My mantra for traveling to major cities is to “experience the city by staying outside the city.” It may sound counterintuitive, but avoiding dense urban centers in favor of peripheral neighborhoods often proves to be the best way to avoid the mayhem, and peek under the hood at what gives the city its character. That’s why, on my last trip to New Zealand, I decided to forgo hotels in Auckland’s city center and stay in Takapuna Beach.

About a 15-minute drive north from the center of Auckland, Takapuna Beach is a small beach community that feels like a different city entirely. New Zealanders are generally known for their relaxed vibe, even in major cities, but Takapuna Beach is like New Zealand meets coastal California. The beach neighborhood has trendy restaurants and cafes, a thriving arts scene, and a scenic coastal walkway. Staying at the Emerald Inn on Takapuna Beach, I was ideally located to experience it all.

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We hope you love the Emerald Inn at Takapuna Beach! Just so you know, Matador may collect a small commission from the links on this page if you decide to book a stay. Listed prices are accurate as of the time of publication.

What it’s like to stay at the Emerald Inn on Takapuna Beach

Photo courtesy Emerald Inn

Just a block from the water, the Emerald Inn on Takapuna Beach feels like a beach hotel and a lush garden retreat all in one. Rooms start just over $100 per night. The property’s courtyard is dotted with trees, surrounding the pool and outdoor seating area. If you’re lucky enough to have a second-story room (like I was), you’ll almost feel like you’re in a treehouse while standing on your balcony, with views of the ocean. Strolling through the hotel’s garden instantly puts you in a vacation mindset – a welcome feeling, after a flight to New Zealand that was – well, “long” is an understatement. This is especially true if you’re in the Emerald Penthouse, a luxurious two-bedroom cottage with a full kitchen, tons of natural light, and a beachy aesthetic.

A relaxing beach community on the outskirts of the city

Photo: Stargrass /Shutterstock

You might find yourself on the other side of the world, but Takapuna has a walkable neighborhood feel that makes you feel right at home. Just a few blocks away from the Emerald Inn, there’s a beach conducive to some of Auckland’s most popular water sports, and the rentals to make it all happen. That includes jet skis, paddle boarding, and even windsurfing. You’ll also be treated to views of Rangitoto Island across the water. If you’d rather enjoy the coast at a more leisurely pace, there’s a walking path that begins just around the corner from the Emerald Inn, and winds along the beach to the Milford Reserve. Weaving through neighborhoods, paved wooded trails, and actual beach terrain, it’s the perfect stroll to get acquainted with the area.

Culture-seekers will find more art galleries than you’d probably expect for a community of such unassuming size. Art By the Sea, Art Collective, and Lake House Arts Center are all great places to discover local artists. The Lake House Arts Center – housed in a beautiful old cottage – even offers classes for those bold enough to wade into artistic waters themselves. They also host live music and outdoor markets.

Takapuna is also the perfect base for exploring the islands off the coast of Auckland. From nearby Devonport, you can take a ferry to Rangitoto Island. The island is home to a dormant volcano, and the world’s largest forest of pohutukawa trees (known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree). Adventurous travelers can choose to hike to the summit on their own or on a guided tour, or opt for shorter walking trails.

Photo: patjo /Shutterstock

Eating and drinking in Takapuna Beach

Sure, you could drive 15 minutes into Auckland’s city center for tons of restaurants, bars, and cafes, but then you’d be missing out on Takapuna Beach’s distinct local vibe. Right around the corner from the Emerald Inn, you’ll find the Takapuna Beach Cafe, a cozy, casual restaurant overlooking the water. It seems like everyone in Takapuna Beach – tourists and locals alike – gathers here for early morning coffee and breakfast. They’re also open for lunch and dinner.

If you’re looking for dinner and drinks in a place that combines a city’s cosmopolitan atmosphere with the chill vibes of a beach community – you’re in luck, because the Takapuna Surf Club just opened a few months ago. No, you can’t catch waves here, but you can catch a delicious pizza and craft cocktails in a rooftop setting with pretty epic views. Much like the Takapuna Beach Cafe, it seems like the whole beach community congregates here for after work drinks, and on weekends for late-night revelry.

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When was the last time that you were able to book a night in a luxury hotel without wincing at the price? Probably never. But if you’re willing to go off the beaten path for your next European vacation, you might be able to score the deal of a lifetime by staying at Mrizi i Zanave Agroturizëm, an opulent hotel located in Albania.

We hope you love Mrizi i Zanave Agroturizëm! Just so you know, Matador may collect a small commission from the links on this page if you decide to book a stay. Listed prices are accurate as of the time of publication.

@epic.stays This is what $100/night can get you in #Albania This suite is the deluxe room atMrizi i Zanave Agroturizëm in #Lezhë IG: @bokehm0n #albaniatravel #albaniahotelguide #albaniatok #traveltiktok #budgettravel #cabinlife ♬ How deep is your love – tommasoreplica

While far from a hot tourist spot, Albania is quickly gaining recognition from travelers who are not afraid to try out something new and unexpected. After all, Albanian beaches are pretty spectacular; the remains of the ancient city of Butrint rivals with the archeological wonders you’ll see in Greece and Italy; and if Mrizi i Zanave Agroturizëm is anything to go by, there are some very fine hotels available for very little money.

Mrizi i Zanave Agroturizëm is part of an agritourism movement that is taking place in the town of Fishte in the Lezhë District, in the northwest part of the country. Mrizi i Zanave Agroturizëm is located on a farm and provides farm-to-table meals, including breakfast, the price of which is covered when guests book a room.

But the most exciting part about Mrizi i Zanave Agroturizëm is the beauty of the property: A traditional-looking home with exquisite modern architectural elements set in the middle of a magnificent landscape. There are immense glass panes embedded in stone walls; bedrooms with wood beam ceilings, wooden beds, and sleek, modern showers; and an outdoor patio under a large pergola covered in grapevines.

And you won’t need to break the bank to stay in this luxury hotel. A Deluxe Room with a double bed will cost you $74 per night, and a Budget Twin Room with three large double beds will only set you back $85. There are also Deluxe Rooms set up for two adults and one children with one double bed and one twin bed ($107), and Family Rooms ($101) with one double bed and two bunk beds. Breakfast and taxes are included in the price.

If you decide to book a stay at Mrizi i Zanave Agroturizëm, be ready for an incredible agritourism experiences that far exceeds expectations.

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I’d just stepped out of a glowing, dreamlike installation at Art Club in Houston — one of those immersive, blink-and-you’re-in-another-reality spaces — when a woman from the gallery stopped me with a smile and one perfect question: “Did you love it?”

I nodded, still a little dazed, and before I could say much more, she rattled off a half-dozen other places I had to see. Not just museums but artist-run spaces, warehouse galleries, a pop-up someone’s cousin was curating in a backyard that weekend. Her recommendations came fast and lovingly, like she was letting me in on a secret she couldn’t bear to keep to herself.

That kind of infectious enthusiasm became the through-line of my time in Houston. Over the next few days, I heard a similar refrain on sidewalks, restaurants, in line for coffee. I’d say, “This is one of the best meals I’ve ever had,” and the server would immediately say, “Oh, you’ve got to try the place down the street.” I’d compliment a gallery, and the artist would hand me a flyer for someone else’s show across town.

At first, I chalked it up to Southern hospitality. But then I realized: this isn’t just friendliness. It’s a kind of creative generosity that runs deep. Everyone was actively, enthusiastically rooting for someone else. The effect was disarming, magnetic, and wildly inspiring.

It was a far cry from my first trip to Houston — a long-ago, tequila-fueled weekend that involved a spontaneous nose piercing, buckets of queso, and a blurry late-night call to rapper Mike Jones (don’t ask). The city was fun, sure, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression beyond heat and highways.

So when I came back this time, my expectations weren’t high. A few good meals, maybe a couple decent museums. Instead, Houston completely and gloriously proved me wrong.

What I found on this trip is that nothing is siloed. The food is part of the art scene. The music lives in the galleries. A performance artist might hand you their DJ schedule; a chef might send you to their favorite immersive installation. The whole city feels like a collective creation in progress, and everyone’s part of it. It’s one of the most creatively alive places I’ve ever visited — not in a manufactured way but in a deeply lived, organic, unpretentious way.

Houston doesn’t announce itself with the swagger of New York or the boho buzz of Austin, but that’s exactly what makes it feel so electric. This is a city where creativity doesn’t come from the top down; it bubbles up from backyards, brunch tables, and repurposed warehouses, carried forward by a community that genuinely wants you to be part of it. You’ll come for the art, the food, and the surprise of it all, but it’s the people, constantly hyping each other, lifting each other up, and passing you the next must-see spot like a handwritten note, who will stay with you.

That’s why Houston isn’t just a destination. It’s an invitation.

Meow Wolf Radio Tave

Photo: Arturo Olmos

If Houston had a wormhole to another world, it would be Meow Wolf’s Radio Tave. Housed in a transformed sheet metal factory in the Fifth Ward — one of Houston’s oldest neighborhoods — this immersive, choose-your-own-adventure art experience begins inside what appears to be a community radio station, then explodes into an intergalactic fever dream. Doors lead to wormholes, vending machines hide secret passages, and each twist reveals something more surreal than the last. Designed by more than 100 artists (more than half of them local), the space pulses with light, sound, color, and storytelling, inviting you to wander, climb, crawl, and connect the narrative dots (or not). Like its sister locations in Santa Fe (The House of Eternal Return) and Las Vegas (Omega Mart), Radio Tave plays with perception and possibility. But here it’s with a decidedly Houston twist.

Meow Wolf: 2103 Lyons Ave Building 2, Houston, TX 77020

Menil Collection

Photo: Maggie Downs

Step into the Menil Collection and you step into another tempo entirely — one where time slows, light softens, and art breathes. This gem in the arty Montrose neighborhood doesn’t shout for your attention; it gently holds it, offering airy, sun-dappled galleries where ancient sculptures share space with 20th-century icons like Magritte, Ernst, and Rauschenberg. The curation feels intuitive, almost poetic — works placed not for spectacle but for conversation. The best part? It’s always free. Which means you can swing by, get your fill of inspiration, and head back out into Houston with your creative cup overflowing.

Menil Collection: 1533 Sul Ross St, Houston, TX 77006

Rothko Chapel

Photo: Houston First Corporation

More than just a place of art, the Rothko Chapel is a spiritual pause button in the middle of Montrose, a contemplative space where light, shadow, and silence take center stage. Designed in collaboration with the famous Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko himself, the octagonal sanctuary houses 14 of his moodiest, most meditative works, which feel less like paintings and more like portals to another world. More than a museum, this space is also a long-standing hub for social justice, human rights, and interfaith dialogue. Whether you’re perched on a meditation cushion or simply soaking in the sacred hush, Rothko Chapel invites you to stop scrolling, look inward, and remember that introspection, too, can be a radical act.

Rothko Chapel: 3900 Yupon St, Houston, TX 77006

National Museum of Funeral History

Photo: Maggie Downs

Stay with me here. I’d argue that honoring the dead is an art, and in true Houston fashion, there’s an entire museum devoted to it. The National Museum of Funeral History might sound like a punchline, but step inside, and it’s anything but. The exhibits range from the elaborate pageantry of presidential funerals to the exuberant artistry of Ghanaian fantasy coffins, hand-carved in the shape of fish, animals, and even an airplane. There’s Victorian hair jewelry (yes, made from actual locks of the deceased), Day of the Dead altars, and dazzling examples of how different cultures use creativity to grieve, celebrate, and remember. It’s moving, eccentric, and exactly the kind of unexpected wonder that Houston does best.

National Museum of Funeral History: 415 Barren Springs Dr, Houston, TX 77090

Art Club

Photo: Maggie Downs

Tucked inside the X Atrium venue at POST Houston — an entertainment hub housed in a former post office downtown — Art Club is where digital art and nightlife collide in a kaleidoscopic sensory playground. By day, it’s a black-box museum featuring about a dozen immersive installations from global new media artists — think AI-animated murals, laser-sculpted light fields, and a mind-bending Infinity Room that feels like stepping into a lucid dream. By night, the space flips into Club Mode, where DJs and VJs transform the exhibits into a living, breathing, audio-visual experience. It’s part gallery, part rave, and all Houston — bold, experimental, and unapologetically cool. Whether you’re chasing the next-level selfie or vibing to underground beats beneath a canopy of projected light, Art Club is the city’s most electrifying cultural crossover.

Art Club: 401 Franklin St Suite 1050, Houston, TX 77201

Art Car Parade

Photo: Charlie Ewing

Imagine if Burning Man collided with a Fourth of July parade and landed smack in the heart of Houston. That’s the Art Car Parade. Every April, more than 250 decked-out rides (think glitter-drenched lowriders, dragon-shaped school buses, and kinetic sculptures on wheels) cruise down Allen Parkway in a technicolor procession that feels like a rolling block party. It’s DIY culture meets high-octane creativity, where artists, eccentrics, and visionaries roll up to show out. Bring your camera, bring your own brand of weirdness, and don’t be surprised if you leave inspired to paint your own car neon pink.

Art Car Parade: Allen Parkway between Taft and Bagby Streets

Cowboix Hevvven

Photo: Maggie Downs

Nestled inside Meow Wolf Houston, this art bar is a visual fever dream of cowboy angels, glittering jukeboxes, and mournful creatures — all while slinging rodeo-inspired bites and drinks that turn the whole experience into a multi-sensory feast. Think Frito pie with a twist, jalapeno poppers with interdimensional swagger, and cocktails that hit like a honky-tonk hallucination. Designed by artist Cole Bee Wilson, the space reimagines the Western mythos through a joyfully weird lens, and the food keeps the fantasy grounded in Texas flavor. Come for the art, stay for the snacks, leave wondering what the hell just happened.

Cowboix Hevvven: 2103 Lyons Ave Building 2, Houston, TX 77020

POST Houston

Photo: Maggie Downs

At POST Houston, food becomes part of the canvas. This sprawling culture hub in a converted post office is home to one of the city’s most eclectic food halls, where pop-ups and permanent vendors alike dish out global flavors under the same roof as Art Club and rooftop gardens. One minute you’re devouring Lao sausage and chili crisp noodles, the next you’re stumbling into a full-scale new media exhibit or live music set. POST isn’t just where you eat between art stops. It is the art stop.

POST Houston: 401 Franklin St, Houston, TX 77201

Late August

Photo: Rebekah Flores

Late August serves a whole vibe rooted in art, ancestry, and creativity. Housed in a former Sears building, the restaurant leans hard into its Afro-Mexican identity, and that ethos pulses through both the plates and the walls. A standout installation by Houston artist Robert Hodge commands the dining room, reimagining a vintage Sears catalog with layered imagery that connects African and Mexican heritage — Aztec patterns, a jaguar and elephant, all in vibrant dialogue. Chef Chris Williams brings the soul of Oaxaca into the space, too, including a piece he picked up while exploring the region’s art and culinary scenes. Photography by Coby Deal and works by Erika Alonso round out a collection that transforms the restaurant into an exciting gallery.

Late August: 4201 Main St Suite 120, Houston, TX 77002

Hotel Saint Augustine

Photo: Julie Soefer

In a city bursting with bold visuals and immersive art, Hotel Saint Augustine offers something unexpected — restraint. Just steps from the Menil Collection, the Montrose hideaway from Bunkhouse keeps its interiors refreshingly minimal, trading gallery walls for sunlit serenity and thoughtful design. This is deliberate. After a day wandering the Menil’s world-class collections, the hotel designers figured guests would crave a place to let the sights marinate. It’s an elegant pause between all the visual noise and without losing an ounce of soul.

Hotel Saint Augustine: 4110 Loretto Dr, Houston, TX 77006

Photo: Nate Hovee/Shutterstock

Getting around Houston takes a little strategy and a little flexibility. The city is sprawling (it has three separate skylines!), so while rideshares are plentiful and reliable, renting a car will give you more freedom to bounce between neighborhoods. If renting a car isn’t in your budget, the METRO connects key hubs like the Museum District, Downtown, and Midtown. Bike and scooter rentals are also available.