By ship
Bolivar Peninsula - Galveston Island Ferry
is a free service that regularly runs between the island and Port Bolivar - located on mainland east of Galveston. For travel between Galveston and New Orleans, the ferry can save 30-40 minutes by avoiding Houston. The ferry is run on a first-come first-served basis, and there are often moderate waits during rush hour, and very long waits on the order of 2-3 hours on major holidays. Weekend evening waits also tend to be long.
By train
By train
Amtrak provides a bus from Galveston 24 hour advance reservations required to connect with the Texas Eagle in Longview, also the Sunset Limited has a major stop in Houston.
By car
I-45 South
is the easiest route from Houston to Galveston Island. The freeway becomes Broadway St. on the island.