The Bryan is an absolute must…read more.. Go! Historic Orphanage building purchased and restored by JP Bryan a Houston Oil Man for a place to exhibit his vast collection of western memorabilia. One of the best overall projects of this type I've every experienced. If you like history Go. If you love Texas Go. If you like real estate go. There's almost no one who wouldn't appreciate the 1+1=3 qualities of this place. Originally built before the historic Hurricane of 1900 that wiped out a large percentage of Galveston. Orphaned children actually rode out that storm in this building that was significantly damaged. Repaired and operated as an orphanage until 1984 when it was closed, then used as a private residence. Sitting vacant for many years it was restored to perfection in 2013 and operating as a museum in 2015. Besides stunning, sombreros,fire arms,saddles,documents and fine art,each room has a kiosk that tells you what the room was used for when it was an orphanage. To top it all off,exit through the world class gift shop. I did and purchased two future gifts! Again,a very strong.... Go!

Took the family to The Bryan Museum on the Island and what a gem! It was such a beautiful outing…read morefilled with history. Before it was a museum the building was an orphanage. It survived the devastating 1900 storm. The storm blew out the center of the building but the east and west wings held and the survivors made it because they were tucked into those sides. I got chills learning about that. To think of those children scared for their lives is so touching. There is so much to see. There are three floors of history. The collection covers the West and beyond. It's the kind of place where you keep stopping and going, wait, what?! The $15 per person ticket is worth it. If you haven't been, especially if you're local to Houston or Galveston, put it on your list. History feels different when the building itself is the history.

The strand was good and lots of information from the tickets seller for the dolphin tours. We…read morelearned that they just came back from New York. They will be open in a few weeks.

Did you know that Galveston, Texas used to be the "Ellis Island" of the South? Immigrants from all…read moreover the world would come through Galveston and either move into central Texas via the railroads (hence the large German and Czech populations of Texas Hill country and Oklahoma) or they'd take the Mississippi River North towards Illinois and Iowa or branch off into Tennessee. Galveston used to be a bustling, metropolitan and diverse city with languages from all over the world being spoken here. When the East Coast talked of limiting immigration, especially to Jews fleeing Russian pogroms, New York financier and philanthropist Jacob Schiff and Galveston's B'nai Israel's Rabbi Henry Cohen spearheaded the Galveston Plan to reroute Jewish immigrants from the East Coast to Texas. There was a substantial fear that the poverty, overcrowding and cultural differences in Jewish immigrant neighborhoods would increase anti-Semitic frustrations on the East Coast, which would then lead to immigration restrictions on Jews. While some Jews fleeing pogroms fled to Palestine, tens of thousands of them came to Galveston to settle in the South and Midwest. Not only was Galveston a place for freedom for immigrants fleeing persecution abroad, Galveston was an important stop on runaway slaves' path to Mexico or even Northern states that had outlawed slavery. I didn't know any of this before visiting this museum. The museum at this historic seaport was incredibly informative and so well done. Our ticket came with entry to the museum and access to the tall ship Elissa and we paid for an add-on of the Galveston harbor tour in a boat. It was an excellent tour, the ship was actively being trained on and restored while we were there and the museum was fantastic. Highly recommended! Visited November 2025

Bobbie was incredibly helpful. We learned a lot from her. The audio tour didn't work.in a rare turn…read moreof events., we met the curator. There was so much history and information, it was overwhelming. We even got to see the cars and all.

It's beautiful and easy to visualize life in the 1900's. View the video of the 1900 Hurricane ay…read moreRosenberg Library then come and tour the Moody Mansion! There is so much to see and if you have an imagination, thinking what it was like to be this rich and living with such opulence especially after the city was destroyed by the hurricane.

Lovely and historic train museum in Galveston dedicated to the history trains.I had no item the…read morehistory of the Freedom Tree that has roots connected to the South. A movie inside the train area with small amount of seating was worth listening. Note: some train cars are without AC and it was 96 degrees inside .Some cars have AC so was easier to do self guided tour. Parking was $5 for 24 hours which was cool since parked and then went to walk around Strand after. Military members are gratis so that was great that they support the military.

I'm a lover of visiting museums while on vacation, and I stumbled upon the Galveston Railroad…read moreMuseum during my trip. It was such an interesting, informative, and enjoyable experience. All of the trains were well maintained and did a great job of giving visitors a timeline and visual look at the history of railroads, from the beginning to where we are today. The trains are still accessible, and you're able to tour almost all of them, except for the ones marked for VIP guests. There was also a friendly staff member who passed by a few times to share fun facts about some of the things we were looking at, which was pretty cool. The gift shop was a nice touch with a good selection and reasonable priced souvenirs. I recommend stopping by if you're visiting Galveston, traveling with kids, love museums, or are a train enthusiast. And when you're finished exploring the museum you can get a great view of the cruise ships.

Nearly 19,000 square feet of a step back in time makes this a great break from the heat and beach…read more The historical explanations are sort and interesting. Highly recommended.

During a long weekend trip last week to Galveston, I was fortunate enough that a waitress at BLVD…read moreSeafood recommended I check this old house out. It was nicely laid out and you could walk up and buy a ticket with a self guided audio tour of the place that included historical tid bits about the family and what was happening in the area at the time they lived in it. They apparently have private tours of the upstairs/attic areas but those you have to book and pay for in advance. I enjoyed the audio tour and even bought a few items at the quite spacious gift store! At times I felt like I was the only one in the house because it was probably a non tourist heavy day. You can easily park on the street and walk in to buy a ticket the day of...well at least on the day I was there!

I had low expectations for the inside of this museum but was very surprised by the quality! We are…read morefrequent visitors to the HMNS energy exhibit and found this a wonderful complement. Lots of models with informational plaques. Varied types of exhibits in terms of size and scope. I actually love that this museum doesn't have a ton of screens--much better for kids. Everything was in great condition, I think maybe one thing was not working and it was a video. Maybe not the place for some younger kids, but my 3yo loved it and got a lot out of it. Not a place to let your kids run wild, for sure. But nice in that it seems more intimate and touch-friendly than other museums. The outdoor exhibits are super cool. It's worth seeing the 15-minute "movie" they show every half hour before you go in for context if you're not familiar with drilling. We watched it after but still enjoyed it. My one criticism is that I would like to see more about the future of drilling. I think they're about 10 years behind in technology and so much has changed, especially considering criticism of the industry. There is some mention of protecting the oceans, but it felt simple. But I also understand who the donors are, so... All in all, give this place a chance! This nerdy family liked it.

Normally this is not something I would choose to check out, but a recent obsession with the TV show…read moreLandman made me decide to explore this museum. Prior to the TV show I knew very little about oil and drilling, but now I find it quite fascinating. When I was searching for things to do in the area and saw I could learn more about it I decided this would be a good way to occupy a couple hours and get in an obligatory museum visit. We stayed in a different part of town, but got here semi easily via the trolley. It is located next to the cruise ports. It was hot outside when we visited and this was a good, indoor activity where you could stay pretty cool. The price was reasonable and I had thought we would spend an hour here at most, but my partner was really into it and we spent half a day. There was a lot of stuff to read and learn about. We enjoyed watching the birds outside the Ocean Star as well. The Ocean Star has 3 floors to explore and quite a few videos to watch. Some of the exhibits could use some upkeep, but overall it was really educational. I really liked that you can learn a little bit about how they live when on the rig and how far they are able to drill into the ocean.

While visiting family in Lumberton, we went to Galveston for a day on our way to Houston. We…read morevisited the Galveston Naval Museum. Upon arrival, we had to pay-to-park, which I thought was weird, especially since you've got to pay an entrance fee, as well! On the flip side, it wasn't very busy that day, so wasn't difficult to find parking! It was very interesting to explore the WWII USS Cavalla Submarine & the Destroyer escort USS Stewart. With few visitors on site while we were, we made it through both vessels quickly, even taking numerous photos! A couple of notable issues include the fact that the museum was undergoing renovation and the only restrooms were 'FRU-FRY' port-o-lets at the absolute end of the tour, adjacent to the gift store. The gift store was a small one-room (10x10) air-conditioned building, (picture a portable storage unit) that had very few mediocre Knick-knacks to choose from (stickers, toys, post cards (who collects post cards anymore???) The choices in the gift store insinuate that children would enjoy the museum. The current generation of individuals is most definitely NOT interested in military armamentarium.

This is a small naval museum on a quiet little island with a fishing pier and park. Touring the…read moresubmarine and battleship was very cool, historic, and in need of restoration. I'm guessing that's why admission runs on the higher side. Still, we had a good, educational hour exploring everything. Just note there's an extra charge for parking.

Fun tour through the history of piracy. There are videos available through QR codes if you don't…read morewant to read the descriptions. (It can get challenging if multiple parties are hearing different descriptions close to each other. Fire the cannon! A fun outing.

If you are visiting Galveston and want to have a spectacular time with your family, you should not…read moremiss visiting the pirate museum and the haunted house. Don't forget to request to play in the amazing Escape Room. Come with your family and enjoy.

While visiting Galveston, there are days when you need a break from the beach or from the rain, and…read moreMoody Gardens is the perfect diversion because it is an inside, air conditioned 5-7 hour adventure walk through exhibits which have something for everyone. My favorite exhibit was the chance to touch the stingrays. Parking is easy, and there is a food court plus a restaurant on-site.

I think Moody Gardens is worth it for children and only children. It is ridiculously overpriced. I…read morenever came here as a child, so this is coming from my current perspective. The concept of the three pyramids is cool, and the aquarium and rainforest pyramids were alright. They were still very small though, and did not showcase many interesting animals. The discovery pyramid was baffling as there is only a movie showing on the first floor and an extremely juvenile educational exhibit on the second floor. I can't believe there's an admission fee to enter just the discovery pyramid. We also saw the Dinos Alive exhibit, which was probably the most lame dinosaur exhibit I've seen. The 4D movie was catered to very young children. We got the after 4pm pass for $50 each, which includes access to all the attractions. We were done within two hours, even though we tried to stretch it out. We didn't do the ropes course/zipline or the waterpark though, but we saw that the waterpark is very small.

Lots of cool information here. I just wish I had given myself more time. Interested in the…read moreartifacts of the 1900 storm. Steve was a fabulous tour guide. He gave us a lot of good things to do on our last day here:

What a wonderful collection of history. So many interesting facts about Galveston. The Balinese…read moreroom, the 1900 storm, the military camps. Just a lot of information. We loved it. We spent a little over an hour there. If you love museums you'll won't be disappointed.