just expect it.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I would look for a place from Clear Lake City on south. Friendswood is a nice area too. I wouldn't bother with LaMarque or Texas City if you see those names.

I loved living in Houston. So many museums and festivals and always a lot going on. True that traffic was bad but we just made sure to work on the side of town that we lived on. But then traffic is bad in the Dallas area too so I probably just expect it.

Don't even get me started on Dallas traffic. It has to be worse than Houston. At least Houston goes in two big circles. Dallas criss crosses all over the place.

 

[emiliezola]

Hey Deb & Bill--
I've been reading this thread with interest because Galveston used to be close to home. We moved from LaMarque to Paris, France four years ago! You can surely appreciate the big improvement this move had on us! We experienced culture shock in the most wonderful way.

Emilie

 

[bookgirl]

Don't even get me started on Dallas traffic. It has to be worse than Houston. At least Houston goes in two big circles. Dallas criss crosses all over the place.

LOL

I've driven in both and Houston is worse. It's the only place where rush hour traffic goes both ways about 20 hours a day. It's also the only place where the breakdown lane and median seem to be acceptable driving surface. Heck I've even driven in LA/Orange County/SanDiego traffic and I'd take the west coast to Houston anyday.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Hey Deb & Bill--
I've been reading this thread with interest because Galveston used to be close to home. We moved from LaMarque to Paris, France four years ago! You can surely appreciate the big improvement this move had on us! We experienced culture shock in the most wonderful way.

Emilie

Paris, France instead of Paris, Texas. Wow!!! I'd say a big improvement over Lamarque.

 

[momofrrr]

As far as getting hotel in houston...like all cities I am sure there are bad areas and nicer ones....what are those areas called....I really dont even need to stay in the city! Perhaps a suburb outside houston maybe even between houston and galveston. any suggestions? thanks so much! Its always a gamble when making reservations to a place you know nothing about!

I live in between Houston and Galveston in a little town called League City. We have a couple of Days Inn type places but I would stay at the Boardwalk Inn. It is in Kemah at the Kemah Boardwalk. There are hotels, restuarants and amusement rides there. It is not really convenient to the freeway but easy enough to get to so that both Houston and Galveston are accessable. If you would like to PM me I would love to share some advice. There are numerous museums and a great zoo in Houston as well as the Minute Maid park. There are shows downtown all the time. In Galveston there has been a lot of rebuilding (still a lot to do however) but plenty to pass the time.

 

[Planogirl]

LOL

I've driven in both and Houston is worse. It's the only place where rush hour traffic goes both ways about 20 hours a day. It's also the only place where the breakdown lane and median seem to be acceptable driving surface. Heck I've even driven in LA/Orange County/SanDiego traffic and I'd take the west coast to Houston anyday.

I wish that I could agree. When we drove from San Diego to LA, we were in stop and go traffic the whole way and it wasn't during rush hour. At least Houston traffic eases up during off times and there is virtually no traffic between Dallas and Houston!

I sure did love southern California otherwise though.

 

[bookgirl]

I wish that I could agree. When we drove from San Diego to LA, we were in stop and go traffic the whole way and it wasn't during rush hour. At least Houston traffic eases up during off times and there is virtually no traffic between Dallas and Houston!

I sure did love southern California otherwise though.

Actually I found both the west coast and houston to have heavy traffic but the Calis do it at 5 miles per hour in houston bumper to bumper traffic means they slow down to 80.


My dad's actually going to put the island house up for sale this spring and move closer to my brother and me. I'll miss the island but I won't miss the traffic on the island during high tourist season. And I do agree there is very little traffic on I45 between Dallas and Houston, in fact there's not much of anything. That's always the part of the trip where I worry about falling asleep on the road.