What to do in or around Austin, TX?
 

My husband & I (both in our mid-20s) are planning to travel to Austin, Texas towards the end of October. We will be there for a week and will have a car to get around. We are staying with family and plan to drive into San Antonio for one day to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk. Are there any must sees in Austin or in the nearby areas? My husband & I really like hiking and doing more outdoor activities. Any good places to hike around Austin or within a couple hours driving distance? We are also planning on spending some time in downtown Austin too. Any suggestions on restaurants or bars? I really enjoy live music and I hear Austin is a good place for that!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

A definite not-to-be-missed hiking spot is Enchanted Rock. Avoid weekends if possible. It's about 2 hours west of Austin. Other nice places to hike in Austin are McKinney Falls State Park and Barton Springs Greenbelt. Don't miss the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail downtown. It has officially been renamed Ladybird Lake but everybody still calls it Town Lake.

A good view spot is Mount Bonnell. It's a nice place for a picnic too. Another favorite picnic spot is Emma Long Park, which is right on Lake Austin. And, don't forget to go to the Oasis for a great view of Lake Travis.

As far as music venues, there are thousands. You really just have to check to see who is playing and whether you want to see them. A list of a few popular venues includes:

ACL (Moody Theater)
Continental Club
Saxon Pub (if Bob Schneider is playing...GO!)
Emo's
Stubb's
Antone's
Parish Room

You can also just walk down Sixth Street and hear the music and go into whichever club sounds the best to you. You're in your 20's so you'll probably be fine with Sixth Street, but there are other parts of downtown besides that area that are a lot nicer. Don't miss the Warehouse District (around West Fourth) and definitely don't miss the South Congress area on the other side of the Lake.

Have fun! It's not difficult to do in Austin!

If you're into seeing movies, check out the Alamo theaters.

Also, don't miss eating at the food trailers. There are trailer parks on South First and South Congress and various trailers all over town. Just do a Google search and you'll find them. Torchy's Tacos is pretty darn awesome.

Go down to the Drag (the area on Guadalupe by the University). Check out the stores and the University. If you have any questions about where to eat and what to do, just ask one of the students.

If you are in Austin on a UT football weekend, then the campus is either a 'must see' or to be completely avoided depending on your tolerance for crowds, beer and UT college students. (They play Baylor in Austin on October 20th but are away for the game against Kansas on October 27th.)

A really fun thing to do in Austin is take a Segway tour. Even though I lived in Austin for many years and go back 1 - 2 times a year to visit the relatives, I learned a lot about the city and saw some new places on the Segway tour we did. A good time to do this tour is on a Sunday morning as the streets are quiet and it's easier (and more fun) to ride the Segways. Also, we got to ride around the Capitol on our own and since hardly anyone was there on Sunday morning, we were going full blast! We went out with Segway Nation and had a great time!

You'll miss Austin City Limits by at least a week. Too bad.

This is true: <i>You can also just walk down Sixth Street and hear the music and go into whichever club sounds the best to you.</i> Pure fish plus shotgun plus barrel stuff.

Consider visiting some of the missions in and around San Antonio (not just the Alamo) - they're interesting.

Thanks everyone! We really appreciate you all taking the time to offer your suggestions!

And if you're downtown near sunset, walk over to Congress St Bridge and watch the bats come out for the night.

Great suggestions so far. Definately plan on watching the bats at Congress bridge one night. And Zilker Park is great. You can easlily take a canoe out on the lake. No reservations, available everyday. Right next to Barton Springs.