Houston Space and Science Break, 3 Nights

A driver meets you at the airport for the drive into the city. Houston is huge and spread out, the fourth-largest city in the United States, and it has one of the largest Indian communities in the country. For an easy first evening, the Mahatma Gandhi District along Hillcroft Avenue is lined with Indian and Pakistani restaurants and sweet shops, a comfortable place to eat after a long flight.

Make your own way to the tour pickup, a short taxi or rideshare from most hotels. The double-decker loops downtown with audio commentary, passing City Hall, Discovery Green and the downtown murals, before you switch to a coach for the drive south-east to Clear Lake. At Space Center Houston you go at your own pace: the shuttle replica on its carrier jet, the astronaut galleries, a tram tour onto the NASA campus, and Rocket Park, home to a Saturn V.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is one of the most visited museums in the country, and its palaeontology hall of full-size skeletons is the reason to go. Allow a morning for it, the gem vault and the halls of minerals and energy. Hermann Park is next door, with its reflection pool and Japanese garden. In the afternoon, the free Menil Collection and the Rothko Chapel are a short ride away, or visit the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Stafford.

Breakfast and check-out. The driver collects you at a time set by your flight; Houston traffic can be heavy at rush hour, so we build in a margin. With a late flight, leave your bags at the hotel and spend the morning at Buffalo Bayou Park, a green ribbon of trails along the water with the downtown towers behind it.