Do you only have the lunch hour or just need to get away for a while then look at our short walking trips.

The South Main area is blessed with wide sidewalks in the busiest pedestrian routes. All routes are often shaded by wide oaks and lined with manicured flower beds and shrubsDSC_0148. In many places you will walk past some of the best art and statuary in Houston. The South Main area is one of the most accessible pedestrian areas in the region.

Leave it in the Garage - Most people in the South Main area have to drive in but that does not mean they have to drive during the day. With a slight change in your usual plans you can allow a few extra minutes and walk to a restaurant for the next meal, to a museum for a quiet moment getting away from the pressures of work or just to get the exercise you have been promising your family.

Many people in the area can walk to a METRORail station and be quietly delivered to a station with a new set of venues within walking distance.

A Pedestrian Loop - The perimeter of Rice University is one of the most scenic walking and jogging paths in the area with its wide, shaded path. That pathway is within:

    * five blocks of the best museums in the region;
    * two blocks of great shopping in Rice Village;
    * one block from Hermann Park;
    * three blocks from the Zoo and
    * only one block away from the edge of the Texas Medical Center for almost 0.5 miles.

This map gives you an idea of how close these areas are.

Many of the destinations for the most dense employee areas are within easy walking distance of the wide, shaded, winding path around Rice University that will take you to some of the best places in the City-without moving your car.

A Walk Through the Park - There is a wide walking and jogging trail around Hermann Park that can deliver you to special destinations similar to the loop around Rice University.

Beginning at the intersection of N. MacGregor and Fannin (at the Memorial Hospital/Zoo METRORail Station) you can take the direct route generally following Fannin to the fountain or the scenic route along MacGregor to Golf Course Drive and around to the fountain.DSC_0108

If you take the scenic route you will:

    * walk in the shade of many overhanging trees;
    * walk by the entrance to the Zoo;
    * walk by the back of many zoo exhibits, enjoying the often otherworldly sounds of the animals;
    * walk by the wide manicured lawns of the golf course;
    * walk by the Houston Garden Center and the roses;
    * walk by the Museum of Natural Science;
    * and going one block north on Fannin you will arrive at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the METRORail Museum Station.

Note that the direct and the scenic route both began and ended at a METRORail station. If you ran out of time you can take the train back.

The map above shows you the above two routes.