Houston

Houston's defining attraction is its link to human spaceflight. NASA's Johnson Space Center has been mission control for crewed missions since the 1960s — which is why “Houston” was the first word spoken from the surface of the Moon, in the transmission “Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed”. The adjacent Space Center Houston, the official visitor centre and a Smithsonian Affiliate, is the city's number-one draw for international visitors: it displays the largest collection of Moon rocks on public view, flown spacecraft and over 400 space artifacts, and runs the NASA Tram Tour out to the historic Apollo-era Mission Control, the astronaut training facilities and Rocket Park, where a genuine Saturn V rocket lies on its side. Allow most of a day, and book ahead in peak season.

Houston's Museum District concentrates 19 museums across four walkable zones just south of downtown, most within a short stroll or a METRORail stop of one another. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is one of the largest art museums in the United States; the Houston Museum of Natural Science draws families with its dinosaur hall, planetarium and butterfly centre; and the free, Renzo Piano-designed Menil Collection in the bungalow-lined Montrose neighbourhood is a serene highlight, with the meditative Rothko Chapel beside it. Downtown, the compact Theater District is one of only a handful of US cities with resident professional companies in opera, ballet, symphony and theatre — Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Symphony among them.

Houston eats as well as anywhere in the country, precisely because it is so diverse. The city's signature mash-ups and immigrant kitchens are the real attraction: Viet-Cajun crawfish boils (a Gulf Coast Vietnamese invention), some of the best Tex-Mex and interior-Mexican taquerias in Texas, Gulf seafood, smoked-brisket barbecue, and deep benches of Vietnamese, Indian, Nigerian, Salvadoran and Chinese cooking spread across strip malls from Bellaire's Asiatown to Long Point. There is no single “Houston dish” — the point is the range, and a single afternoon can take you around the world. Montrose, the Heights and Midtown carry the trendier bars and chef-driven restaurants.

For all its highways, Houston has real green space. Buffalo Bayou Park threads a landscaped, art-dotted greenbelt of trails, kayak launches and a famous dusk emergence of bats from under the Waugh Drive Bridge right through the centre of the city. Downtown's Discovery Green is an active urban park ringed by venues, and the city's quirky underground tunnel system links downtown towers with shops and food courts below the heat. The Heights offers walkable historic bungalows and antique shops, while the Texas Medical Center — the largest medical complex in the world — anchors the city's south side near the Museum District and Hermann Park, home to the Houston Zoo and the Japanese Garden.

Each spring the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo — the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world, drawing millions of visitors — takes over NRG Park with bull-riding, a carnival and stadium concerts. The same complex's NRG Stadium is the home of the NFL Houston Texans; downtown, the Houston Astros (MLB) play under a retractable roof at Daikin Park and the Houston Rockets (NBA) at the Toyota Center. Getting around the core is easiest on METRORail, whose light-rail lines link downtown, the Museum District, the Texas Medical Center and NRG Park; beyond that, greater Houston runs on cars and rideshare. George Bush Intercontinental (IAH), a major United hub, is the main international gateway, with William P. Hobby (HOU) closer to downtown for domestic flights.