Houston

Houston is the largest city in Texas and one of the most spread-out in the country, so we plan it by area rather than by one central square. The bayous that cross the city gave it a harbour and its name in the 1830s, oil and the Ship Channel built its wealth, and Mission Control at NASA made it Space City. Today a morning at the Museum District can lead to a walk in Hermann Park, an afternoon of Space Center Houston comes with its own corner of the Gulf coast, and dinner might be Texas brisket, Tex-Mex or a tray of Viet-Cajun crawfish.

Cluster your days: Downtown, Midtown and the museums sit on the Red Line, while Montrose and the Heights reward their own half days. Our three-day plan shows how the pieces fit together.

Houston has two main airports: George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) to the north, the larger international gateway, and William P. Hobby (HOU) to the south east, handy for domestic flights. Both are a drive or rideshare from the centre, and our airport transfer guide explains the options, including bus links to Downtown.

Once in the city, METRORail has Red, Green and Purple lines. The Red Line is the visitor workhorse, linking Downtown, Midtown, the Museum District, the Texas Medical Center and NRG Park. For Space Center Houston, Clear Lake and Galveston we use a car or an organised tour.

We pick the base by the kind of trip. Downtown and Midtown put the Theater District, Discovery Green and the Red Line at the door, ideal without a car. The Museum District and Rice area suit families and gallery lovers who want green streets and quiet evenings. Montrose and the Heights offer boutique stays near the best independent restaurants, and Uptown puts you beside The Galleria for shopping. Houston is large, so a hotel near your first priority beats one that is only central on the map.

Begin in the Museum District with the Museum of Fine Arts, the Menil Collection and Rothko Chapel and the Museum of Natural Science, then walk into Hermann Park. Add the green ribbon of Buffalo Bayou Park and its underground Cistern, the old brick of the Historic District, and the colourful public art and murals around the city. Space Center Houston deserves a full day of its own, and Galveston is the classic escape to the coast.

Houston eats well across cultures: Central Texas style barbecue, Tex-Mex and regional Mexican cooking, and one of the largest Vietnamese communities in the country, which gave the city its Viet-Cajun crawfish. Add Czech-Texan kolaches at breakfast bakeries, Chinese and Korean dining along Asiatown, and a coffee and craft-beer scene described in our evenings guide. The best meals often sit in strip malls, not on the main visitor streets.

Houston culture ranges from opera, ballet, symphony and theatre in the downtown Theater District to Astros, Rockets and Texans game days, described in our sports guide. Each late winter the Livestock Show and Rodeo turns NRG Park into a Western festival. Neighbourhoods like Third Ward carry deep African American history, and Houston has long been among the most diverse cities in the United States, a fact you taste, hear and see at every turn.