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Museum District - Houston Hotels .com

Houston isn't merely an urban hub in cowboy country -- it's also one of the best cultural spots in the country. Just southwest of downtown, the Houston Museum District encompasses 16 diverse museums, featuring displays of art, science, nature and history. Mostly within a few blocks of each other, the museums share this lovely, green neighborhood with Hermann Park, Rice University, and just to the south, the Texas Medical Center.

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston alone has enough art in it to satisfy an entire vacation. Situated on Bissonnet and Binz Streets, the MFAH main campus makes the heart of the Museum District. This exhaustive collection incorporates two museum buildings, two art schools, two decorative art centers, and acres of beautiful garden. With modern and classic exhibits coming and going throughout the year, it makes sense that this fine arts museum is one of the hottest spots for art lovers across the country -- and the world. In the River Oaks residential neighborhood, the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens is another part of the MFAH on the edge of the Museum District. Focusing on American decorative arts, this 28-room mansion is surrounded by 1920s sculptured English, Italian, rock and butterfly gardens.

Located in the Museum District's Montrose area, the Menil Collection features several gallery spaces arranged in a park-like atmosphere. With paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs and rare books, the museum is best known for its modern art, particularly its surrealist collection. The Contemporary Arts Museum, situated nearby at the intersection of Montrose and Bissonnet, focuses on international, national and regional art of the last 40 years. More than just a place for visual art, the Rothko Chapel, on the corner of Sul Ross and Yopon, is a museum, forum, and spiritual mecca, where luminaries such as Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama have come to share their inspiring stories. With all these museums so close together, it's easy to walk from one to the next. The Museum District is also a quick ride on Houston's light rail system from downtown. And with 11 of the 16 museums offering free admission, you're encouraged to experience as much of the city as you can, no matter what your budget may be.