Travel tips: Austin Destinations

Capitol Complex Visitors Center -Southeast corner of Capitol grounds. Exhibits, Travel Information, gifts, guided tours. Located in 1857 General Land Office Building. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Congress Avenue Bats-the summer home to over 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. Bats typically come out just before dusk for a spectacular wildlife viewing opportunity.

Hill Country Flyer-Tour the scenic Texas Hill Country by vintage train! During a leisurely layover in Burnet, enjoy lunch and shopping on the town square. The River City Flyer journeys through Austin. Schedule at http://www.austinsteamtrain.org/

Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum-2313 Red River. Fascinating exhibition of the Johnson era. Also, don’t miss the state gifts. Monday-Sunday, 9 AM – 5 PM, Free.

Mt. Bonnell -3800 Mt. Bonnell Rd. Climb the 99 steps and enjoy sunset over Lake Austin from the most scenic and one of the highest points in the city limits. Open daily, dawn until dusk.

Texas Governor’s Mansion -1010 Colorado. Both a museum and a comfortable, functional home for a modern governor. Monday-Friday, tours begin at 10 AM Call 463-5516 to check for daily status of tours.

Texas State Capitol -11th and Congress. Both the grounds and the building of 26-acre complex have been recently restored. Tours every 15 minutes: Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM – 4:15 PM; Saturday-Sunday, 9:30 AM 4:15 PM. Call 463-0063

PLACES TO VISIT NEAR AUSTIN

There are many interesting places to visit around Austin. If you go, you need a car and a map. Find a friend with a car or get together with several friends and rent a car. Then buy a map at a bookstore or gas station.

The Lakes
1) Town Lake. Town Lake separates north and south Austin. A nice place to go on the lake is Zilker Park. You can get there easily by bus. You can go swimming there (even in the winter), have a picnic, rent a canoe, ride in the mini-train, visit Japanese gardens, play frisbee, or just hang out.

2) Lake Austin. Lake Austin is on the west side of Austin. For an inexpensive afternoon, take the bus or drive to Mozart’s Café, located at the intersection of Lake Austin Boulevard and Enfield Road, and have coffee and a pastry by the water. There is also a terrific restaurant at this spot: Hula Hut. It serves tropical food: a combination of Mexican and Polynesian food, and has a deck with a view.

3) Lake Travis. Lake Travis is about 20 minutes west of Austin. To get there, go north on Mopac, exit on 2222, go west, and turn left at 620. If you’re there in the afternoon, stop by the Oasis Restaurant to see a spectacular sunset. (Look for signs after you turn onto 620.)

4) Inks Lake State Park. This park is about two hours west of Austin.There are several ways to get there. One way is to take Mopac South to 290 W to 71 and then 281 and then P9 or 24. You can picnic, fish, and hike. The scenery is very pretty and unusual.

WEST OF AUSTIN

1) The Salt Lick is a very famous barbecue place. For around$10, you can have all you can eat of the best barbecue and side dishes around. To get there, take Mopac South to 290W to 1826 (about half an hour from Austin).

2) Pedernales Falls State Park. This is a terrific, very Texan-looking park. It’s a good place to go hiking and see Texas wildlife. Take Mopac to 290 West and follow signs for the park (It’s about an hour away).

3) Johnson City and area. This is a small town a little over an hour away. Take Mopac South to Route 290W and then 281. Johnson City has many historic homes and is located near the boyhood home of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Between Johnson City and Fredericksburg are the Lyndon Johnson National and State Historical Parks which include a “living history” farm of the late nineteenth century.

4) Fredericksburg. If you continue past Johnson City on 281, you come to Fredericksburg (about 2 hours from Austin). This is a German town with many antique and gift shops, interesting historic buildings, and German restaurants.

MORE TRAVEL IDEAS

SOUTH OF AUSTIN (TAKE IH-35)

1) San Marcos. Yes, this is where the outlet malls are, but the town of San Marcos (off of IH-35, before the outlet malls) is a nice town. You can visit the downtown square and the university.

2) New Braunfels. If you continue past San Marcos on IH-35, you come to New Braunfels, a pretty German town.

3) Gruene. To the west and north of New Braunfels is the little town of Gruene. This is a very pretty little town. It has shops, restaurants, one club with very good music, and a beautiful river.

4) Wimberley. A little town with many shops and tourists. The nicest thing about Wimberley is the drive there. You can go there several ways. One way is to go to San Marcos and take Route 12. The scenery in the area is very interesting. Be sure to take home a pie from the Wimberley Pie Company-it’s the best!

5) San Antonio. San Antonio is about 1 1/2 hours away on IH-35. There are many, many things to do there, including visiting the Riverwalk and the Alamo, going to the Mexican market, going to the zoo, going to museums (such as the Witte Museum, a science museum), going to Sea World, and going to Fiesta, Texas.

SOUTHEAST OF AUSTIN

An interesting day trip is to take 183 South from Austin and visit Luling, Lockhart, and Palmetto State Park. When you get hungry, stop for barbecue in Lockhart and Luling.

LONGER TRIPS

SOUTHEAST TEXAS
The best place to go east of Austin is the beach. A favorite beach town is Galveston (3 ½ – 4 hours drive). It has a very pretty downtown and a lot to do besides the beach. Corpus Christi and Port Aransas (four hours drive) have good beaches.

Padre Island National Seashore has
swimming, beachcombing, birdwatching and more.

SOUTH TEXAS
Spend a couple of days in San Antonio or continue on to Laredo on the Mexican border (about five hours from Austin). From Laredo you can take buses to many parts of Mexico.

EAST TEXAS
National Forests: Davy Crocket, Sam Houston
You won’t believe you’re in Texas when you experience these rolling hills covered by massive pine trees.

WEST TEXAS
There are many interesting areas west of Austin.

Garner State Park (3 ½ – 4 hours away).
Big Bend has spectacular scenery (8-10 hours).
Northern New Mexico (14 hours to Santa Fe) and Colorado (17 hours) are beautiful.

Big Bend National Park
Hiking, camping, birdwatching, wildlife viewing, and float trips are popular park activities. Commercial float trips on the Rio Grande are available through outfitters just outside the park. http://www.nps.gov/bibe/

McDonald Observatory is 6,800 feet above sea level atop Mt. Locke in the heart of the Davis Mountains. Tours available.
http://www.as.utexas.edu/mcdonald/vc/visiting/visiting.html

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