Galveston Tours
We offer over one-half dozen transport and tour options for Galveston. Find the best one for you.
Galveston is three entities: a county, an island, and a city. Indians lived on the island for hundreds of years. The first European landed on it, in November 1528. The first European settlers were in 1816. The first permanent settlement was in 1825. It was the capital of the Republic of Texas, in 1836. It was incorporated in 1839. Galveston is 46 square miles/120 square kilometers. It was the largest city in Texas in 1870 and 1880. It was the wealthiest city in Texas for two more decades. Galveston's population peaked at 67,175, in 1960. Fifty years later by 2010, its population had shrunk to 47,743. Galveston has weathered many a storm and human-made disasters. The city has many beautifully preserved historic homes from the 1800s, including 2 from the 1830s.
Galveston is 51.2 miles/82.4 kilometers from Houston.
The travel time is approximately 1 hour from Houston. The return to Houston can take longer due to rush hour traffic.
Galveston is 25.6 miles/41.2 kilometers from the Kemah Boardwalk.
The travel time is approximately 30 minutes.
Galveston is 22.6 miles/36.4 kilometers from the Haak Winery in Santa Fe.
The travel time is approximately 30 minutes.
Santa Fe is 37.2 miles/59.9 kilometers from Houston.
The travel time is approximately 52 minutes. The return to Houston can take longer due to rush hour traffic.
The Kemah Boardwalk is 34.2 miles/55.0 kilometers from Houston.
The travel time is approximately 39 minutes. The return to Houston can take longer due to rush hour traffic.
Features of the Different Transports and Tours
- Transport A – 5 Hours – 1 Stop – Transport only: a beach, The Strand, Moody Gardens, Pleasure Pier, or Schlitterbahn. Tourists will pay any admission and related fees directly to these venues.
- Transport B – 6 Hours – 2 Stops – Transport only: a beach, The Strand, Moody Gardens, Pleasure Pier, Schlitterbahn, and or the Kemah Boardwalk. Tourists will pay any admission and related fees directly to these venues.
- Tour C – 6 Hours – 3 Stops – one at the Seawall, one for shopping and a bathroom break, and one for lunch.
- Tour D – 7 hours – 4 Stops – all of the above plus a tour of a historic home, generally the Bishop's Palace, and sometimes Moody Mansion.
- Tour E – 8 Hours – 5 Stops – all of the above plus an additional stop at either The Strand and or Murdoch's.
- Tour F – 9 Hours – 6 Stops – all of the above plus the movie "The Great Storm" or "The Pirate Island of Jean LaFitte."
- Tour G – 10 Hours – 7 Stops – all of the above plus 1 museum of your choice: The Lone Star Flight Museum, Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum, Galveston Railroad Museum, or the Texas Seaport Museum.
- Tour H – 11 Hours – 8 Stops – all of the above plus an additional house, movie, museum, or place to shop.
- Tour I – 12 Hours – 8 Stops – all of the 10-hour Tour G plus a tour of the Haak Winery and 4 samples.
The beach is an option on Tours D through I.
Tourists can substitute and pay for a stop at Moody Gardens for a historic home and shopping on Tour E.
Sites on a Galveston Tour
A basic Galveston Tour includes transportation from Houston to Galveston and back, historical narratives, a choice of stops for lunch at each person's expense and driving by and through (the)
- Former causeway (1911 – 1961),
- Moody Gardens entertainment area (1992 – 1993),
- Vietnam Memorial,
- Lone Star Flight Museum (1990),
- Scholes Field,
- Schlitterbahn Waterpark Galveston (2006),
- Seawall Boulevard,
- San Luis Hotel and Condominium (1984),
- 1900 Storm Commemorative Sculpture (2000),
- Ruins of Fort Crockett (1897 – 1953),
- Pleasure Pier since 2012 (formerly the Flagship Hotel 1965 – 2008),
- Monument to the Balinese Room (1948 – 1957, 2010)
- Hotel Galvez of 1911,
- Silk Stocking District,
- John Hutchings home (1859),
- Kempner Park's Garten Verein (1880),
- Temple B'nai Israel since 1954,
- Powhatan home (1847),
- Samuel May Williams Home (1839),
- Former site of where Gail Borden lived from 1839 to 1851,
- Michel Menard Home (1838),
- Holy Rosary Catholic Church (1886, 1914),
- Former "colored Branch of the Rosenberg Library" from 1905 and 1924,
- Avenue L Baptist Church (1840, 1916),
- Moody Mansion (1895),
- Texas Heroes Monument (April 21, 1900),
- Congregation Beth Jacob (1931),
- St. Joseph's Church Museum (1859),
- Open Gates (1891), home for George Sealy,
- Ashton Villa (1859),
- Ike Kempner home (1906),
- Bishop's Palace (1892),
- Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of 1904, dome of 1912
- Stewart Beach,
- Victorian homes (1870s, 1880s, and 1890s),
- Wooden carvings from destroyed trees from Hurricane Ike on Sealy, Ball, Church, and Winnie Streets (2010),
- Ruins of a house on the foundation of where the pirate Jean Lafitte lived from 1817 – 1821,
- University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB),
- Rosenberg Library (1904),
- Downtown,
- Texas Seaport Museum,
- 1877 tall-ship Elissa,
- Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum,
- Strand (known as the Wall Street of the South in the 1800s),
- Grand 1894 Opera House,
- Red Line District,
- Federal Building,
- City Hall,
- Cemeteries,
- Exclusive Cedar Lawn (the River Oaks of Galveston) of homes from the 1926,
- Wreckage from Hurricane Ike from September 13, 2008,
- Additional museums,
- Additional churches, a cathedral, and a mosque.
For pricing information about this tour, please click here. Note that you will require the free Adobe Reader in order to read this pricing document. You can download the latest version of this software by clicking this link.
