Explore the lesser-known museum city of Houston, Texas, USA

When considering which American cities have the highest concentration of museums and cultural centres, Houston doesn’t usually spring to mind. Known primarily as a centre for the oil and gas industry – though NASA’s spectacular Lyndon B Johnson Space Center runs a close second – few would pick it as an important hub for culture and the arts. Yet visitors will find no shortage of options in a city of more than 150 institutions, including some world-class museums that rank among the largest and most visited in North America.

The epicentre for culture in Houston is the Museum District, a downtown precinct spanning 3.8 sq km and comprised of 19 museums and institutions within walking distance of each other. Eleven of these offer free access year-round, while others provide free entry on certain weekdays.

Unusually for an American metropolis, the district hasa park-like feel. It’s easy to get around by foot or bicycle, and it’s well served by the METRO Rail system. In between museum and gallery visits, you can also stroll to Hermann Park for its serene Japanese Garden, which offers a welcome respite from the city’s famously muggy weather.

Beyond the Museum District, but still in downtown, lies the village-cum-museum known as The Heritage Society. Set in Sam Houston Park, it spans ten historic buildings that date from 1823 to 1905, and features a rich programme of tours and events. A little further out from downtown, in River Oaks, the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens houses one of the foremost collections of American decorative arts from 1620 to 1870, and operates as a satellite of the city’s globally renowned Museum of Fine Arts.

The performing arts are particularly well supported here. Remarkably, Houston is one of the few American cities to have resident companies in theatre, ballet, classical music and opera. Its 17-block Theater District is second only to New York’s Broadway in the number of seats on offer. As the cultural hub of Texas, it competes with the major East-Coast cities for international touring events and exhibits. Best of all, getting a ticket here may well be a lot easier compared with its better-known cultural counterparts.

Houston Museum of Natural Science

One of the oldest natural history museums in North America, this venerable institution is also in the top ten of the most-visited museums in the USA. The stellar temporary exhibition programme is a large contributor to this enduring popularity, though the educational programme is also significant and is open to all visitors.

Boasting a labyrinthine collection of buildings, visitors are inevitably drawn to the vast Morian Hall of Paleontology. With more than 60 large skeleton mounts, including three T-Rexes, the gallery is a winner not just with the younger crowd but anyone interested in our planet’s early inhabitants. One unique, and trendsetting, attraction is the Wiess Energy Hall, which has interactive displays that draw from the city’s powerhouse industry: oil. Its multimedia galleries are themed around energetics, petroleum geology and oil exploration.

More information: hmns.org

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

This impressive museum has grown from humble beginnings – as the first art museum in Texas and one of the oldest in the American West – to become a globally significant institution. It now ranks as the 12th-largest art museum in the world, based on gallery space. Within its inventory of about 70,000 works from around the globe, the collection is particularly strong on early American decorative arts and 20th-century European and American art.

The museum is also renowned for its temporary exhibitions. These range from the kind of blockbuster shows that have come to define the modern museum era to curating its own ground-breaking events. A defining moment came in 2002, when it launched ‘The Quilts of Gee’s Bend’, an original exhibition that brought the little-known African-American community of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, to wider attention. This toured the US, then later the world, to great acclaim. The museum hasits own campus, and you will need to allow at least a half day to even sample its exhibitions.

More information: mfah.org

The Heritage Society

In a city of modern skyscrapers and glistening apartment buildings, The Heritage Society museum at Sam Houston Park preserves a dash of the old Texas. This ensemble of historic buildings has an open-air-museum feel, and it has been crucial to safeguarding the city’s heritage.

Founded in 1954 by locals outraged at the potential demolition of the 1847 Kellum-Noble House, it has since grown to include a furthernine historic buildings, each relocated to the park from across the city. Though many other examples have been lost to Houston’s rapid growth and modernisation, what survives here is thanks entirely to The Heritage Society’s heroic efforts.

In turn, visitors will discover a well-curated vision of life in Houston between the early 1800s and mid-1900s. But be aware that not all buildings are open at the same time, and you may need to join a pre-booked tour to get the best out of avisit. In particular, the site’s ‘From Plantation to Emancipation – The Freedom Experience’ tour offers an emotional insight into the history andhardships of slavery in the city.

More information: heritagesociety.org

The Menil Collection

The once-private collection of the de Menil family fills the ‘Modern art’ gap in the Museum District. Set in an architecturally acclaimed building designed by Renzo Piano, its galleries are beautifully lit with slithers of sunlight.

The collection has a strong focus on early-to-mid-20th-century works, including those of René Magritte, Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso. It also boasts an extensive collection of Pop art and contemporary art, including highlights of the work of American pioneers Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Mark Rothko. The museum’s small holdings of antiquities and works of Byzantine and medieval artare passable.

More information: menil.org

More must-visit museums in Houston

1940 Air Terminal Museum

The building is the star of this small but excellent museum. Housed in the former Houston Municipal Airport, this maybe the only remaining intact Art Deco airport building in the world. Inside, the collection showcases the city’s aviation history and a small number of historic aircraft.

More information: 1940airterminal.org

Houston Museum of African American Culture

More of a cultural centre than a museum, the extensive and varied programme of events and temporary exhibitions found here showcase the city’s rich African American culture. Admission is free but opening hours/days are limited.

More information: hmaac.org

Holocaust Museum Houston

One of the gems of the Museum District, this is among the largest museums in the world dedicated to the horrors of the Holocaust. The emotionally powerful Holocaust Gallery is filled with artefacts donated by survivors who settled in the Houstonarea.

More information: hmh.org

Where to stay in Houston

The Four Seasons Hotel Houston is ideally positioned for exploring the city’s Museum District, and can also arrange tickets and tours.

More information: fourseasons.com/houston

For a complete list of museums, temporary exhibitions and cultural events around Houston, visit the city’s official website at VisitHouston.com