The best road trip stops on the Houston to Amarillo drive are Huntsville TX, Fort Worth and Wichita Falls. The distance from Houston to Amarillo is 600 miles, with an 8h52m driving time.
Planning a Houston to Amarillo road trip itinerary
The Houston to Amarillo drive takes you from the biggest city in Texas to Route 66.
Five great things to do in Houston
- 🚀 Reserve your tickets – for Houston’s number one attraction, Space Center Houston.
- 🎵 Discover Houston’s hip-hop culture – on a motorised party bike.
- 🚇 Explore the largest downtown tunnel system in the US – on the Astroville Tunnel Tour.
- 🎨 On a downtown mural tour – learn about Houston’s street art scene.
- 🖼️ Immerse yourself in a spectacular interactive art installation – at Meow Wolf’s Radio Tave.
The top Houston attraction is unquestionably the Space Center Houston, which takes you behind the scenes of the Johnson Space Center. This includes the Mission Briefing Center, and a vast array of high tech exhibitions.
Other attractions include the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Downtown Aquarium, Museum of Fine Arts Houston and Children’s Museum.
For more Houston experiences, try hip hop party bike tours, foodie walks in the Montrose neighbourhood and quirky tours of Houston’s tunnel system.
Top Houston accommodation options include the superb value Club Quarters Houston Downtown and the upscale but boutique Magnolia.
Amarillo is a classic stop on Route 66. Highlights include Cadillac Ranch, an art installation featuring 10 brightly-painted Cadillacs buried nose-first in the ground. You’ll also find the Texas Air and Space Museum here, and the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. For the great outdoors, Palo Duro Canyon State Park is just to the south-east of the city.
For high quality Amarillo accommodation, try the historic Barfield or the spacious Embassy Suites Amarillo Downtown
Houston to Amarillo distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Houston to Amarillo is 600 miles. That makes for a driving time of around eight hours and 52 minutes. The quickest route is along the I-45 and US-287.
The best stops to add to a Houston to Amarillo road trip itinerary are Huntsville TX, Fort Worth and Wichita Falls.
Best stops between Houston and Amarillo: Huntsville, TX
On the edge of both the Sam Houston National Forest and Huntsville State Park, Huntsville also has a couple of cultural attractions worth considering.
This is where Sam Houston, first president of the Republic of Texas, died. The Sam Houston Memorial Museum on the family homestead tells his story and, with it, that of Texas.
The other key attraction in Huntsville is the Texas Prison Museum, which looks at prison life and the criminal justice system.
Houston to Amarillo road trip attractions: Fort Worth
Fort Worth fully embraces its status as a cow town, with the Stockyards district full of cowboy heritage. And cowgirl heritage, as the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame shows off.
It’s also a place that knows how to have a shamelessly good time, with Billy Bob’s Texas Honky Tonk famously big on the yee-has and line dancing.
The city does have an impressive cultural selection, though. The Kimbell Art Museum and Amon Carter Museum of American Art cover the art side, while the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and Fort Worth Botanical Garden do science and nature.
Other good Fort Worth experiences include a Stockyards food tour, electric bike BBQ tours, historic pub crawls and ghost tours.
5 great Fort Worth experiences to book
- 🎸 Visit the legendary Billy Bob’s Honky Tonk – with a dinner and photo package.
- 🏛️ Take a small group historical tour of Fort Worth – including the Livestock Exchange Building.
- 🍖 Taste the best of the Fort Worth Stockyards – on a foodie tour.
- 🍷 On a wine tour, explore the best wineries of North Texas.
- 👻 Discover the spectres of the stockyards – on a Fort Worth ghost tour.
Houston to Amarillo drive: Wichita Falls
The ‘falls’ in Wichita Falls is a man-made waterfall in Lucy Park. Artificial or not, it still looks pretty cool. But there’s more to see in this North Texas city.
If you want serious, there’s the Museum of North Texas History. If you want fun, there’s the Castaway Cove Water Park. And, for a touch of nature, plump for the River Bend Nature Center.
More Texas road trips
- Best stops on the Austin to Galveston drive and the Dallas to Galveston drive.
- Getting to Houston: The best stops on the Abilene to Houston drive, Arlington to Houston drive, Dallas to Houston drive, Little Rock to Houston drive and Waco to Houston drive.
- Best stops on the Dallas to Amarillo drive and the Fort Worth to Amarillo drive.
- Texas road trips from Houston: The best stops on the Houston to Fort Worth drive and Houston to Lubbock drive.
- Interstate road trips from Houston: Where to stop on the Houston to Hot Springs AR drive, Houston to Oklahoma City drive and Houston to Wichita drive.
