Austin guides
Austin is the Texas capital, a university town and a live music city laid out along Lady Bird Lake, a dammed stretch of the Colorado River. AUS sits southeast of downtown, close enough for a layover outing to Rainey Street, the UT campus or East Austin.
Layover guides for Austin
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) layovers
6 hoursHow to Spend a 6 Hour Layover in Austin: AUS to Rainey Street and the Lake
A 6 hour layover at AUS fits one compact corner of Austin, and Rainey Street is the closest. See free galleries by the lake, walk a block of old bungalows turned into bars and eat homemade sausage in a shady garden.
8 hoursHow to Spend an 8 Hour Layover in Austin: AUS to UT Campus Art and Rare Books
An 8 hour layover at AUS leaves time to take the bus straight to the University of Texas. Greet Daniel Johnston's painted frog, see a Gutenberg Bible for free, then step into Ellsworth Kelly's glowing stone building.
12 hoursHow to Spend a 12 Hour Layover in Austin: AUS to East Side Franklin Barbecue
A 12 hour layover at AUS is long enough to brave the morning line at Franklin Barbecue. Eat the brisket, explore the Carver Museum's stories of Black Austin, then see one of the city's oldest houses at the French Legation.
Short trip guides for Austin
Neighborhoods
3 hoursHow to Spend 3 Hours in Austin: South Congress Coffee, Boots and Pizza
Three hours is ideal for South Congress, the walkable strip just over the river from downtown. Grab coffee by the i love you so much wall, try on cowboy boots at a store open since 1977, then share a pie at Home Slice.
4 hoursHow to Spend 4 Hours in Austin: Barton Springs, Umlauf and Brisket
Four hours gives you a swim in cold spring water and a peaceful garden across the road. Plunge into spring fed Barton Springs Pool, cool off among bronzes at the Umlauf, then walk down Barton Springs Road for brisket.
6 hoursHow to Spend 6 Hours in Austin: Mount Bonnell, Peacocks and Deep Eddy
Six hours takes you into the green hills of west Austin. Climb stone steps to a lake view, walk among peacocks at a historic cottage garden, see art on a lakeside estate, then swim in the oldest pool in Texas.
8 hoursHow to Spend 8 Hours in Austin: Greenbelt Hike, Tex-Mex and Two-Step
Eight hours is enough for a full Austin day from limestone creek to honky-tonk. Hike the Barton Creek Greenbelt, eat enchiladas at a Tex-Mex institution from 1952, then learn the two-step at the Broken Spoke.
Downtown
3 hoursHow to Spend 3 Hours in Austin: The Capitol, Congress Avenue and the Bat Bridge
Three hours covers the grand stretch of Congress Avenue from the Capitol to the river. Take a free tour under the dome, step into an 1886 cattle baron's hotel, then reach the bridge at dusk, when the bats fly out from about March to October.
4 hoursHow to Spend 4 Hours in Austin: Texas History Down Congress Avenue
Four hours lets you trace Texas from a 1686 French shipwreck to its barbecue. Start at the Bullock Museum, walk down Congress Avenue to Mexic-Arte, then pick your meat straight off the pit at Cooper's.
6 hoursHow to Spend 6 Hours in Austin: Lady Bird Lake by Paddle and on Foot
Six hours gives you a full loop of Lady Bird Lake's west end. Climb to the library's roof garden, rent a kayak or paddleboard, walk up a park hill for the skyline, then visit Stevie Ray Vaughan's statue on the shore.
8 hoursHow to Spend 8 Hours in Austin: LBJ, Fossils and a German Beer Garden
Eight hours lets you see a presidential library, a giant flying reptile and a creekside park before dinner. Finish in the beer garden at Scholz Garten, which calls itself the oldest operating business in Texas.
Fitness guides for Austin
FitnessAustin Lady Bird Lake West Loop Run and a Castle Hill Fitness Day Pass
This 8.1 km loop follows the Shoal Creek Trail down to Lady Bird Lake and circles Auditorium Shores by the South First Street and Pfluger bridges. It then runs the north shore to MoPac and climbs home on the Johnson Creek Trail and Old West Austin streets.
FitnessAustin East Side Lake Run and a Bouldering Project Day Pass
This 10.3 km out and back from the Springdale climbing gym follows Govalle sidewalks and side streets and the Pleasant Valley Road sidewalk to Longhorn Dam. It then runs the east end of the lake trail past Fiesta Gardens to Edward Rendon Sr. Park.
About Austin
Austin grew up around the granite Capitol and the University of Texas, and both still frame downtown from the north. The south edge is Lady Bird Lake, ringed by a hike and bike trail that locals use from dawn to dark. Across the water, South Congress and Zilker Park hold the spring fed Barton Springs Pool, while East Austin mixes old Black and Mexican American neighborhoods with famous barbecue. Summers are hot, so outdoor plans work best early or late in the day. From about March to October, a large colony of bats flies out from under the Congress Avenue bridge around sunset, and most of it leaves for Mexico after strong cold fronts in October or November.