What is the best month (weather and budget wise) to visit Houston area, Texas?

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I'm planning on visiting Texas (Flying to Houston, planning to drive around somewhere between Houston and New Orleans) from The Netherlands some time soon. We want to do a mini (=2 weeks) roadtrip in and around the Houston area.

Well, with this in mind you would want to avoid the summer months. In Houston it can get quite hot and its humid since its right on the coast.

The drive to New Orleans (which I have done as well) is nice, as you get to go across the bottom of Texas and Louisiana (on I-10). Its about a 6 hour drive (depending on the traffic). You may even catch a glimpse of a riverboat casino around Beaumont (the border town to Louisiana).

However, we are not used to hot and humid weather and would like to avoid really hot weather if possible. So far I have been reading good things about the end of October, beginning of November. (Good temperature)

Will this be a good time to visit this area? What about hurricanes or storms? Do some tourist attractions close during specific months?

Thunderstorms and other severe weather is a spring time phenomenon. I would be surprised if you ran into a tornado warning in October or November, as during these months the weather is getting progressively cooler. This would a good time to visit as you'd have quite a respite from the heat.

The major tourist attractions in Houston have to do with the space program, and these are open during your time frame.

I spent a great amount of time in central Texas; here is what I can tell you:

  1. Texas is big. It is the largest of the contiguous states; (the largest by area is actually Alaska). You can find all kinds of terrain, environment and even weather in Texas. You can easily spend a few weeks and still not explore everything there is to see.

  2. It gets hot in the summer time. You are looking at temperatures around 45C during the day. At night it cools down a bit.

  3. The really humid part of Texas is in the south near Houston / San Antonio.

  4. If its not hot, then you have to worry about severe weather (tornadoes) and thunderstorms. They are rarely as bad as what the movies show. The midwest is also known as tornado alley.

In my opinion:

  1. July - August (hot + humid)
  2. September - November (best time in my opinion, very nice mild weather, and it gets pleasantly cool at night)
  3. December - Jan (avoid, it can get cold during these months).
  4. Late Feb - Mid-march (great time to visit, lots of sporting events and great weather).

Budget wise, Texas is actually quite affordable. The main metropolitan areas (Dallas, Austin, Houston) have similar price structures as any other major city. However, taxes are quite forgiving.

My personal favorite city is Austin because I am a fan of live music and you can always find live music in the clubs/bars. It is known as the "Live Music Capital of the World".

Try to stay in the outskirts as accommodation within the city limits can get quite expensive.

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