Shades of Texas

Time flies when you are having fun, so hop on this extraordinary panoramic guided tour, to explore Houston's top attractions and sites on board a unique open-top double-decker bus with Houston City Tours. Houston is multicultural and diverse, home to the fourth most populated city in the U.S.A. It boasts an eclectic museum and arts scene, vibrant shopping, and has become a burgeoning destination for art & architecture lovers.

Reconnect with nature today at Armand Bayou Nature Center, one of the largest urban wilderness preserves where you can learn, explore, respect, and help protect nature and its vital local ecosystems. Armand Bayou offers 2500 acres of natural wetlands forest, prairie, and marsh habitats and is home to over 370 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. They also feature hiking trails, exhibits, bat hikes, birding, a historic farm, a bison viewing platform, and Nature Photography.

The Hobby Center For The Performing Arts is a soaring feat of architecture and versatility, featuring 60-foot-high glass walls with sweeping views of the downtown skyline. Inside the Hobby Center, you'll see full-scale Broadway productions and first-rate performance companies that elevate the Houston arts and nightlife scene. The center is also home to two diverse theaters that accommodate a variety of performances, Sarofim Hall and Zilkha Hall.

Dive into the wonders of the underwater world at the unique Downtown Aquarium, where you can interact with the ancient legends of El Dorado in the Sunken Temple, sink to the bottom of the neighboring sea, and catch glimpses of offshore rig divers in the Underwater Rig. Tour the marsh and bayous of the Gulf Coast and encounter the alligators, turtles, bullfrogs, and more in the Texas Bayou. Step inside the sunken hull of a 17th-century Spanish Galleon and see the giant octopus, a moray eel, clownfish, and the diversity of species the ocean world has to offer at the Shipwreck. Explore the lush environment of the dangerous tropical life of the red-bellied piranhas and venomous freshwater stingrays in the Rainforest. Step into Discovery Zone and come face-to-face with electric eels, seahorses, and a dazzling array of colorful fish. Interactive monitors let you further explore coral reefs, the arctic seas, and the mysteries of the deep ocean. You may even meet one of our Ambassador Animals up close during the daily Animal Encounters.