Willow and Exposition in Dallastx Nearby Art Center

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Austin is the Texas country capital and the Alive Music Capital letter of the Globe, with more than than 250 live music venues in this sprawling fundamental Texas city. More 2,300 recording artists call Austin abode. Amid them? Willie Nelson, who moved from Nashville to Austin in 1972 and never looked back.

Austin is a college boondocks, dwelling to the University of Texas, and it's as big as you would expect the capital of Texas to be. The metropolis limits comprehend 232 square miles encompassing more than than 300 parks, including the nearly 360-acre Zilker Park. Austin is America's 11th largest city and i of its fastest-growing.

They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and the state Capitol building—14 anxiety taller than the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. —is no exception. Neither is the bat colony that roosts under Austin's Congress Avenue Bridge from April through October. It'due south the largest urban bat population in Northward America, home to between 750,000 and ane.5 1000000 Mexican gratuitous-tailed bats.

Betwixt the great outdoors, local art, music festivals, quirky neighborhoods, and a seemingly countless list of restaurants and bars, at that place's enough to practise in Austin whatever your fancy and whatever your budget. This guide is designed to aid yous make the most of your fourth dimension in Austin, an evolving city that's successfully upholding its mantra to "Continue Austin Weird."

Fourth dimension Zone

Central Standard Time. Daylight Savings Time is observed seasonally.

Best Time to Get

March and October are particularly adept times to catch live music in Austin. In March, the metropolis hosts SXSW, a music and multimedia festival, and the Urban Music Festival, a celebration of R&B, jazz, funk and reggae. Austin City Limits, a two-weekend festival that brings more 130 acts to eight stages, happens each October. The Austin Rodeo, with nightly concerts, is held in March.

To wander down an iconic Austin street and get a feel for its maverick roots, visit in May when the Pecan Street Festival takes over 6th Street. If you're looking to skip out on snow and water ice, Austin can make for a temperate winter escape, simply beware if you caput to town in July or Baronial. Texas summers can sizzle.

Things to Know

In Austin, tacos are a breakfast item, and suits and ties are few and far in betwixt. Flip-flops are acceptable footwear for many occasions, and at that place's never actually a demand for stilettos.

Austin is amongst the most walkable cities in Texas, but y'all'll desire to take Uber or Lyft or rent a motorcar to make the nearly of your fourth dimension. Austin is big, and it'due south going to take you longer than you remember to become where you're going.

Austin is an Instagrammer's paradise. The city has public fine art you've probably seen on your social feeds, including an I Love Yous And then Much wall on South Congress, a Greetings from Austin postcard mural on S 1st Street and an atx sculpture at 5th and Lamar.

Lady Bird Lake isn't actually a lake. It's a river-like reservoir on the Colorado River created by the city in 1960 equally a cooling swimming for a new power plant.

How to Get Around

Cap Metro is Austin's public transit organization serving a population of more than than ane million in its 535-square mile service area. More than than 1,600 autobus stops and 82 routes include MetroRail, MetroRapid, and High-Frequency Route Network. Weekend service may be limited.

Lyft, Uber, and an emerging light rails system (Cap Metro) have made information technology easier to get around. Austin is walkable and bikeable, only a rental machine is a great convenience there.

Pool at the Carpenter Hotel in Austin, Texas

Credit: Alex Lau/Courtesy of Carpenter Hotel

Best Hotels

The Carpenter Hotel

Address: 400 Josephine Street, Austin, TX 78704
Phone: (512) 682-5300
Volume At present

This quirky hotel, amid Travel & Leisure's favorite new backdrop, is partially housed in a low-slung brick edifice that used to exist a meeting place for union woodworkers. The hotel'due south owner has kept its original wood-paneled floors, teller window reception area and cork boards intact, creating a small-scale welcome to this minimalist space.

JW Marriott

Address: 110 E 2nd Street, Austin, TX 78701
Telephone: (512) 474-4777
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This luxury hotel in downtown Austin is an like shooting fish in a barrel walk from sixth Street, Austin City Limits, the Capitol, and the Austin Convention Center. The hotel has ample consequence space, and it's popular with conference goers and football fans in town for University of Texas Longhorns games.

Doubletree Suites

Address: 303 W. 15th Street, Austin, TX 78701
Phone: (512) 478-7000
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The Doubletree Suites, an all-suite hotel a stone'south throw from the Texas Capitol building, is well suited for long stays and families. Each suite has a full-size refrigerator, microwave, and dishwasher. Some are two-bedroom, two-bathroom, and many have views of the Texas Loma State or the Capital.

Hyatt Regency

Address: 208 Barton Springs, Austin, TX 78704
Phone: (512) 477-1234
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The Hyatt Regency in downtown Austin is a short walk from the bars on 6th Street, the Austin Convention Center, and the bats that live under Congress Avenue Span. Some rooms in this pet-friendly contemporary hotel take river views and patios.

Hampton Inn

Address: 200 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX 78701
Telephone: (512) 472-1500
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Austin is home to several Hampton Inns that offer comfy affordable accommodations, simply the chain's downtown outpost is the nearly convenient for visiting the metropolis's sights. The downtown Hampton Inn is just a brusque walk from the bars on 6th street, Austin'southward seasonal bat colony, the Texas State Capitol, and one of Austin's all-time eateries—Stubb'due south BBQ.

Fairmont Austin

Accost: 101 Scarlet River Street, Austin, TX 78701
Phone: (512) 600-2000
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The Fairmont Austin is a 37-story luxury hotel with more than than one,000 guest rooms, many with views of Lady Bird Lake. The hotel, located in Austin's central business district, is conveniently connected to the Austin Convention Heart.

W Austin

Address: 200 Lavaca Street, Austin, TX 78701
Phone: (512) 542-3600
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This four-star hotel in downtown Austin includes both a Tequila bar and a record room, perfectly suited for the Live Music Majuscule of the Earth. The W Austin'southward Record Room houses a collection of more than 8,000 records, making it the perfect place to begin a night of hopping betwixt local alive music shows.

Eastward Austin Hotel

Address: 1108 East 6th Street, Austin, TX 78702
Phone: (737) 205-8888
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This unique entrant to the Austin hotel scene has rooms for nether $100 a night on iconic Sixth Street if y'all're willing to share a individual bathroom with your neighbors. More expensive rooms with private bathrooms as well are available at this trendy bazaar hotel that's brimming with East Austin pride.

Omni Barton Creek Resort

Accost: 8212 Barton Club Drive, Austin, TX 78735
Telephone: (512) 329-4000
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This luxe Austin resort offers six restaurants, a spa with an adults only pool, 4 golf game courses, 4 swimming pools, and golf clubhouse. The 4,000-acre belongings is located west of downtown and away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The Driskill

Address: 604 Brazos Street, Austin, TX 78701
Phone: (512) 439-1234
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The Driskill is the oldest operating hotel in Austin, named for Jesse Driskill, a cattle baron who aimed to build the finest hotel due south of St. Louis. The hotel has long been pop American presidents. It's where Lyndon B. Johnson watched returns of the 1964 presidential election and where Bill Clinton stayed during his 1999 visit to Austin.

Exterior of Torchy'south Tacos on South Congress Ave in Austin, Texas

Credit: Courtesy of Torchy's Tacos

All-time Restaurants

Launderette

Address: 2115 Holly Street, Austin, TX 78702
Phone: 512-382-1599
Website

Launderette is a neighborhood cafe with a Northward African-inspired Mediterranean menu that includes dishes like fried shrimp, beet hummus, and steak. Launderette's burger has been called the best in Austin. Launderette's desserts, which include Hibiscus Poached Pears and Birthday Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches, are especially popular.

Franklin BBQ

Address: 900 E 11th Street, Austin, TX 78702
Phone: (512) 653-1187
Website

Franklin BBQ started in a apprehensive trailer but has since grown into an empire where President Barack Obama, Anthony Bourdain, and Jimmy Kimmel take dined. James Beard Award winning Pitmaster Aaron Franklin wrote "Franklin Charcoal-broil, A Meat Smoking Manifesto" and launched a PBS barbecue show.

Dwelling Slice Pizza

Address: 1415 South Congress Artery, Austin, TX 78704
Phone: 512-444-PIES
Website

If you're looking for a slice in Austin, Home Slice Pizza is where to find it. This New York style neighborhood pizza joint is i of the few places in Austin that serves pizza past the slice.

South Congress Buffet

Address: 1600 S Congress Artery, Austin, TX 78704
Telephone: 512-447-3905
Website

This retro hotspot, known for boozy brunches, carrot cake French toast, and jalapeño venison meatloaf, was a pharmacy dorsum in the 1940s. Today, information technology's the place for a Texas-size shaded patio, happy hour, and the perfect spot for lounging on breezy days.

Hula Hut

Address: 3825 Lake Austin Boulevard, Austin, TX 78703
Phone: 512-476-4852
Website

Hula Hut, a lakeside TexMex eating house with a Polynesian twist, is a tiki bar that fancies itself a surfer's paradise. 1 of its virtually pop menu items is the Kawaikini Blimp Avocado, a Hass avocado filled with roasted chicken, green chilis and more, and then fried and served with hatch green chile and queso blanco.

Salty Sow

Address: 1917 Estate Route, Austin, TX 78722
Phone: (512) 391-2337
Website

Salty Sow is all about swine, wine, and beer. Its menu focuses on compact dishes like triple fried duck fat chips, bacon and gruyere roasted bone marrow, candied pork belly, and slow-cooked beefiness shoulder. Information technology's a very Austin eating place with its focus on mindfully sourced local ingredients and creative hand-crafted cocktails.

Contigo

Address: 2027 Anchor Lane, Austin, TX 78723
Phone: (512) 614 - 2260
Website

For an accurate Texas ranch-manner dining experience without leaving the metropolis, caput to Contigo. Designed to feel similar a country ranch, the restaurant serves bill of fare items similar crispy light-green beans, rabbit & dumplings, Texas quail, and a bone-in ribeye that serves three to four.

Torchy's Tacos

Multiple Locations
Website

Torchy'south Tacos started as an Austin food truck, and it's at present best known for creative tacos. Amidst them is the Trailer Park—a combo of chicken fried steak, bacon, greenish chile queso, cotija cheese, and pico de gallo in a fresh flour tortilla. The Brushfire includes Jamaican jerk chicken, grilled jalapenos, mango sour foam, and cilantro with diablo sauce. They serve breakfast tacos all twenty-four hours.

Kemuri Tatsu-ya

Accost: 2713 E. 2nd Street, Austin, TX 78702
Phone: (512) 803-2224
Website

This Austin eating place's menu is a mashup of Texas barbecue and traditional Japanese izakaya. Think BBQ tsukemen, viscous rice tamales, and edamame smoked over crimson wood. The restaurant's founders are self-described Japanese Texans who brought Austin its first Ramen joint in 2012.

Ramen Tatsu-ya

Accost: 8557 Inquiry Blvd #126, Austin, TX 78758
Phone: (512) 893-5561
Website

Ramen is their specialty, and they offering a variety along with sides, actress noodles, toppings, modest bites, and even instructions on the all-time mode to enjoy their ramen.

Aeriform drone view looking downwards on Barton Springs Pool

Things to Exercise

Texas State Capitol

Accost: 1100 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701
Phone: (512) 463-4630
Website

One of the nation's most distinguished state capitols, the building is surrounded by 22 acres of statues and monuments. Several celebrated sections of the capitol can be seen on a gratis guided tour roofing Texas history and the edifice itself.

LBJ Presidential Library

Address: 2313 Red River Street, Austin, TX 78705
Telephone: (512) 721-0200
Website

This presidential library chronicles the life of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United states of america. Johnson was built-in and died in central Texas, not far from the University of Texas where this library is housed. Visitors to the LBJ library can listen in on LBJ'southward calls from the White House, step inside a replica of the Oval Function, and feel interactive exhibits.

Austin Bats

Accost: 305 S. Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701
Website

Head to the Congress Artery Span effectually sunset to see North America's largest bat colony. A renovation in 1980 turned the bridge into the ideal bat cave, attracting a colony of Mexican free-tailed bats. The bats typically sally between vii:xxx pm and 9:45 pm, and visitors start lining upwards just before dusk, facing east for the best views.

Barton Springs Pool

Accost: 2101 Barton Springs Road, Austin, TX 78746
Phone: (512) 974-6300
Website

Barton Springs Pool is the crown gem of Austin'southward sprawling 358-acre Zilker Park. The human-made pool measures iii acres, drawing its h2o from underground springs with an average temperature effectually 68 degrees. The pool is open year round and hosts a polar plunge each January.

Bullock Texas State History Museum

Address: 1800 N. Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78702
Phone: (512) 936-8746
Website

This Austin museum chronicles Texas history and the people who made the land what it is today. It houses an original NASA Mission Command console from the 1960s, cattle branding and oil field tools, and an AT-half-dozen "Texan," the World War II-era training airplane flown past the trailblazing Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Harry Ransom Eye

Address: 300 West 21st Street, Austin, TX 78712
Phone: (512) 471-8944
Website

The Harry Ransom Center is a humanities research library and museum with 41 million items, including one of five copies of the Gutenberg Bible in the U.S. The museum also houses the Niépce Heliograph, considered the earliest surviving photograph made with photographic camera obscura, the archive of playwright Arthur Miller, and childhood writing from authors including Charlotte Brontë and David Foster Wallace.

Blanton Museum of Art

Address: 200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Austin, TX 78712
Phone: (512) 471-5482
Website

The Blanton Museum of Art is the largest university-owned art collection in the U.S. The museum's cardinal piece is Austin, a highly Instagrammable temple of light created past American artist Ellsworth Kelly. The ii,715-square-foot rock building features 33 rima oris blown colored drinking glass windows set in three unlike patterns, a totem made of salvaged wood, and 14 black-and-white rock panels representing the Stations of the Cross.

Play Golf game at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa

Address: 8212 Barton Social club Drive, Austin, TX 78735
Phone: (512) 329-4000
Website

Austin's warm weather condition and 300 days of sunshine a year make it an ideal golf destination, and the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa's four championship golf courses are the perfect identify to play.

The Paramount Theater

Address: 713 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX  78701
Phone: (512) 472-5470
Website

The Paramount Theater is everything yous'd imagine an opulent downtown theater to be. Opened equally a vaudeville house in 1915, the theater at present hosts alive performances and movies. Houdini, Katharine Hepburn, Amy Schumer, and Sheryl Crow are amid the performers who have graced the Paramount'southward stage.

ACL Live at the Moody Theater

Address: 310 W. Willie Nelson Boulevard, Austin, TX  78701
Phone: (512) 225-7999
Website

The Moody Theater is home to Austin City Limits Alive, the longest running music series in American tv history. The Moody Theater hosts virtually 100 concerts each yr and offers tours every weekday.

Antone'due south Nightclub

Address: 305 E 5th Street, Austin, TX 78701
Telephone: (512) 814-0361
Website

Antone's Nightclub, open up since 1975, is an iconic  blues venue in Austin. The social club has hosted B.B. King, Ray Charles, Muddy Waters, James Brownish, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

The Domain in Austin, Texas

All-time Shopping

SOCO - Southward Congress Avenue

Address: South Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78704
Telephone: (512) 441-2444
Website

This strip just south of Lady Bird Lake is where Austin'southward hipsters, politicos, and students come to peruse antiquarian shops and vintage stores. It's also abode to Allen'southward Boots, which stocks thousands of pairs of boots as well as snap shirts, belts, buckles, and anything else you might demand for your first rodeo.

second Street District

Accost: 2nd Street to quaternary Street,  between Colorado and Guadalupe streets, Austin, TX 78701
Website

This is Austin's original downtown pedestrian shopping district and includes the first always brick and mortar ModCloth. The 2nd Street Commune is abode to independent retailers and chains including Urban Outfitters and Loft.

The Domain

Address: 11410 Century Oaks Terrace , Austin, TX 78758
Telephone: (512) 795-4230
Website

The Domain has 700,000-square feet of luxury shops, mainstream stores, and restaurants, including Austin'southward commencement Neiman-Marcus, a Tiffany and Co., and a Louis Vuitton store.

South Kickoff Street

Address: South Austin, Austin, TX 78704
Website

If you lot're looking for retailers you won't find elsewhere, head to South First Street between Barton Springs Road and Oltorf Street. Y'all'll find designer and vintage clothing, neon art and a whole lot of other things yous likely won't encounter anywhere else.

BookPeople

Address: 603 N. Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX  78703
Phone: (512) 472-5050
Website

BookPeople is a behemoth of an independent bookstore. It's the largest independent bookstore in Texas and hosts regular signings and readings. BookPeople opened in 1970 and has hosted Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Pecker Clinton.

Waterloo Records

Address: 600 N Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX 78703
Phone: (512) 474-2500
Website

Waterloo Records has been part of Austin's music scene since 1982. Information technology's an independent music and video store known for its vast selection of vinyl records, its knowledgeable staff, and its support of Texas music. Waterloo Records hosts live music, and past performers include Willie Nelson, Nirvana, Spoon, Inexpensive Trick, and Norah Jones.

Neighborhoods to Know

SoCo: Due south Congress, known as SoCo, is a drove of pocket-sized shops, restaurants, music venues, and art galleries simply south of Lady Bird Lake. It's a great spot to find nutrient trucks, shop for quirky souvenirs, and take in postcard views of the Texas State Capitol.

Rainey Street: This once sleepy residential neighborhood has become a hub of Austin nightlife. Many of the old bungalows on this historic street have been converted into bars, restaurants, and live music venues. With its expansive porches and comfortable yards, it's a top spot for Sunday fundays.

Scarlet River Cultural District: Austin may be the Alive Music Uppercase of the World, but the Red River Cultural District is the live music majuscule of Austin. Once the domain of metal and punk fans, this expanse has evolved to become an ideal identify for a live music crawl through genres.

Sixth Street Historic District: 6th Street Historic District is perchance Austin'due south best known neighborhood. It's home to the historic Driskill Hotel and a seemingly endless array of bars, clubs, and restaurants. The street occasionally closes to traffic for tailgating and other events.

Weather

Texas summers tin can be hot and humid, but winters are balmy, and snow or ice are rare. Severe weather most commonly occurs in the spring when there can be heavy rain, flash flooding, and occasional tornadoes.

The following are average Fahrenheit lows and highs by month.

January 42 - 62
February 45 - 65
March 51 - 72
April 59 - 80
May 67 - 87
June 72 - 92
July 74 - 96
August 75 - 97
September 69 - 91
October 61 - 82
Nov 51 - 71
December 42 - 63

Apps to Download

Park ATX: Pay for street parking in Austin
iOs |Android

Cap Metro: Trip planning, online ticketing, real-time arrivals
iOs |Android

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Source: https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-guide/austin/things-to-do/long-center-for-the-performing-arts