Fodor's Expert Review Auditorium Shores at Town Lake Metropolitan Park

Depending on when you visit this lush green park, you’ll have a totally different experience. If you manage to make it here for a concert, the venue has one of the finest views of the city skyline as a stage backdrop—during a festival like SXSW, it's easy to see why Austin’s the Live Music Capital of the World. Free concerts can get packed, so if you’re there for the music, make sure to arrive early. On any random day of the week, however, you’ll find that the open green space is the perfect place to stretch out and read a book, catch a pick-up game of frisbee, or snap a photo of the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial statue along the hike-and-bike trail.