I'll be driving (pulling 28' TT) from I-10 east of Houston going towards South TX, so down I-69. I've done this once before in reverse direction, ended up going thru downtown. Not fun, but at least I did that on early Sat morning.For this trip, I'm curious about the quality of the ring roads (I-610, Sam Houston tollway). What in your opinion would be the best route to take? Also best times/days to travel thru? How much would the tollway cost?

The loops serve a good purpose. They're the best way to avoid downtown.

The SE section of Beltway 8 is under construction. The lanes are so narrow I hate doing it in my car. The bright side is the tolls have been waved. The West 610 loop to I69 exchange is always a mess but doable.If you're not in a big hurry and want to avoid Houston all together, I suggest turn South at Winnie, take the ferry to Galveston, Freeport and pick up I69 (59) at Edna

OUr route of choice going through Houston was always straight through downtown. I did all the driving, while DH navigated. But we also lived there for 3 months while he was undergoing cancer treatment and we really got to like the city. . . except for rush hour. We avoided rush hour like the plague. Best time for us was between 10 and noon. We sometimes took the bypasses, but only once or twice, preferring to go straight through.Dale

I lived outside of Houston and worked downtown for some years. As you probably suspect, avoid rush hour at all costs, even to the point of stopping somewhere for a few hours (better stopped there than on the interstate!). But swinging wide of town on the back roads would be my advice as thats what we usually do to large cities when its possible. But everyone has their own preferences.And fwiw, i did the Houston - south TX drive many times along the major road before there was an interstate below SA. Peaceful drive until you got near Houston.

You could take TX-105 out of Beaumont around to Brenham and work your way southward.

Routes around Houston TX | Good Sam Community

Scottiemom
Nomad
Dec 09, 2020
OUr route of choice going through Houston was always straight through downtown. I did all the driving, while DH navigated. But we also lived there for 3 months while he was undergoing cancer treatment and we really got to like the city. . . except for rush hour. We avoided rush hour like the plague. Best time for us was between 10 and noon.

We sometimes took the bypasses, but only once or twice, preferring to go straight through.

Dale
2112
Explorer II
Dec 08, 2020
The SE section of Beltway 8 is under construction. The lanes are so narrow I hate doing it in my car. The bright side is the tolls have been waved. The West 610 loop to I69 exchange is always a mess but doable.

If you're not in a big hurry and want to avoid Houston all together, I suggest turn South at Winnie, take the ferry to Galveston, Freeport and pick up I69 (59) at Edna
dedmiston
Moderator
Dec 08, 2020
The loops serve a good purpose. They're the best way to avoid downtown.

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