How do you get from Houston to Dallas?
December 15, 2009 2:57 PM   Subscribe

Is there a cheap way to get from Houston to Dallas without renting a car? I'll be in Houston for a week over New Year's, and I'd like to visit Dallas for a couple days. Is there a bus or a train? Airplane tickets are ~$200 with tax, which is a little pricey for the sort of jaunt I was imagining. Thanks.
posted by bluefly to Travel & Transportation (12 answers total)
 
You can take a bus, sure. I've gone on greyhound many times. It takes longer than driving, though, and it's kind of a pain. It might be cheaper to rent a car, depending on how long you're going, it's been a while since I priced bus tickets.
posted by RustyBrooks at 2:59 PM on December 15, 2009


Just so you know, train will be a no-go. Unless you're willing to take an extra 10 hours and transfer in San Antonio, there are no direct passenger lines between Houston and Dallas.
posted by SNWidget at 3:11 PM on December 15, 2009


It looks like you can get Greyhound tickets from somewhere between $30-$50, but I've never actually been on a Greyhound on that route, so I have no clue if the route is reliable as far as time tables or not.

As you're quickly discovering, inter-city mass transit in Texas that isn't air-based is not so common.
posted by SNWidget at 3:15 PM on December 15, 2009


Craigslist Rideshare?
posted by saxamo at 3:17 PM on December 15, 2009


Just wanted to check and make sure you know it takes almost five hours to get from Houston to Dallas in a car, and will take a lot longer than that on a bus because they stop in every frickin' town between the two.
posted by lunalaguna at 3:41 PM on December 15, 2009


Response by poster: Hmm, I knew it took about 5 hours to drive, which is why I was hoping for a bus, so I can read or do something productive while traveling, but if the bus makes so many stops, then maybe renting a car is the way to go. Though, I'll probably end up just staying around Houston, then. Thanks for the advice!
posted by bluefly at 3:47 PM on December 15, 2009


They have some pretty-much straight shot trips from Houston to Dallas on Greyhound. They seem to run between $40 and $60. I hope there's someone you're going to see, otherwise I would probably not be willing to take the Greyhound trip, even if it's only 4-5 hours each way to go to Dallas, honestly. It's not really worth it just for the city itself unless there's a specific purpose.
posted by ishotjr at 3:47 PM on December 15, 2009


LunaLaguna: I've been skimming the timetables, and there seems to be three types of services.

1) They take about 4 hours or so and do one stop in Buffalo, TX, which is about the midpoint on I45.

2) They take about 5 hours and do a few more stops (Huntsville, Conroe, etc.).

3) They take about 7 hours will try to route you to Waco.

Sorry about the multiple responses - I've tried to set stuff like this up for friends, and they generally either bum a ride or hope for Southwest to drop prices.
posted by SNWidget at 3:49 PM on December 15, 2009


Response by poster: Yeah, I've got a friend in Dallas, so I thought it might be nice to escape from my family for a bit to go see her. The straight shot bus doesn't look too bad, and I just priced some rental cars, and they aren't that bad either (I just don't like driving that much). We'll see if my family will let me out of the loony bin for a couple of days!
posted by bluefly at 4:24 PM on December 15, 2009


The drive from Houston to Dallas is a little bit enjoyable, in that it's a straight drive with not too much in between. You can just relax and listen to tunes. Slow when going through Ennis (just south of Dallas), as they do give lots of tickets there. If you will happen to be on the north side of Houston, and going to the south side of Dallas, it will only be about 4 hours driving.
posted by Houstonian at 5:06 PM on December 15, 2009


Depending on when you travel, a round-trip ticket on Southwest from Houston Hobby to Dallas Love can be had during the first week of the year for as little as $98 plus fees and taxes. Just a thought, in case you'd only searched Houston Intercontinental and/or D/FW airports...
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 5:42 PM on December 15, 2009


Buses are crappy, but sometimes it's the best choice, especially if you're one of those lucky people who can sleep on one. That way an overnight is pretty painless, other than the sore neck.
posted by rokusan at 8:14 PM on December 15, 2009


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