Houston is in southeast Texas on the Gulf Coast. It is east-southeast of Austin, and it is south of Dallas. It really is not near either of these two cities, but it is closest to Austin. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive (165 miles) from Austin to Houston and more than that for the journey from Dallas (239 miles). Texas is a big state.

The large state of Texas is really occupied by the majority of the population in the Eastern half of the state and Houston is no different. Houston is the Southeastern portion of the state near the Gulf of Mexico.

In terms of closeness to Dallas or Austin, it will really depend on where in Houston one is coming from and where in Dallas or Austin one is trying to get. From the north side of Houston to the South Side of Dallas is a straight 3 hour drive north, or about 200 miles. However, if you were to travel from South Houston to North Dallas, you could add an additional 100 miles to that trip. The good news is it is a fairly easy (albeit boring) drive directly north on Interstate 45 to get to Dallas and that will end right in downtown Dallas.

Austin is a little closer in distance, about 170 miles West of Houston, than Dallas is, but will still take about the same amount of time given the roads to get there. Again, depending on which side of Houston you will be starting from, there are a variety of routes and roads to take to try to get to Austin. Unfortunately, regardless of which you choose, you will end up having to enter Austin via a non-Interstate road as the only Interstate running through Austin is Interstate 35 and it runs North-South, not East-West. Also, whether you eventually end up on Highway 71 or 290 to get into Austin from Houston, the last couple of miles before the city are filled with stop lights and depending on the traffic, you may find a lot of stop and go driving.