Downtown Aquarium

An exhilarating ride on the 100-foot ferris wheel is reason enough to visit this entertainment complex, because it offers one of the most spectacular views of Houston you’ll find. But the 500,000 gallons of underwater tanks with over 200 species of marine life, the rainforest, the temple with white tigers and the train that takes you into a tunnel with live sharks swimming overhead are also major draws, especially for families. And that’s just for starters. Downtown Aquarium is a chic carnival: there’s a nice-ish restaurant here called, of course, Aquarium, with central stairs which dramatically curl around a 3-story cylindrical fish tank and lead to the main dining room where tables are arranged around a 200,000-gallon tank teaming with all sorts of exotic and tropical marine life.