r/travel • u/AutoModerator • Nov 09 '17
Advice r/travel City Destination of the Week: Austin, TX
Weekly topic thread, this week featuring the city of Austin, TX. Please contribute all and any questions / thoughts / suggestions / ideas / stories about this travel destination.
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Unhelpful: Read my blog here!!!
Helpful: My favourite part of driving down the PCH was the wayside parks. I wrote a blog post about some of the best places to stop, including Battle Rock, Newport and the Tillamook Valley Cheese Factory (try the fudge and ice cream!).
Unhelpful: Eat all the curry! [picture of a curry].
Helpful: The best food we tried in Myanmar was at the Karawek Cafe in Mandalay, a street-side restaurant outside the City Hotel. The surprisingly young kids that run the place stew the pork curry[curry pic] for 8 hours before serving [menu pic]. They'll also do your laundry in 3 hours, and much cheaper than the hotel.
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u/Mowglio United States Nov 09 '17
I live in Austin TX and would be more than happy to answer any questions!
Some quick highlights:
The UT campus is very pretty and if you're looking for a nice place to take a walk in the evening I would highly suggest wandering around the grounds. If you're used to college campuses then it might be nothing special, but it's something I enjoy doing.
6th street is, in my opinion, the worst part of Austin. It's dirty and just kind of gross with bad vibes. East 6th is the nicer part if you're looking for nightlife, but the city is full of a ton of nice bars to explore so going near 6th isn't even necessarily imo. Disclaimer, I'm not big on night life so I won't be able to answer many questions there.
The Capital also makes for a pleasant walk. It's a pretty building and is basically the gateway to downtown.
Zilker park is always worth a visit. Barton Springs is also worth it in the summer.
Food trucks, food trucks, food trucks. There are so many and they're are some really great ones, but they can get kind of expensive.
Austin is a fun city with a lot to do and plenty to eat. My favorite part about living here is the wide variety of good food we have.
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Nov 09 '17 edited Sep 22 '19
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Nov 09 '17 edited Sep 22 '19
[deleted]
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u/TrappedOregonian Nov 11 '17
Agreed. Though I think it would make a nice trip for a long weekend if you're traveling domestically.
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u/TrappedOregonian Nov 11 '17
I was going to write my own post, but you beat me to it and yours is better.
To add, Ramen Tatsu-Ya is probably the best meal I've ever had in Austin. Titaya's Thai Kitchen is also quite good.
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u/KeanuFeeds Nov 10 '17
If you like hiking and own/rent a car, there are a plethora of sweet parks and hiking spots outside of town. My favorite was Goreman Falls, it's about a 1-1.5hr drive away from Austin. It has a unique waterfall that drips down a cliff that's covered in foliage.
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u/bartexas Nov 15 '17
Some of the people who posted here live in Austin, but left out a lot of authentic flavor. Lots of the things people mentioned haven't been here 5 years. I'd definitely recommend mixing in some of the old school places before they get torn down.
Matt's is an institution, and the story of how it came to be is great. There's better Tex-Mex, though.
Downtown is more than Dirty 6th. But, if you're there, check out the Driskill - historic. Grab a drink at the bar for some great people watching.
The homeless are most concentrated and aggressive near the ARCH, so if you hit Red River for a concentration of original live music, you'll have the most encounters.
Check out the Broken Spoke, even if you aren't into country music. It's the most authentic honky tonk within the city limits, and browsing the memorabilia with a long neck is cool, even if you don't stay for the band.
Late night, hit up Magnolia or Kerbey Lane.
Both Fado and Cedar Street will be gone in the next few months. On Saturday mornings, hit Fado to watch soccer with all the European expats. Have fun with a cover band at Cedar Street.
If you like history, download the guide and check out the Texas State Cemetery. People look at me like I'm crazy, and then they go, and tell me how cool it is.
Wander South Congress. There's still some cool shops holding out against the corporate interests. Grab a margarita at Guero's (careful they're strong). Ignore the trendy new stuff, and hit up Vespaio - amazing Italian for 20 years. Browse at Allen's boots, even if you aren't into Lucchese. If you want to buy some boots at a good value check out the Tecovas showroom on the Eastside (only open for a few hours on Saturday).
If you have a political leaning, check out The Cloak room - the bar is practically underground and spitting distance from the Capital. When the lege is in session, it's a great place to overhear gossip from all the staffers. The bartenders can tell some good stories - but good luck getting any names.
Check out the Little Longhorn Saloon for Chicken Shit bingo - you better be quick when they tell you to line up, or you won't actually get a square.
If you're a music fan, the tour at ACL Live (this is not old Austin - it's at the W) is worth it just for the photo gallery.
Depending on how long you're here, drive to Fredericksburg for a night or two and check out as many wineries as your liver will allow.
Sure other people will disagree with some of this, but that's my two cents.
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u/renatapereira Nov 12 '17
I moved to Austin 3 years ago and love it because it's a city where you find everything and yet have a small town feeling (compared to the major metropolis where I lived before). Fully agree with everything people said about the food and attractions. Although Oasis is overrated and the food is not the best, I still bring out of town friends & family for the sunsets. The view is pretty amazing.
Also, Austin is well known for the street art and you can find some cool murals. My friends always ask me to take them to the most famous, as you can get some pretty colorful and fun pictures for social media. For those interested, there's a detailed video with addresses and a map here.
Georgetown (40-50 min north depending on the traffic) is a fun place to hang out on the first Friday of each month, as stores and galleries in the main square stay open until later. There's live music and great atmosphere. The square is historical and the buildings around it are very well preserved.
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u/birthdaybutt Nov 13 '17
I have some time off (7-10 days) over Christmas/New Years and was hoping to travel somewhere domestic. Would 7-10 days be too long to spend in Austin? I don't plan to rent a car while I'm in town -- would I be able to get around using public transportation/lyft/uber?
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u/Bizzzzarro Nov 14 '17
7-10 days is kind of long for just Austin imo. There's a lot to do in Austin, but I wouldn't compare it to NYC, Chicago or LA in that regard.
As for public transit, it's not the greatest. Traffic on I35 is horrible, making the situation worse. Definitely stay somewhere between 183 and Ben white if you want to try to use the buses. Getting anywhere between south Congress and UT is the best situation to ride the bus. I would get the capmetro app to buy bus tickets on your phone; it makes it way easier. If you're the active type, the downtown/lake austin area can be fun to navigate by bike. Uber and lyft also get really expensive if you're on 6th or Rainey. I would take a bus to get a few stops away from those areas and then call an uber to save some money.
If you do find yourself in Austin with a car, you can check out the hill country around Austin. The lake travis area is pretty nice.
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u/generallyok Airplane! Nov 16 '17
If you like karaoke, or even if you don't, check out Emo's. It's great.
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u/MSCrocks Nov 16 '17
Barhopping: 6th St Shopping/ food trucks/hippie area: SoCo area (South Congress)
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u/Joeyjojojunior1794 Dec 27 '17
I went to Austin and few years ago and I ate at a restaurant called The Salty sow. It's highly irregular but I loved it so much I ate there a second time. Wonderful food!
I just spent 15 minutes on Google trying to refund the name of the restaurant so I could pass on the good word a how I love Austin for that place.
I was also really impressed with the development of the south side of the river. There's some really nice condos going up, of vibrant active community that walks the dogs runs and bikes and also some hipster like shops South of downtown South of the river. I'm a fan of Austin even though I live in California
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u/Laysenne Mar 03 '25
Austin is great! If you like small towns and western or cowboy culture, consider a day trip outside of Austin. Look up local rodeo schedules for a unique local experience. Near me (Talula Mesa Glamping Resort outside of Austin), the Marble Falls Rodeo happens every summer. The Llano rodeo is another great one. If you come out this way, you can see the wildflowers (March-May or June, depending on the weather), and gorgeous views of the Texas Hill Country. A day trip to this area (north side of Lake Travis, to Marble Falls and Llano), you could see live music at Luckenbach, TX, which is so fun and very "Texas", come glamping at Talula Mesa if you'd like, or just head to a rodeo or small town for shopping, go hiking in the hill country. Johnson City has fun things for kids, like a drive-through safari and fun science museum. Marble Falls has really cool candy shop that has more types of candy than I've ever seen, and an ice-cream soda-shop parlor. Depending on the time of year, you can also visit the tulip fields for flower picking, or strawberry picking, sunflower picking, zinnia picking, or ranunculus. All of those things rotate depending on the time of year (look up Sweet Berry Farm). There's also pumpkin patches and corn maze in the shape of Texas there.
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Feb 01 '23
How has no one mentioned the Congress ave bat bridge? That's by far the coolest part of Austin
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u/[deleted] Nov 09 '17 edited Nov 09 '17
Hey I just spent all last week working in Austin. First time there.
Because everything in my life revolves around food, I want to say that my favorite places I ate in Austin were Matt's El Rancho and Micklethwaite Craft Meats.
Matt's El Rancho is a Tex-Mex place. Now before I went to Austin, I had never been to Texas (besides driving through the panhandle on a road trip), and whenever I thought of Tex-Mex cuisine I always thought it was trash food. Ortega taco kits in the "ethnic" aisle at the grocery store. Tacos with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. AKA garbage. BUT! I could not have been more wrong, and Matt's has shown me the light. I tried the Bob's dip (nacho cheese with ground beef and guacamole), the asadero tacos, and a margarita, and they were all fantastic.
I asked some acquaintances who are from Austin their thoughts on where to go for BBQ. They had a couple things to say about the super famous places you always see on the Food Network (basically "they're good and worth going to, but there are better places that don't get as much exposure") and Micklethwaite was at the top of the list. It's more of a food truck (Austin has a big thing with food trucks) than a restaurant. You stand in line, outdoors, order your food at the window, and then get your spot one of several picnic tables. I got the three meat plate with brisket, pork ribs, and sausage, with beans and cheesy jalapeno grits as my sides. It was all incredible. By far the best brisket I've ever had. My first real deal Texas BBQ experience really impressed.
All up Austin was an okay place. A ridiculous amount of aggressive homeless people and cheesy nightlife, but it seems like a good place to actually live, and the food is great.
Edit: A couple grammar things were bothering me.