One day in Austin, TX
 

We have one day to spend in Austin and wondering what we should do. This is our first time to Texas, we are from California. We will be driving from Dallas and just spending the day in Austin.

We want to check out the food truck scene and drive around to see other sites. Not interested in museums this time. Will enjoy strolling through cute shopping areas. .

This is a last minute trip and we wanted to make the most out of it. We are not familiar with the area at all so any help would be appreciated

Thanks in advance!

Strolling along South Congress is a lot of fun with cute and funky shops and lots of restaurants. Check out the State Capitol building on North Congress. You will hear/read about Sixth Street and it is fun to walk around during the day, but at night it tends to be a bunch of drunk college students. This part of Sixth Street is "East" Sixth. Walking around the flagship Whole Foods store at the corner of Lamar and W. Sixth is always fun for first-timers. It is the Whole Foods headquarters and the store is massive with restaurants, etc. There is a parking garage underground.

Walking around the Town Lake (nka LadyBird Lake) is also fun. For awesome views of Lake Austin and the surrounding hills, take a short drive to Mt. Bonnell. A longer drive will take you to Lake Travis, which is now actually full for the first time since 2010. Have a drink at the Oasis and take in the beautiful views.

Food trucks can be found in many places but for a first-time visitor I would direct you to the Food Truck Trailer Park located on South First Street. Torchy's Tacos are really good.

Thank you AustinTraveler for your ideas. We almost did everything you suggested. We got to Austin around lunchtime and went straight to Torchy's Tacos. What a cute little area with the food truck set-up. We ordered what one of the guys recommended, the fried chicken and Jamaican chicken tacos. The fried chicken taco was a bit too salty but overall it was a fun experience.

We walked around South Congress and checked out the funky shops. We noticed a Wahoo's Fish Taco there too. That's one of our favorite places to go in California. We did a tour of the state capital. Beautiful inside. We went to Whole Foods to get some refreshments and relaxed. Then checked out a few of the little shops around the four corners near Whole Foods...Anthro, Lulu, FP. Seem so inconvenient that those three stores are spaced apart like that on a busy intersection.

We had a delicious dinner at Second Bar + Kitchen. We started with the baked brie appetizer. I ordered the beet and arugula salad...felt like I needed to eat healthy because I've been having all this rich food in Texas. Hubby got the salmon, which was delicious. It was a fun day checking out Austin.

So glad it all worked out for you!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that we also checked out East Sixth Street like you recommended. It was interesting to see all the older buildings. We went to Voodoo Doughnuts and shared a fritter. i've always wanted to check out the one in Portland, OR but never got the chance. I can see how that area can get a little crazy at night.

BUMP..Also looking for some cool ideas for fill a day and a half. Cool shopping areas, maybe a cool museum or old house tours and capital tour? I won't have a car while I'm there.

I'll arrive on a Friday midday, see a play at the Zach Theater on Friday night, and head home on Sunday. It will be quite hot, but the pool looks nice at my hotel (The Line Hotel). How would you fill the time with cool shopping, museums, and coffee shoppes for a day and a half?

Itinerary:
Friday: Arrive Midday.
Tried to get a 5:00 reservation for Odd Duck as it seemed close to the Zach Theater but they seemed full. Trying Lenoir as it had an opening. Another similar type hip places near the Zach? Which areas would be good to explore Friday afternoon?

Saturday: Have a full day. Booked a dinner at Barely Swine in the evening. Which neighborhoods could I visit during the day? Maybe a shopping area, State Capitol, or museum/house tour? Cool coffee shop? Lunch?

I won't have a car, since I'll just be there for a day and a half.

All of these are great ideas-we just spent a month in Austin and aside from all the things mentioned we really loved the BBQ scene. The most famous in town is Franklin-always a line! Since we were staying a month, we pre-ordered some of the meats by the lb. so that we didn't have to wait in that line and that was a great way to go as long as you either have a bunch of people or can eat it up over a couple of days.

https://franklinbbq.com/

Even more fun was to take a short drive out to one of the BBQ routes near Lockhart-no lines there and I think it was equal of better to Franklin (although I wouldn't say that too loudly in front of anyone from Austin). That was a great day-we had to pace ourselves and order tiny amount of bbq and we skipped most of the sides-we were focused on the bbq. But it was great because at all the places you can order just 1 slice of brisket for instance. Here is a great link for other bbq lovers:

https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/cen...bq-road-trips/

I totally get the spice thing with bbq-and aside from that it isn't everyone's cup of tea. But just so you know, unlike what many of think about when we think of BBQ, in Texas they don't traditionally serve it with the sauce. It is generally on the table versus served on the meat. And really much of the BBQ in Texas is focused on beef brisket versus pork and pork ribs. But the BBQ is generally peppery if that is also an issue.