I went to undergrad at UT Austin and absolutely love this city. Lots of outdoorsy things to do and amazing food.
THINGS TO DO
Go to the Greenbelt/Sculpture Falls. Great for hiking/swimming! Entrance is at the end of Scottish Woods Trail. Park you car and follow the trail down to the mini waterfalls
Eat lots of breakfast tacos and BBQ. Try Veracruz tacos, Taco Deli and La Barbeque (see below for more restaurants)
Enjoy the view from 360 Bridge AKA Pennybacker Bridge. Closer to North Austin but an amazing view of the city. You park your car on the side of the road and climb up the rocks (I would recommend the right side if you are coming from North Austin)
Hike up to Mount Bonnell. A really nice view of Austin. I believe this is the address 3800 Mt. Bonnell Rd., 78731. You drive up there mostly and just climb a couple of steps to get to the terrace.
Check out the Long Center/Auditorium Shores. There’s a performance hall that’s on the edge of Lady Bird Lake. Great view of the skyline.
See the Bats on Congress Bridge. I think they’re out only in the Summer but there are over a million bats that live under this bridge and they come out when the sun goes down.
Check out the Graffiti Wall. (EDIT – this doesn’t exist anymore)This is so Austin. There’s a random wall downtown with a ton of amazing graffiti art all over it. Best part – the art always changes. I have no idea who does it and when but it’s awesome. You can climb up to the top of the wall. Another great view of the city. It’s called the Baylor Art Wall and it’s on the corner of 11th street and Baylor street.
Hang out at Barton Springs or Deep Eddy Pool. This is a part of the greenbelt that they made into a “pool.” You pay $3 I think to enter. there’s also this free area on the left of the springs where people bring their dogs
Venture out to Hamilton Pool. This is about 45 min from Austin in Dripping Springs, TX. It’s a cave that collapsed and started to collect water which turned it into a pool. Call them in the morning before you go to make sure it’s open.
See the State Capitol. You can walk around in it for free.
Kayak on Lady Bird Lake or go to Lake Travis. Nice view from the Oasis restaurant
Check out a Festivals! (ACL, SXSW) There’s always something going on so I’d search the weekend you’re going for any free live music and food
Check out South Congress. Small shops and restaurants. they used to have a bunch of trailers here but I’m not sure if they moved.
Fredricksburg. Texas wineries and cute German town – about 1.5 hours outside of Austin
Go out in West 6th or East Austin! Rainey street and 6th are where the college kids hang
AUSTIN FOOD – Austin Yelp Collection
- Franklin’s BBQ
- La Barbeque – no line around 2pm on a Friday
- Trudy’s – best texmex! Try the Stuffed avocado, spiced beef enchiladas, Pollo a la plancha and the Mexican Martini
- Veracruz Tacos. Get a migas breakfast taco, all the salsas and a side of plantains
- Taco Deli – breakfast tacos with Mexican mashed potatoes
- Launderette $$$
- Uchi $$$$ (original location)
- Blue Dahlia (edit – no longer exists)
- Magnolia’s
- Moonshine
- Gourdoughs – They have a trailer and restaurant but I’d recommend the trailer for the Austiny feel. Try the Strawberry shortcake, Granny’s Pie or Funky Monkey
- Kebabalicious – try the falafel kebab and kebabafries (trailer)
- Juan in a Million – This was on Man Vs. Food for their “Don Juan Taco.”
- HopDoddy
- Torchys – try the secret menu
- Czech Stop/Little Czech Bakery – try the kolaches on the way to or from Austin in West, TX