My daughter and I are planning a trip to Austin Tx the first week in February and I was wondering if you could weigh in on the itinerary and tell me where the best location to stay in would be? thanks

Itinerary:
Fly in Wednesday night

Thursday:

Walking tour in the morning

Spa for the afternoon

See the bats at night


Friday:

Day trip to San Antonio


Saturday:

Yoga hike

Eat and relax


Sunday:
any recommendations from the walking tour.

Eat and relax

Lunch, fly out

The bats don't show up till March.

Austin isn't a good "walking tour town." For sights the LBJ Library and the capitol tour are interesting enough. There are a lot more sights in San Antonio.

We spent a month in Austin a few years back and it seems like many folks like the South Congress area which runs kind of between I-35 and 1st as east west boundaries (with S. Congress as the main shopping eating walking street) and from about Oltdorf to the river (called Ladybird Lake).

But the area just north of the river which is downtown and a popular bar area is also popular. We also like East Austin which is east of I-35 and more of an up and coming artsy area.

If you like BBQ-it is fun to do some of the BBQ trail cities between Austin and San Antonio.

Here are some recommendations for while you're here.

Places to Stay

• Hotel San Jose - nice hotel patio bar
• Austin Motel
• South Congress Hotel - great hotel bar
• Carpenter Hotel
• Heywood Hotel

Some AirBNBs in great areas. If these aren't available, you could look around these areas!

• https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/21...Ne0H%2Bf6ku8G5
• https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/50...8denSUJ4U3x1Tw
• https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/14...Of37pjALQxUUfA
• https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/70...VBRtfuSvms4YaR
• https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/23...v430OBlCTQLN7I
• https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/23...thrULHGS09oHrP
• https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/66...jDyeZFbSnoGxY0
• https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/23...2bZEghR7SPgr3S

Spas

• Milk & Honey
• Viva Day Spa

Dining
For Tex-Mex

• Matt's El Rancho
• Curra's - yummy Avocado margaritas

For fancy Mexican

• Suerte
• Comedor
• Fonda San Miguel

Locally Focused

• Odd Duck -
• Sour Duck - above's casual counterpart & bakery
• Emmer & Rye
• Olamaie
• Dai Due
• Pitchfork Pretty

Yummy Spots

• Launderette - don't miss dessert
• Bufalina
• Uchi or Uchiko
• Radio Coffee - below food trucks are there
  • Dee Dee
  • Veracruz Tacos
• Swedish Hill
• Better Half
• Sway
• Vixen's Wedding
• Kemuri Tatsu-ya
• Ramen Tatsu-ya
• Justine's - open late & uber ambiance

BBQ

• La Barbecue
• Micklethwait
• Salt Lick - about 20 minutes outside of town, but a nice drive!

Seafood

• Clark's
• Mongers

*Believe it or not there are many more amazing restaurants! Tried to keep it short & failed!

Fun Bars

• Continental Club - great music
  • The Gallery - their smaller side bar
• C-Boys - great music
• The White Horse - modern Honky Tonk
• The Broken Spoke - old school Honky Tonk
• Domo Alley-Gato
• Garage

Things to See & Do

• Barton Springs - heart & soul of Austin
• Lady Bird Lake Hike & Bike Trail - check out Stevie Ray Vaughan statue
• Alamo Drafthouse - if weather is bad
• Blanton - on UT
  • this too - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/t...last-work.html

Shop

• Take Heart
• Uncommon Objects
• EA / ST co. & Fail
• Aro
• Feathers - lots more on South Congress

We saw more of San Antonio than we did Austin. I would recommend you add Hopdoddy's to your Austin list--they grind their own meat for their burgers. Great vibe as well.

omg. that must be amazing. I've had fresh meat in Ireland. Best burger I've ever had from a street cart stand. Where I live we have fresh fish!