Best Kid-Friendly Tours in Houston

1. Houston’s Official City Tour

Families can enjoy an 80-minute ride on an open-top double-decker bus with panoramic views and an informative tour. It passes by important Houston landmarks and attractions, including City Hall, professional sports arenas like Toyota Center and Minute Maid Park, some of Houston’s best green spaces at Discovery Green and Buffalo Bayou, and impressive street murals.

 
Bayou Bay Cistern with the installation Haha by artist Rachel Rossin.

2. Buffalo Bayou Cistern Tour

The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern is an 87,500-square-foot former drinking water reservoir built in 1926 for the City of Houston, which has been repurposed into a magnificent public space for tours, performances, and art installations. The tour allows children over the age of nine and offers 30-minute history tours and tours of installations by guest artists.

3. Buffalo Bayou Boat Tour 

See Houston from a new angle aboard a pontoon boat as it makes its way down Buffalo Bayou. Kids 4 and up are allowed on the tours, which are offered throughout the year. Ticketed experiences include 45-minute nature-focused cruises, 90-minute rides to watch the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony emerge at dusk, and opportunities to learn the behind-the-scenes of Houston’s past with a historian, and themed boat tours to celebrate the season.

4. Houston Arboretum Private Group Tour

The Houston Arboretum and Nature Center offers private group tours when booked in advance Tuesday through Friday. It’s a great way for small groups of all ages to discover the Arboretum, get an introduction to Houston’s plants and wildlife, and learn about the dual mission of conservation and education. Guests can choose from themes like wildlife, native plants, and urban nature for the tour.

 
The Houston Space Center tours are some of the most popular tours in Houston. Photo by xiquinhosilva via Flickr

5. NASA Tram Tour at Space Center Houston

Space Center Houston offers three tram tours to NASA Johnson Space Center facilities and the chance to get an up-close look at human space exploration. Two of the tours are included with general admission, and for an additional cost guests can book a Historical Mission Control Tour. Make sure to plan ahead for your visit, because these are the most popular experiences at Space Center Houston.

6. Baywatch Dolphin Tour

Take a 45-minute guided historical tour of Galveston Harbor while watching for dolphins in their natural habitat in an open-air pontoon. The narrated tour takes guests three miles through Galveston Harbor while learning about historical facts of the harbor and interesting facts about our Common & local Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins.