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Travel guide
Austin
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: March to May and October to November
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Welcome
Austin, in a few days
The capital of Texas, a university town turned tech hub, proclaims itself the live music capital of the world: every night, dozens of stages play blues, country and rock between Red River and South Congress. By day, you swim in a 20°C spring in the middle of a park, queue for smoked beef brisket and, in summer, watch a million and a half bats pour out from under a bridge at sunset.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Blanton Museum of Art · about 2 hOne of the country's largest university art museums, from the Renaissance to contemporary work, with Ellsworth Kelly's Austin, a white stone chapel whose coloured windows cast moving patches of light.
- Afternoon · Texas State Capitol free · about 1 h 30Completed in 1888 in red granite and a few metres taller than the Capitol in Washington, with a rotunda of Texas presidents and governors, carved legislative chambers and free guided tours.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Austin Motel ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€180 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · LBJ Presidential Library · 2 to 3 hLyndon B. Johnson's presidential library, covering Kennedy's assassination, civil rights, Vietnam and the space race, with a seven-eighths replica of his Oval Office and his presidential limousine.
- Evening · Red River Cultural District free · an eveningA few blocks of music venues behind Austin's live music reputation, from Stubb's open-air amphitheatre to the tiered terraces of the Mohawk, with local and touring bands every night.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Austin Motel ↗€180 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Congress Avenue Bridge bats free · about 1 hNorth America's largest urban bat colony, up to a million and a half Mexican free-tailed bats, streams out from under the bridge at sunset from March to October, at its most impressive in August.
- Afternoon · South Congress free · 2 to 3 hThe showcase of quirky Austin, with vintage shops, cowboy boot stores, food trucks and the neon of the 1938 Austin Motel, the Continental Club's nightly music and the best view of the Capitol.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Austin Motel ↗€180 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Barton Springs Pool · 2 to 3 hA natural pool cut into a creek bed in Zilker Park, fed by springs that keep it at 20 to 21°C all year, where locals swim before work, at lunchtime or in the evening.
- Afternoon · Mount Bonnell free · about 1 hA limestone hill above Lake Austin, climbed by around a hundred stone steps, with a lookout over the Colorado River winding between wooded hills, a sunset tradition since the 19th century.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €175 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMarch to May and October to November
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/austin
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.