What to see and do in Galveston for the day

[Tropic5115]

We are sailing out of Galveston in two weeks and our flights have us arriving pretty early. Since we can't check into our hotel until 4pm (hopefully earlier) and I am guessing it will be to cold to hit the beach or pool any ideas on some fun things to do or see? Is there a nice shopping area or any must see attractions.

 

Thanks for the help!

[rjackieb]

We were just in Galveston on January 26 & 27, and there were people using the hotel pool and on the beach. It just depends on the weather, but you might be able to do some swimming.

There are lots of things to see on the island. If you have a car, just going for a drive and exploring is fun. Even in our first trips there we found it nearly impossible to get lost.

This is a good site for information on things to do around the island, and there are webcams that your friends and family back home can use to watch you sail.

http://www.galveston.com/default.asp

 

Have a great time!

[Rudyard]

I recommend The Strand. It's the historical district right across from the cruise terminal. Lots to see and do there with plenty of shopping and food options.

 

http://thestrand.com/

[Galveston Cruiser]

A must see is the Bishop's Palace at 14th and Broadway and the Tall Ship Elissa at the port -Harborside and 22nd.

[hillbillycruisers]

If you do go to The Strand, a great place for lunch is the Star Drug Store. Great sandwhiches...and good desserts too. Lots of shops close within walking distance of each other.:)

[ssb]

There are special events in Galveston

area almost every weekend

www.galveston.com (what to do)(calendar of events) your vacation calendar dates

Sign up on Galveston.com for email of weekly events

www.galvestonhistory.org---Galveston Historical Foundation !!!!!!

www.moodygardens.com -- just look at site !!!!!! LOTS

www.thegrand.com – 1894 Grand Opera House !!!!!!

 

Clearlake

Nasa Space Center

Kemah board walk – www.kemahboardwalk.com

Galveston:

Beaches Beaches Beaches

Old Town Strand Galveston *- Strand To Post Office Street

(lots of shopping, ice cream, old army surplus store, nautical shop,

Clothing Stores

Restaurants, Antiques, Shops, Bakery and Coffee shop

Wineries and wine festivals

Restaurants overlooking gulf and on port

Two first class convention centers

Many live theater venues

Many live music venues

Free concert nights - old town Galveston *- on strand

Free film nights -old town Galveston *- on strand

Free band nights-“family/kids” oriented-summer Tuesdays 24th & Sealy

1894 grand opera house * (a must seetour, and/or performances

Chess park

Artist festivals

Oleander City of the South and Gardens

Art Walk if on time schedule

Museums

Antique stores and art Galleries

Horse drawn carriage rides

Swimming in Gulf

Fine restaurants

Night scene

Galveston Historical Foundation properties*

Many Historical and Victorian homes

Galveston has second largest preservation membership in United States

Wooden Carved Trees Tour (wonderful)

Bishops palace (wonderful)

Moody mansion(wonderful)

· Ashton villa (wonderful)

Moody gardens *(lots and lots and lots to do)

.....(massive, fun and family oriented)

Schlitterbahn water park www.schlitterbahn.com/gal

Restored tall ship schooner Elisa www.tsm-elissa.org (wonderful)

1900 storm and pirate jean Laffite documentary films at port

Pirates Store and program - Old town Strand

Pleasure Pier

Maritime museum- www.tsm-elissa.org

Airplane museum (Lone Star Flight Museum)- www.lsfm.org/

Railroad museum - www.galvestonrrmuseum.com

Oil drilling rig museum - www.oceanstaroec.com

Sea Wolf park – WWII submarine and destroyer - www.cavalla.org

Large souvenir shop over gulf water - Murdochs

Walks and shelling on the beach

Cruise ships (RCCL, Carnival, Princess, Disney)

Fishing (piers, wadefishing and charters-offshore & inshore))

Golfing

Skateboard park - large

Kayaking trails

Surfing and children surf camps

Kite flying on beach

Marine life and children marine care educational camps at Moody Gardens

Marine life and children marine camps Texas AM Univ - Sea Camp Programs

Various Running events with major Triathlon event

Sand castle building event

Shopping shopping shopping

Dolphin watching and port water tours

Turtle rescue farm behind San Luis Resort Thursday's tour

Carved damaged trees tour from storm

Free ferry ride and a short cruise to Bolivar

Duck tour (amphibious boat)

Galveston.com/ interact and discover/cams

 

Many major weekly events and festivals not mentioned

as example :

Spring Break Events Large

Confederate Reenactment

Sanctioned and Fun Runs(some large)

Triathlon Events

Art Walk (every 5 or so weeks year around)

Dickens on Strand (Dec) ----LARGE - www.dickensonthestrand.com

Lone Star Motorcycle Rally (Nov) ---LARGE - www.lonestarrally.com

Mardi Gras Galveston (Feb) ----LARGE- www.mardigrasgalveston.com

October Fest

Beer Fests

Wine Events and Fests

Greek Fest

Epicurean Evening of all restaurants

Shrimp Fest

Yega’s Wild Game Cook Off large

County Fair - LARGE

Children’s Fest

Feather Fest - Large

Old Timey Bathing Beauty Fest

And many many more !!

 

Trauma 1 Emergency Hospital on Island – Univ. Texas Medical Branch/Sealy Hospital

 

[2009cruise]

Just got back from RC Western Caribbean cruise and thought I would post my review of Galveston, etc...

Shuttle from IAH to/from Galveston - Vista Shuttles LLC – we chose this one because of the great round trip price and payment is to driver at end of each trip. We paid $47/pp ROUND TRIP with TIP included (RC charges $47/pp/one way). Mario offers excellent service. All emails were promptly/clearly replied to. Shuttle always on time. Van looks new and very clean. It can seat 6 people with luggage comfortably.

Galveston - there are two areas of interest (seawall and strand) on opposite sides of the island.

The Seawall – We stayed at Four Points Sheraton which was great value as it is newly renovated and staff was very nice. We took the Cool Tours bus tour with Shirley who pointed out lots of neat things about many historic homes and gave overview of Galveston Island history. There is a Liquor Store on 23rd st just behind our hotel that has great wine selection and the owner is very knowledgeable about his wines. He recommended an excellent merlot that we thoroughly enjoyed.

The strand – lots of shopping/dining options but only 2 hotels(Harbor House or Tremont). We stayed at Harbor House post cruise and found it to have huge rooms and a great location as we were able to walk from cruise terminal2 to the hotel(no waiting for taxis).We had a delicious dinner at Willie G’s one night. We also tried Gumbo Bar but was really disappointed– gumbo was more like a soup and it was way too salty. We had fun at Mardis Gras and collected tons of beads. We did a Ghost walking Tour of the Strand which was really a historical/architectural tour – not really worth the $20/pp. The Oceanstar Drilling Rig museum was very interesting especially the overview film at the start of the self-guided tour. One of the best thing is downtown Galveston has free WiFi.

Hope it helps somebody...

[shorepal]

The Strand or Bishops Palace is pretty good to check out.

[pocomum]

Just got back from RC Western Caribbean cruise and thought I would post my review of Galveston, etc...

Shuttle from IAH to/from Galveston - Vista Shuttles LLC – we chose this one because of the great round trip price and payment is to driver at end of each trip. We paid $47/pp ROUND TRIP with TIP included (RC charges $47/pp/one way). Mario offers excellent service. All emails were promptly/clearly replied to. Shuttle always on time. Van looks new and very clean. It can seat 6 people with luggage comfortably.

Galveston - there are two areas of interest (seawall and strand) on opposite sides of the island.

The Seawall – We stayed at Four Points Sheraton which was great value as it is newly renovated and staff was very nice. We took the Cool Tours bus tour with Shirley who pointed out lots of neat things about many historic homes and gave overview of Galveston Island history. There is a Liquor Store on 23rd st just behind our hotel that has great wine selection and the owner is very knowledgeable about his wines. He recommended an excellent merlot that we thoroughly enjoyed.

The strand – lots of shopping/dining options but only 2 hotels(Harbor House or Tremont). We stayed at Harbor House post cruise and found it to have huge rooms and a great location as we were able to walk from cruise terminal2 to the hotel(no waiting for taxis).We had a delicious dinner at Willie G’s one night. We also tried Gumbo Bar but was really disappointed– gumbo was more like a soup and it was way too salty. We had fun at Mardis Gras and collected tons of beads. We did a Ghost walking Tour of the Strand which was really a historical/architectural tour – not really worth the $20/pp. The Oceanstar Drilling Rig museum was very interesting especially the overview film at the start of the self-guided tour. One of the best thing is downtown Galveston has free WiFi.

Hope it helps somebody...

 

We are sailing April 28 on Carnival Magic. Will definitely look into the shuttle company. Thanks:)

[cvpends]

Thanks, everyone, for all this information! We will be in Galveston for a couple of days in July and look forward to making good use of your information :D