Every year, 52 hot travel destinations from around the globe are recommended by the New York Times, and the 2019 list features none other than Houston, Texas, (its second appearance in six years) as a top travel spot.
Focusing not just on cities, but also countries and sometimes island groupings, the “52 Places to Go in…” (insert year here) is a highlight that many readers of the Times eagerly anticipate. This year’s feature was published on Wednesday, January 9, 2019, and Houston was posted at number 46, in such great company as Cádiz, Spain, the Islands of Tahiti, and the Ontario Ice Caves on Lake Superior.
Photo: Facebook/I Love USA
Houston has made a strong return from the damage that Hurricane Harvey inflicted on it. The city’s art and cultural scene, its accommodations (such as the opening of the Post Oak Hotel), and the restoration project for the Space Center’s Mission Control were points of note. The outstanding food scene was also a highlight of the article, including the food halls for which it’s famed. And, what writer Kelly DiNardo termed as a “museum boom” was also an integral focus, including the new location of the Holocaust Museum which is slated to open this spring, and the expansion of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Photo: Facebook/Lisa Wolfinger
As the only Texas locale to make this list in the New York Times, it’s a nod to the draw that the Bayou City still boasts despite its trials and tribulations. In 2013 (its first appearance on the list), Houston was situated at number seven. The fact that so much has occurred in that time, the fortitude the city exhibits in the face of such adversity, and the positive nature of its businesses and people all combine to make it the travel destination it is to this day.
