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If you haven't heard a
thing or two about Austin
in recent years, crawl
out from under your rock.
In the early 1990s, Austin
usurped Seattle's reign
as Hip Town, USA. It has
fewer developed tourist
attractions than you'd
expect from such a vibrant
city, and that's its real
charm.
As the 'Live Music Capital of the World,' Austin has hog-tied its competition by hosting the annual South by Southwest music industry love-in - as well as umpteen lesser known music fests - and has become the de facto cultural centre of Texas, if not of the entire Southwest.
Places to See
Austin Children's Museum
Kids will love the Austin Children's Museum, where they can make their own dinosaur movie, be TV weathercasters,......
Downtown
Austin's Bats
Up to 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats make their home upon a platform beneath the Congress Ave......
Downtown
Capitol Complex
goverment ; architectural highlight
On a tour of this area you can check out the the 1888 Renaissance Revival Texas State Capitol, which......
Downtown
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
This is the resting place for some of the world's most important manuscripts, memorabilia and art, including......
The Drag
Zilker Park
The enormous Zilker Park has a nature centre, botanical gardens and a sculpture garden. The park is......
East Side Cafe
For moderately priced fine dining in a bright and cheery old house, the East Side Cafe is your best......
East Side
Fonda San Miguel
There are lots of Mexican restaurants in Austin - but Fonda San Miguel is special. Come for appetisers......
Downtown
Jeffrey's
South-Western ; French
Top end
A George W favourite, Jeffrey's is small (perhaps a little too small, the tables are packed together)......
Downtown
Transport
Austin's sparkly new airport, Austin-Bergstrom international (AUS) hosts some international carriers, but you're more likely be flying into this convenient terminal on a domestic flight. Houston and Dallas are Texas' major international hubs.
Austin's tiny Robert Mueller Municipal Airport is only 5km (3 mi) north of the city centre, and there are a selection of buses, taxis, shuttles and car rentals to get you into town and back.
The main Greyhound depot and the Kerrville Bus Company station are on E Koenig Lane at the northern end of the city - convenient to nothing but themselves, a few hotels and the Highland Mall. From the Greyhound station, take bus No 7/Duval to downtown. Travel to Dallas takes from 3.5 to 5 hours by bus, to Houston around 3 hours, to San Antonio about 90 minutes. Note that service to most Hill Country destinations is limited to one bus a day.
The Amtrak station is on N Lamar Blvd, less than a mile west of downtown. Austin is served by both the Texas Eagle, between San Antonio and Chicago, and the Sunset Limited, between Miami and Los Angeles.
Austin is at the crossroads of several interstate highways, so finding your way there shouldn't prove difficult. To get to Dallas/Fort Worth and Waco, take I-35 N; to San Antonio, take I-35 S. I-10 heads east to Houston and west to El Paso. Driving is on the right-hand side. |
