Hermann Park is the reason our Houston homes feel less like a hospital stopover than they might. It sits directly beside the Texas Medical Center, so if you are here for an appointment, this is where you go for an hour of something else. It is 445 acres of lawn, live oaks and water, and most of it costs nothing.
The reflection pool in front of the Sam Houston statue is the postcard view. Behind it, McGovern Lake has pedal boats and a shaded loop that takes about twenty minutes to walk. The Japanese Garden is the quiet corner; go early on a weekday and you may have it to yourself. The miniature train circles the park and is the single most reliable way we know to make a small child happy for twenty minutes.
The Houston Zoo is inside the park and is one of the better city zoos in the country. It takes a full morning to do properly. Book online for a cheaper ticket. Bring water; Houston does not do shade the way you would like.
Best time to go is early morning or the last two hours before sunset, from October to April. In summer, go at 8am or wait until the evening. The METRORail stops right at the park entrance, so leave the car at the house.
