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Dfw - 3 nights
Bandera - weekend 1 of ACL
Austin/SA - 3-4 nights during week between the madness of wknd 1-2 of ACL
Houston - however many nights you must (have fun driving there, hoo boy!).

From Houston it's a short trip to the Louisianan swamps, so you go there last of your Texas stops.

Try to stay close to downtown, near the Capitol. For example, there is a LaQuinta there. Also, others nearby. Use GoogleMaps to search. If those rooms are too expensive, head south of downtown, not north (which is where the Arboretum area is located).

You will have a blast, even if only for two days.

Bigruss - Heard horror stories of Houston traffic however we are opting for Nassau bay area to enjoy NASA and the local boardwalk.

Is it worth considering just moving our holiday to the next week, just avoid this whole Austin event altogether? Maybe from the 10th Oct...not sure what the weather starts getting like though?

The weather is awesome in October...probably the best month in Texas. Avoiding ACL (unless you plan on attending) is always a good idea.

If it's not too costly to change to the next week, I recommend it. It looks like there is a home game at UT on the 15th, but in my opinion, visiting then will be much less stressful than during ACL. You could stay closer to downtown that way.

The weather is perfect in October. It's typically the first month it's not unbearably hot around here.

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Tell that to the drenched and washed out crowds at ACL 2009 and 2013.

BeerMatt: You could. ACL is earlier this year than the past two years - it runs Sept. 30-Oct. 2 and Oct. 7-9. And you can still hit the State Fair in Dallas (25 Sept to 18 Oct). Ultimately, ACL isn't THAT much of a hassle, and if you're into music festivals the bands regard it highly (Pearl Jam in '14 said it's run like the best European festivals).

I was at that one in 2009...mud everywhere. But, I stand by my comment because usually October is a great month temperature-wise.

We were at ACL last year and temps hit at least 95 each day. It was brutal. I loved that they had free water and we were able to throw back coconut water like it was going out of style so that helped but 8 hours in the heat was rough. I noticed that most restaurants/bars and even stores had free ice water and it was fantastic! ACL was a great concert and I loved the vibe. If the line up has any acts you like, consider going.

Ironically, the one day out of our trip was in the high 70's and was really lovely...and that was the day we spent at Barton Springs and could've jumped in the water if we got hot. Still, Barton Springs is one of my favorite places in Austin.

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That's a rarity. In '09 it was rainy on Saturday and muddy but warm on Sunday (not rainy but the park was a bit of a pit). In '13, ACL canceled the final Sunday because of flooding rain from the previous day. In '14, the final Sunday was pleasant (60s-70s) and overcast to slight drizzle to some sun. Basically, it's Texas outside of high summer - that means crapshoot. And yeah, ACL is VERY good about the water situation - quick refills at water stations throughout the park.

Yeah, we had bought tickets months ahead of time and had no expectations about weather so the heat wasn't a ton of fun but didn't ruin any plans. I can't imagine how many heat related emergencies they avoided with free water. Such a smart move!