It is the closest coastal town to Austin and Houston and that’s where Texans go when they can’t travel as far as Florida.
Galveston is a coastal city in Texas overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. It is perfect for escaping the metropolis, relaxing on the beach and experiencing the atmosphere of an authentic southern city. Offering beaches, museums, and many historic buildings and neighborhoods registered in the National Register of Historic Places, Galveston is a destination that satisfies everyone, from history buffs to those who want to experience the beach life.
There are also attractions designed for families, such as the Galveston's Pleasure Pier and the Moody Gardens.
This Pier is an amusement park, with rides such as roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, bumper cars, rotating cups and many others. There are also souvenir shops, restaurants, and of course the great classics found at any funfair: cotton candy, hot dogs, funnel cakes, and many other high-calorie snacks.
The Moody Gardens, with their unmistakable pyramids, is the most iconic of places to see in Galveston. Built in 1986, it is a playground for educational purposes, designed especially for families.
Each of the three pyramids is an exhibition on a specific theme: an aquarium with penguins and seals, a tropical forest with monkeys and parrots, and the Discovery Museum, dedicated to science. There are also rides, a 4D cinemas, interactive shows, and even a typical steamboat.
Galveston’s surrounding area offers a large state park to enjoy nature: the Galveston Island State Park.
It is a state park in Texas, a small natural oasis where you can swim, relax on the beach, or fish far from the chaos of the city. It overlooks an internal bay of the gulf and attracts a large number of birds, especially migratory birds in spring and autumn. For this reason, it is a very popular destination among birdwatchers.
There are several trails that cross the various habitats of the park, from prairie to bayou. Some are dedicated to hikers and cyclists, while others are suitable for canoeing or kayaking.
The town also hosts the third largest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, which brings color and glitter to the coastal town.
Galveston stands on an island and, in the 19th century, it became the main port of Texas for the cotton trade.
It’s still an important port especially for tourism and now it hosts a big cruise ship terminal from which cruise ships depart to Mexico and the Caribbean islands.
In the 1900s the town was devastated by a violent hurricane and, following its reconstruction, it was no longer able to recover its commercial leadership, which moved to nearby Houston.
Following the hurricane, the city decided to equip itself with a protection system, a seawall with a very long walkway which became the longest seafront in the world, now largely covered in marine-themed murals.
In the 1920s, Galveston reinvented itself as a seaside and tourist resort, thanks to its casinos, specialty shops and restaurants.
In the 1950s the casinos were closed, and the city had to find other forms of entertainment including museums like the Texas Seaport Museum which can still be visited today.
Other museums one can visit are the Railroad Museum and the Naval Museum.
The city was hit by hurricanes during the 20th and even 21st century but it maintained its shine.
Then there is a golf course and Palm Beach, an artificial beach with water slides, open only in summer.
Galveston enjoys a mild winter, but not enough to swim or enjoy the beach, summers are humid with very high temperatures.
The best time to visit Galveston is the shoulder seasons, when it is not too hot, and there is no risk of running into dangerous hurricanes, particularly spring break.
