The Rice University Intensive English Program realizes you need a healthy balance between studying and having fun. We have suggestions of fun things to do in Houston if you have a couple of hours or a whole afternoon. On the weekend or during your break between sessions, you may want to take a day trip to the exciting attractions that are within a short drive from Houston

Fun things to do in Houston:

• Hermann Park (just a few blocks from Rice University)
  • Houston Zoo
  • Japanese Garden
• Houston Arboretum and Nature Center (over five miles of nature trails)
• Museums
  • The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (free on Thursdays, 10 a.m.- 9 p.m.)
  • Cullen Sculpture Garden (free)
  • Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (free)
  • The Menil Collection (free)
  • The Health Museum
  • Holocaust Museum Houston (free)
  • Children’s Museum of Houston
  • Bayou Bend Collection
  • The Printing Museum
  • Houston Museum of Natural Science (free on Thursdays, 2-5 p.m.)
    • Burke Baker Planetarium
    • Cockrell Butterfly Center
    • Wortham Giant Screen Theatre

Day trips within a short drive from Houston:

• The Texas Hill Country: Colorful wildflowers including the Texas state flower, the Bluebonnet (spring)
• Bluebell Ice Cream Factory in Brenham
• Space Center Houston (30 miles south of Houston): Visitor center for world famous NASA (National Aeronautic and Space Administration) State-of-the-art educational and entertainment complex.
• Galveston (55 miles south of Houston): 32 miles of public beaches encircling Galveston Island.
  • Moody Gardens
  • Historical districts
  • Texas Seaport Museum and Tall Ship Elissa
• Armand Bayou Nature Center: Largest urban wildlife and wilderness preserve in the US, 25,000 acres of wetlands, 360 species of animals and birds.
• San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site (21 miles east of Houston): 900-acre park commemorating the war between Texas and Mexico (1836).
• Brazos Bend State Park (45-minute drive south of Houston): George Observatory (one of the largest telescopes in the nation open to the public on a regular basis), wild alligators, six lakes, hiking and biking trails, picnic areas and fishing.
• Huntsville State Park (90 miles north of Houston): Sam Houston statue, 210-acre lake, boating, hiking trails, horseback riding and campgrounds.