How long does it take to drive from Dntn Dallas to Houston?
 

There is a concert at the Engine Room and my daughter thinks it only takes 3.5 hours to drive there from Dallas.
While we are at it... how long does it take to get to Downtown Austin from Downtown Dallas?
I have never driven directly to either... we always stop at various places along the way.
Thanks!

MapQuest says:

Dallas - Houston
Total Est. Time: 3 hours, 41 minutes
Total Est. Distance: 239.29 miles

Dallas - Austin:
Total Est. Time: 3 hours, 8 minutes
Total Est. Distance: 196.18 miles

Dallas to Houston - obviously depends on time of day. I usually count on 4 hrs. If you hit rush hour at either end, it's anybody's guess.

Traffic in and around both cities can be a nightmare. It's taken me over an hour to get "through" Austin on 35 south, in the middle of the day, with no wrecks or construction. She might get to Round Rock or Georgetown in 3 hours and think she's got it made, then it may take another 90 minutes to get to 6th street or the Irwin Center. Drives me crazy! I talked to some parents from San Antonio at the state gymnastics meet; driving up the Friday evening before Thanksgiving week, it took them 2 hours to get through Austin.

And as for Houston....when ISN'T traffic congested?

I drive Houston - Dallas quite a bit. Traffic in/out of Dallas on I-45 is never a problem. The bridge reconstruction near Corsicana is also done, so no problem for most of the drive.

The real bottleneck is from the San Jacinto River bridge south of Conroe to north of Conroe. Still only 2 lanes there. Depend on the time of day, going through Conroe can add 30-45 minutes to your drive easy.

If you're coming down to Houston on a weekday in the afternoon, it shouldn't be bad. But late Sunday afternoon, and it'll take a long time.

And of course, there's the "regular" rush hour traffic on I-45 in and out of Houston on weekdays.

rkkwan... do you feel the drive to Houston is particularly dangerous?
I HATE the drive down 35 to Temple because of all the construction and lack of those concrete or cable dividers that keep cars from going into the oncoming lanes of traffic.
My daughter is sort of an airhead and they will probably be 3 or 4 in the car... which is, of course, what you always hear on the news.
I am such a paranoid person, I know... by her age I had driven all over the TX/LA/OK/NM area, often alone, in a POS vehicle!
Do you think it is a dangerous drive, say, compared to DFW to Shreveport. That's a pretty safe drive, I think.

I-45 has much less traffic than I-35, until you get down to Huntsville. They it starts slowing down, and as I said Conroe.

It's an easy drive and comparable to I-20 to Shreveport. A bit more 4-wheelers, and a bit less 18-wheelers. Nothing like I-35 between San Antonio and Dallas.

I-35 has lots of cities along the way, and tremendous amount of truck traffic to/from Mexico. Not the case for I-45.

I feel much better :)
Thanks so much!