Downtown

Understand

Downtown is, like many American cities, a 9AM-5PM operation, though that is no longer as true as it once was. The Theatre District draws arts patrons to the city for evening and weekend performances and major sports venues like Daikan Stadium (home of the Houston Astros), Toyota Center (home of the Houston Rockets) and Shell Energy Stadium (home of the Houston Dynamo) draw sports fans. Many of the city's top hotels and restaurants are downtown.

If you visit downtown during the day, don't be surprised to see fewer people on the street than a typical city. Many people use an underground walkway system that connects many buildings and food courts. This is particularly true in the hot summer months, when walking outside can feel like a sauna.

Just north of the core of downtown, across the Buffalo Bayou, is a warehouse district that has attracted unique music venues, artists, and Oxheart, a popular upscale restaurant. Houston's biggest brewery, St. Arnold's, lies just a mile from the UH-Downtown rail station, but the journey requires crossing a freeway and walking through a sleepy industrial area.

Just east of downtown, across I-69 (US 59), is the aptly named EaDo (short for East Downtown). Once a neglected part of the city that was viewed as an undesirable area of abandoned warehouses and industrial sites, the neighborhoods of EaDo are being quickly developed as trendy loft apartments fill the once vacant warehouses and bars, coffee houses, and craft breweries like 8th Wonder draw young professionals who embrace the area's historic Hispanic culture. Some of Houston's most iconic Tex-Mex restaurants began in EaDo (particularly Ninfa's and El Tiempo Cantina, whose original locations in EaDo are often regarded as the only locations worth making a reservation to visit). The neighborhood is within easy walking distance of Daikin Park and is home to Houston's professional soccer stadium (Shell Energy Stadium). EaDo can be reached using the METROrail Green Line.

Get in

By car

Interstates 10 and 45 link together and form a tight loop around downtown. Many exits are marked as leading to downtown.

By public transit

The METRO Rail light rail has several downtown stops along the red line: Downtown Transit Center, Bell, Main Street Square, Preston, and UH-Downtown. Most of the restaurants and bars are located near Preston and Main Street Square.

By bus

Megabus, Greyhound and the Mexican bus services have moved their stations to the East End from the area around the Downtown Transit Center light rail station.

By train

Long-distance Amtrak trains arrive just west of downtown. Services include the daily Texas Eagle route and the thrice-weekly Sunset Limited. Unfortunately, reaching downtown from the station includes crossing some streets with minimal pedestrian facilities.

Get around

By train

The METRO Rail light rail network has three lines (red, green, and purple) each with several downtown stops including: Downtown Transit Center, Bell, Main Street Square, Preston, and UH-Downtown. Most of the restaurants and bars are located near Preston and Main Street Square. The red line travels 13 miles along a north-south route. The northernmost station is Northline Transit Center. The southernmost is NRG Stadium/Astrodome. The Museum District and the Texas Medical Center are also along the red line. The green line travels along an east-west route along Harrisburg Blvd. from downtown to EaDo (East Downtown). The purple line goes from downtown along a southeast route towards the University of Houston main campus and Texas Southern University. All Metro Rail lines meet at the Central Station. Fares cost US$1.25 per person (2026). Discounts are available for students and seniors. A Metro fare card is required and can be purchased at kiosks at station entrances or platforms.

By bus

Houston's METRO system has a bus network that has decent local service in the downtown area but is largely set up to provide commuter services between outlying suburbs and the central city. The main point where these buses converge in the downtown area is the Downtown Transit Center at 1900 Main Street. Transfers can be made to other bus routes or to Metro Rail trains (see previous section). METRO also maintains a number of Park and Ride lots, all of which have buses to Transit Centers for onward connections or with commuter parking lots. Schedules and service information is on the METRO web site.