4 Best Sights in South Austin and South Congress District, Austin

Austin is home to the largest urban bat population in the world, with as many as 1.5 million of them taking up residence in the capital city every year. Every night starting in late March and continuing through fall, locals and visitors congregate all along (and underneath) Congress Avenue to watch the Mexican free-tailed bats take flight from under the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge into the air for their nightly feeding ritual. While you’re waiting for the bats, make sure not to miss the view to the west as the sun drops below the jagged skyline. Paid parking is available on-site at the Austin American-Statesman parking lot. 

Depending on when you visit this lush green park, you’ll have a totally different experience. If you manage to make it here for a concert, the venue has one of the finest views of the city skyline as a stage backdrop—during a festival like SXSW, it's easy to see why Austin’s the Live Music Capital of the World. Free concerts can get packed, so if you’re there for the music, make sure to arrive early. On any random day of the week, however, you’ll find that the open green space is the perfect place to stretch out and read a book, catch a pick-up game of frisbee, or snap a photo of the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial statue along the hike-and-bike trail.

The story goes that Austin musician Amy Cook took a can of red spray paint to write her then-partner, Liz Lambert, a love letter on the side of Jo’s Coffee (one of Lambert’s businesses). The mural has since become a photo op for locals and visitors alike, and on any given day, you could see a couple getting engagement photos snapped or best friends hamming it up for Instagram against the now-famous mint-green backdrop. Lines for a quick photo op can stretch around the block on weekends.

You’ll want to visit the Long Center as much for what’s happening inside as for the ultra-modern exterior. The lakefront community gathering place and performance venue space is home to a range of live performances, including lyric opera, ballets, rock concerts, and many of Austin’s prime foodie events, including the Austin Food + Wine Festival. Food trucks and pop-up art installations and special events are also featured on the City Terrace, which offers up one of the best views of downtown and Lady Bird Lake.