Texas Hill Country suggestions
 

Born and raised in Dallas and have been to Austin and San Antonio many, many times. My husband and I are looking for 2-3 small towns to visit over a long weekend. Any suggestions that might meet some of the criteria below would be appreciated.

What we're looking for:
Art galleries
Good restaurants/cafes/diners
Independent shops/bookstores
walkable town w/ nice surroundings
hotel with some character (new or old) - no chain hotels
Bike rental perhaps
Wine bar/ wineries

Not interested in:
Frilly B&Bs
general stores selling jelly & "texas" stuff

Head to the coast-Rockport.walkable little town, sometimes has weekend activites, ie. wine festivals, art galleries, shops: some are good, some are junky, stay at Lighthouse Inn, restaraunts: Hemingways is expensive, good, eat one evening at the marina in Key Allegro, Maribelles, Boiling Pot
Fulton mansion, birds, fishing, Big Tree over at Goose Island

Fredericksburg

I wanna go to the Hank Hill Country part of Texas!

We like Gruene - pretty walkable town, with a great B&B called the Gruene Apple. We enjoy eating at the Grist Mill near the river - good casual food and homemade wine coolers. Gruene Hall offers live music. There's also a shop that offers wine tastings there. If you're near New Braunfels, we like the Huisache Grill.


You might also check out Salado or Fredericksburg. I haven't been to Salado yet, but I hear good things about it.

We like Salado, but for your criteria, I'd echo suggestions of Gruene or Fredericksburg.

Not in the Hill Country, but we recently spent a weekend in Galveston and were surprised at all it had to offer once you get away from the Sea Wall area. They have an art walk where several galleries serve appetizers, the Strand is beautiful with wonderful architecture and completely walkable, we attended a theater performance, and there were several clubs open - 21 is one that looked intriguing as a combination wine and martini bar, they have bike rental along the sea wall, and for historic charm they offer the Tremont and the Galvez. Saltwater Grill and Mosquito Cafe are both great spots to eat. Maybe not this trip, but you might consider it in the future. Moody Gardens is fun too.

Thanks everyone!

How about Boerne? I've heard good things but never been.

Wimberley is nice and sounds like what you want. There is even a winery or two in the area. If you pick the first weekend of the month, you can go to the Wimberley arts fair on that Saturday. Boerne is nearby and so is Gruene.

ttt for OO, she lives there.

Maybe we can find a nice place in one of these towns and just do a bunch of day tripping. It will be in October, by the way.

We spent a weekend last October in Hill Country, after much angst/research stayed at a Hampton Inn in Kerrville, it was Columbus Day Weekend and the Octoberfest was happening in Fredricksburg (where I originally wanted to stay). Kerrville was fine, easy to do a day trip to Fredricksburg (where I'm glad we did not stay, too many texas jelly like places), plus it was really crowded.

Gruene was cute too, we tried to have lunch at the Grist Mill on the way back to SA, but there was an hour wait, so we went to bar-b-que in New Braunfels.

We love country music and had a lot of fun in the big hotel in Kerrville (can't remember the name), that had a live band w/country music, it was a real hootin' holler. Also ate in a very good restaurant on the river (right down the street from the hotel), whose name also escapes me, it had a big nightclub attached to it.

I second the suggestion for Fredericksburg. You will be very close to Luckenbach (visit on a weekend) and Johnson City (Lyndon Johnson's ranch) and I suggest a visit to them also.