Austin and Houston Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour Bundle

Next, we'll arrive at the Buffalo Bayou Park, where we'll get a chance to see the enormous cisterns the once quenched the thirst of the entire city! We'll also learn how the city transformed and found new uses for these cisterns once they weren't needed for drinking water any longer. NOTE: The tour is over 40 miles long, with more than 40+ audio stories, and takes about 2-3 hours to complete. Buy once, use for one year! Ideal for extended visits and return trips over the next 12 months. 

Our drive takes us past Sam Houston Park next, where a row of preserved historic homes display how Houstonians from all walks of life lived, from freed slaves building new lives for themselves to affluent merchants.

We'll park at City Hall and hear about the challenges of building it during the Great Depression. We'll also get a good look at the statues of Houston's founders which stand before the hall, and learn about how those statues had to wait over 80 years to be built! 

We'll keep driving until we see Pennzoil Place, a pair of huge black towers looming over Houston. Here, we'll pick up some facts about the imposing buildings and the innovative architect behind them.

Our route takes us next through Houston's Historic District, chock full of gorgeous old buildings. We'll also hear about the multiple fires which swept across the old City Hall, and the celebrities like Johnny Carson who have partied in this very district! 

The next sight we'll see is the Chase Tower, the tallest building in all of Texas. Here, we'll uncover some secrets of its construction, like how the original design was hazardous to air traffic and it sports a helipad that's never been used! 

Next, we'll park at the Christ Church Cathedral, Houston’s very first religious congregation which dates back to 1859. We'll also hear about the generous stranger who's responsible for a steer's head being part of the church seal. 

Our route then passes Minute Maid Park, the famous baseball stadium designed to imitate the Golden Age of baseball.

Next, we'll see Emancipation Park, a lovely recreational space with a rich history. We'll hear about emancipation, Juneteenth in Texas, and how this park became an epicenter for the Black community in Houston. Then, we'll get the real facts on some of Houston's most notorious urban legends. 

As we drive, we'll enter Houston's Museum District, home to fascinating museums covering everything from Black history to natural science to fine arts and beyond. If you want a really deep dive into the city of Houston, this is the place to be. 

Next, we'll pass Hermann Park, home to plenty of attractions for the little ones, including an entire zoo featuring cheetahs, chimps, and more!

Our route brings us through the Rice University campus next, where we'll get some insight into the founder and hear about a baffling--and very ambitious--senior prank conducted by an alum known only as "The Mastermind."

As we continue through the Rice campus, we'll see the strange, pyramid-shaped building known as Skyspace. Here, we'll get a quick rundown of what this odd building is for, and how you can experience its beautiful sky viewings for yourself. 

We'll keep driving past MacGregor Park and listen to the story of how he revolutionized Houston's transit system by replacing the donkeys it relied on for far too long.

At the end of the boulevard, look to the right. You should be able to spot the bronze statue of Dr. King. For a full picture of his life and achievements, check out the African American Culture Museum in Midtown.

As we drive, we'll end up on the Old Spanish Trail. Once upon a time, it spanned the entirety of the country! This trail stretched over 2,750 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Next, we'll look down get the inside scoop on the importance of oil and gas in Texas's development, and look up at the stars to hear about NASA, the infamous Apollo 13 mission, and world-famous astronomer Carl Sagan. 

The San Jacinto Monument is a 567.31-foot-high column located on the Houston Ship Channel in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, near the city of Houston. The monument is topped with a 220-ton star that commemorates the site of the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. 

Discovery Green is an 11.78-acre public urban park in Downtown Houston, Texas, bounded by La Branch Street to the west, McKinney Street to the north, Avenida de las Americas to the east, and Lamar Street to the south.

Grouping of industrial structures featuring rotating displays of colorful street art & murals.

The Holocaust Museum Houston is located in Houston's Museum District, in the U.S. state of Texas. The Holocaust memorial museum is the fourth largest in the U.S., and opened in 1996. A major commitment of the Holocaust Museum Houston is education. 

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is a natural history museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, located in the Houston Museum District, Houston, is one of the largest museums in the United States. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 6,000 years of history with approximately 70,000 works from six continents.  

Bustling family museum with a wealth of hands-on activities such as a Bubble Lab & a Tot Spot.

Built in 2012, the pyramidal structure accommodates 120 people between two levels. Twilight Epiphany is acoustically engineered to host musical performances and to act as a laboratory for Shepherd School of Music students. Constructed of grass, concrete, stone and composite steel, the structure is equipped with an LED light sequence that projects onto the ceiling and through an aperture in the 72-foot square knife-edge roof during sunrise and at sunset. Turrell's composition of light complements the natural light present at twilight, and transforms the Skyspace into a locale for experiencing beauty and reflecting on the surrounding campus and the natural world.  

The John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science, or The Health Museum in short, is a museum in the Museum District of Houston, Texas. The museum is a member institution of the Texas Medical Center.

One of the things that made Austin a prime candidate to become the capital of Texas was its place along the Colorado River. This allowed lush greenery to bloom in an otherwise harsh and challenging environment, and the park up ahead showcases exactly that. Note: The tour is over 19+ miles long, with more than 20+ audio stories, and takes about 3-4 hours to complete. Buy once, use for one year! Ideal for extended visits and return trips over the next 12 months. 

Coming up in a minute is the Pennybacker Bridge Overlook, offering excellent views of the Colorado River and what locals simply refer to as the “360 Bridge.”

This is Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, home to over 200 acres of preserved wilderness and three miles of hiking trails. The preserve requires a small fee on weekends and holidays, but is free and totally open during weekdays.

Just ahead is the Zilker Botanical Garden, featuring 28 acres of local and exotic flora. Here you can see native succulents, prehistoric plants, and even a Japanese garden!

This three-acre, spring-fed pool is a favorite swimming spot among locals, but it’s also much more than that! Here, you’ll also find a miniature train for kids and a community theater that puts on free shows for the public.

See the big Paramount sign? That marks the historic Paramount Theatre, and it’s over 100 years old! This Austin landmark got its start in 1915, when architect John Eberson designed what was originally called The Majestic.

Here’s what happened: In 1842, Austin was technically the capital of Texas. But it was a frontier town, seemingly at risk of being seized by Mexico at any moment.