Austin. San Antonio & beach
 

In June we'll be doing a 9 day jaunt in TX, primarily Austin & San Antonio, but my wife would like to see the beach for a day. I see on other posts that Galveston is 4 hours +/- from Austin but I'd be interested in other suggestions as well as thoughts about which city to fly in and out of and best use of time.
As always, thanks for your help.

I don't think you need to drive four hours to see the gulf coast and would consider Corpus Christi as well as Port Aransas and Mustang Island State Park as alternatives to Galveston. Either way, you can fly into either Austin or San Antonio. It's about a two hour drive to Corpus from S.A. and a little bit further to the other locations. The beaches here are remarkably different from the east coast (taking a hint from Maryland being a part of your screen name), however, we enjoy them for what they are. I think Mustang Island is beautiful and it's well preserved.

It really depends on what you like to do. Are you more into outdoor activities or museums & historic sites? Either Austin or San Antonio would be fine. Both have pluses and minuses. Is it just you and your wife, or are the kids along? If just you two, I'd say Austin. If the kids are along, San Antonio. San Antonio has more to do for families (Six Flags/Seaworld/Riverwalk) and Austin is less geared for same. (Though the state capitol does offer a lot. Check out the nightly bat exodus from the Congress Ave Bridge. http://www.austincityguide.com/conte...ats-austin.asp)

Regarding the beach...take a day and stay the night in Galveston. On your way there or back, you can visit the NASA space center (it's right on the way!). Great place to visit! And Galveston has some beautiful historical places, as well as nice beaches and great fishing. :) Check out the Hotel Galvez, recently restored, on Galveston Island. Wonderful, beautiful historic hotel. You won't regret the time you took to make a sidetrip there. :)

ps maryland...if you stay in San Antonio, it is just an hour to Fredericksburg. A quaint little, (albeit..yes..a little "touristy" sometimes) town settled by German immigrants. Lots of great little boutiques/shopping and a dozen wineries nearby. Yes...we DO make wine here! :) Doesn't everyone? hahaha I love it. Fredericksburg has a website for tourists/visitors. I'm sure you can find it. :)

Hop on Southwest Airlines and fly to Harlingen. Rent a car, and just 30 minutes' drive away is South Padre Island. This is argueably the nicest beach in Texas! www.spionline.com

I enjoy Mustang Island near Corpus Christi and it's an easy drive form San Antonio. You could fly into either SA or Austin. Who has cheaper flights? What do you want to do and see?

As to the beach issue, no question S Padre is the nicest. Port Aransas/N Padre would be a nice alternative - and closer than Galveston from Austin/SA. I don't know what you expect, but IMO the beach in Galveston is definitely not the reason to go there - unless you just want to go to a beach. It's decidedly unspectactular. But as sarge says, Galveston itself has some very interesting things and I would also add Moody Gardens and the sailing ship Elissa.

topping for P_M,
you told me of a quaint beach town with a boardwalk that was charming and can't remember the name. Not any mentioned above, What was the name of it?? (I've slept since then and I'm obviously getting old!)
Sheila

I would not recommend Galveston beach. While South Padre is nice, it's a much longer drive and more commercialized. Here is a link to a wonderful condo that's right on Padre Island Beach (near Corpus Christi). (Best units: #311, 313, 217 nicely appointed & they have glass walls & balconies facing the beach):

http://www.ccislandhouse.com/index.htm

Another nice place on the beach is:
http://www.gulfshorescondo.com/


Are you planning a trip to Schlitterbahn? It's a wonderful water park in New Braunfels (between Austin and San Antonio). It's fun for all ages. You can spend the whole day there. If you want, you can bring your own food & drinks (just no glass), and enjoy cooling off in the water & then relaxing on the lounge chairs by the picnic tables under the shade trees. This place is extremely popular, so go midweek to avoid the crowds & arrive early to stake out your table and chairs. Gates usually open before stated times.
http://www.schlitterbahn.com/

BeachGirl - I am not P_M but I have sat next to her at a GTG.
Perhaps the town with the boardwalk was Kemah, south of Houston?

I'm not P_M or Seamus but I sat next to them at GTG too. LOL I was going to suggest Rockport. :)

OK, I'm finding this a year late but it is Kemah. Sorry, I'm a little behind the times. :-(