📷 TheAustinMan· CC BY-SA 3.0Welcome to Galveston | Bienvenido a Galveston (English | Spanish)
Galveston is a resort city and port on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Texas. It encompasses 211.31 square miles (547.3 km2) on Galveston Island and Pelican Island. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 53,695, making it the second-largest municipality in Galveston County, where it also serves as the county seat. Located at the southern end of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, Galveston sits on the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Wikipedia →Summary excerpted from the Wikipedia article Galveston, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text may be clipped or paraphrased to fit this page.
Galveston is the easy island escape from Houston; broad Gulf beaches, the Pleasure Pier amusement park, the historic Strand for shopping and Mardi Gras crowds (huge here), and Moody Gardens' rainforest pyramid. Walk the Bishop's Palace, Ashton Villa, and the East End mansions for Gilded Age architecture. Spring (March to May) and fall (September to October) are best; warm but not punishing, and the seas are calmer.
June through November is hurricane season; watch forecasts and don't book unrefundable trips during peak (August to October). Mid-summer beach water can be brown from Mississippi outflow and Sargassum-strewn. The seawall traffic is brutal on weekends. Many waterfront hotels look better online than in person; pick the East End or West Beach for nicer stays.
From June through September Galveston turns sticky and tropical; daytime highs of 31 to 33°C with humidity often above 80%, warm Gulf water (29°C), and afternoon thunderstorms. Hurricane season runs through November with peak activity August to October. Sea breezes off the Gulf temper the worst of it; locals head to the water early and again at sunset. Mosquitoes are aggressive at dusk; bring repellent.
From December through February Galveston stays mild but damp; daytime highs of 16 to 18°C, nights down to 8 to 10°C, with frequent gray drizzle and occasional cold-front blasts that drop temperatures into the single digits for a day. Snow is essentially unheard of. The seawall is wonderfully empty, the historic district peaceful, and Mardi Gras (February) brings the city back to life with parades and parties.
7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).
Monthly highs, lows, and rainfall (long-term averages, NASA POWER).
2 commercial airports within 100 km. Closest is William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) at 60 km.
Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.
Operators and modes aggregated by TransitLand from individual transit-agency GTFS feeds. Route classifications (subway / tram / rail / bus / etc) come from each feed’s GTFS route_type codes.
This page blends public reference data, climate/elevation services, and personal notes. Travel requirements can change, so visa and entry details should be checked again before booking.
Summary, canonical article, and some image fallbacks.
Population, area, image, coordinates, and linked identifiers where available.
Monthly temperature and rainfall climatology.
1991-2020 temperature and precipitation cross-check for compact climate fields.
Coordinate-based elevation backfill.
Coordinate-based IANA timezone lookup.
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Global source notes, map tiles, flags, licenses, and attribution policy.
Upcoming public holidays in United States of America. On these dates, expect banks, post offices, and government services to close. Many shops and museums close or run shortened hours; transit typically still runs.
Public holidays sourced from date.nager.at.