Houston

Houston is a place where downtown style meets southern friendliness

People who live in Harris, the fourth-largest city and third-largest county in the US, know that there's no place like Houston when it comes to style. The city has more than 2.2 million people and a great mix of world-class arts, booming businesses, professional sports, and award-winning food that brings in tourists and newcomers. The world is learning what people in the area have known for a long time: Houston was named to a number of "best of" lists, such as Travel + Leisure's list of America's Favorite Cities. Find out about the best places to see and things to do in Houston, Texas.

Thanks to warm weather all year, a lot of daily life in Houston takes place outside. Take some time to check out the city's unique and culturally rich neighborhoods, galleries, and sites. These places offer a wide variety of fun activities and unique vibes that you can only find here.

Let's look at the food. Many of the world's most innovative cooks have set up shop in Houston, where people eat out more than in any other city. James Beard Award winners and cooks known all over the world serve up new, interesting food that foodies often write about in Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, and Saveur.

The hip eating scene in Houston is just one part of the city's food scene. The Houston Culinary Tours are an effort by the city's culinary experts to show this. One ethnic market at a time, this small, chef-led trip for 16 people shows the hidden side of the city's food scene.

If you go downtown during your stay, you'll find a thriving professional arts scene with resident ballet, opera, symphony, and theater groups. This is one of the few cities in the U.S. that can say this. With 18 cultural powerhouses in just a few blocks, the nearby Museum District claims to be the fourth biggest in the country.

They even have their own Central Park in Houston. It's more than 600 hectares of green area right in the middle of the city. Memorial Park has a public golf course, swimming pool, tennis fields, trails, and more. It is right inside "the loop," which is an interstate highway that goes around the city. Discovery Green is a park downtown that has Wi-Fi, a farmers' market, dog runs, fine dining, and ice skating in the winter. It is one of more than 650 green areas in the city.

Businesses also see how appealing Houston is. The Energy Capital of the World is home to 25 companies on the Fortune 500 list. NASA headquarters is the best place in the world to do research in aeronautics; it was there that the first man walked on the moon. And with 47 highly regarded research and treatment institutions, Texas Medical Center is still the biggest in the world.

For a few days, live like a local and find out why Houston's mix of international appeal and Texas charm has caught the attention of fashionistas all over the world.