Austin Texas Travel Tips. An article sharing travel tips about visiting Austin. How to get there and more…

Mark Ford, Founder of Plus1 Travel

Hi there, I’m Mark Ford and I’m grateful that you are here looking for Austin travel tips. When most people hear Texas they probably think about bigger and more well known cities like Dallas and Houston, that have been put on the map by TV-shows and famous quotes about having problems in space. But it’s actually the little brother Austin that is the capital of Texas.

Downtown Austin

In the south of the state about a two hour flight from its bigger brother Houston you’ll find Austin, the black sheep of the family. A blue spot in the red state.

Where musicians, entrepreneurs, startups, weirdos and hipsters gather together to create a cool melting pot unlike any. Perhaps it’s the fact that Austin is located in a state such as Texas, mostly known for guns, meat, big cars and voting republican that Austin stands out as the odd one out. Austin has even got the nickname of being the Weird city. Are you ready for this?   

Austin Travel Tips – Best way to get from the airport to Austin

When searching for Austin travel tips getting from the airport is one of the simplest things to do. There are two simple ways to get to Austin from the Airport and the cheapest way is by bus ($1.25) and the most convenient is to grab an Uber ($14). A ride that takes around 20 minutes to get downtown. You don’t have to worry about it, just grab your bags and get going!

Park in Austin

Austin Travel Tips – How to get around Austin, Texas

Austin is very walkable, the city centre is not gigantic and you can easily walk around town. Your best bet if you don’t want to walk is to rent a bike or a scooter. There’s plenty of bike rental places and the scooters are all around town. They’re $1 to unlock and then $0.25 per minute.

Uber/Lyft is your best bet if you don’t feel like walking or riding a bike to get to the other side of town. The buses are a bit slow and the public transport is to be avoided if you’re only in for a weekend and don’t have much time.

Where to stay in Austin, Texas

Austin the Capital of Texas

Looking for Austin travel tips and where to stay in Austin? It’s easy to find great hotels and AirBnb is thriving in the city and if you want to experience it like a local there’s plenty of choices for you to rent apartments from on the site. Prices range from $25-$70 per night.

There are plenty of reasonably priced hotels all around town spanning from $50 and upwards.

And if you want to live like a king you’ve also got the big hotel chains like Westin, Hilton and Marriott for $150-250 per night.  

Get your taste buds satisfied with Austin’s incredible food

Steak in Austin

What food do you think about when I say Texas? If you thought about meat you’re spot on and if you thought about mexican food you’ve got it. Austin has got the traditional Texas beef BBQ for sure. Visit La Barbeque and Franklins for your typical Texas BBQ!

But the fun doesn’t stop here. There’s so much beyond that in Austin. There’s brilliant Sushi restaurants, Thai, Fried Chicken and also a wide variety of great vegan and vegetarian restaurants.

Visit a Whole Foods in Austin where they’ve got a smoothie bar, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, all things healthy and even a wine bar. 

Drinks and nightlife in Austin

Want a big night out? Then Sixth Street is where you need to be. This is the main street in Austin for nightlife and music. The bars are lined up and filled with all kinds for live music and fun. 

Street art in Austin

Another great place to be for nightlife is Rainey street. 

Bars that you don’t want to miss!

Firehouse lounge, Floppy Disk Repair Shop, Midnight Cowboy, Garage or Whistler’s

Experience the vibrant music scene in Austin

Austin is the self-procrlaimed music capital of the world and while that might sound a bit cocky, they can actually back it up. With more and better places for live gigs than most and talented musicians locally and from all over the world, if you’re a music fan – Austin is your Mecca. 

SXSW in Austin

Austin is the home of Willie Nelson, and even though Nashville is arguably the home of country music, then Austin is its runner up. 

Once a year there’s the South By South West (SXSW) festival where musicians and artists from all over the world gather for a 10 day festival of live music. Austin gets packed with music lovers from all around the world and make sure to book your hotel really early if you’re going at this time of year, it will sell out. And if you don’t like music but want to visit Austin, don’t come when SXSW is.

Zilker park

360 Bridge in Austin

On a hot summer day you might want to cool yourself down by taking a dip in the Barton Springs Pool, located in Zilker Park to have a swim surrounded by the idyllic park. 

If you want more peace and quiet after all the fun, my suggestion is to rent a scooter and drive off to the suburbs where you can visit cool little local cafes and ride around among the hilly streets and cool houses. 

5 Weird and Cool Things To Experience in Austin

Like mentioned earlier, Austin is a self-proclaimed weird city. And here are 5 tips to get really weird that you might want to check out while being here.

Culture in Austin

1. Museum of the weird – Austin even has a museum filled with weird stuff, this is a must if you want something completely different than you’ve ever seen before.
2. Bats – Austin has over 1 million bats in the city, and if you go near the water you can see them fly when it starts to get dark. Really cool, right?
3. Coyote Ugly – Do you like to dance? Have you ever danced on the bar? At Coyote Ugly they’ll beg you to dance at the bar. Famous for its movie in the 90’s, you have to check this place out!
4. Step dancing – country dancing can be found all over the city, the White Horse is the most famous place. On wednesday they actually give out free two step dancing classes!
5. Cathedral of junk – Don’t think it can get any weirder than this? At the Cathedral of Junk you will experience a bunch of old TV’s, refrigerators, bikes and many more stuff stacked on top of each other. Perfect for the family and a lazy afternoon.  

Texas Capitol

Top 3 Great Experiences in Austin

1. State History Museum – This museum focuses on telling the story of Texas, it’s a great place to get to know more about the state and how it came about. They hold regular exhibitions and the entrance is $12.
2. LBJ Presidential Library – In this museum there’s over 45 millions of documents from the 36th president Lyndon Bains Johnson’s time back in 1963-1969. A must if you’re into history and politics. 
3. Circuit of Americas – If fast cars and action is more your style, then visiting Austin’s own racing track is a must. Every year they host the F1 World Championship for a very popular race and also Indy Car has a date on the calendar. Speed and action at its best!

Enjoy Austin! 

Austin Travel Tips Video

Accreditation: Wolters World

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I hope you enjoy searching through the Plus 1 Travel website for all you need for your travels. Whether that is a flight only, flight and hotel or anything else have a fantastic trip.

Mark Ford – Founder of Plus1Travel.com