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Old 05-17-2010, 10:54 PM
 
193 posts, read 1,143,689 times
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Hi,

So I finally booked my trip to Austin.. will be heading there in June for just a w/e.. flying in on Fri night and flying out on Sun evening. Will be staying in the downtown area.. since I won't be in town for long, can you tell me what I should definitely check out in the day and a half that I'm in Austin? UOT area, sixth street? Also, I won't be renting a car this time around.. just want to get a general idea of the city.. have heard that Austin is a great place to visit and the ppl are super friendly..can't wait!
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Old 05-17-2010, 11:46 PM
 
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In the downtown area, you could check out 6th street (east 6th = more party, west 6th = more posh). You can check out the Whole Foods HQ store at 6th and Lamar. Depending on the week in June, there may be a festival or free bands at Auditorium shores (Ladybird Lake)... definitely should at least walk down to Ladybird lake and walk the hike & bike trail a little. Great for people watching. Or you could rent a bike at Lance Armstrong's bike store downtown (Mellow Johnny's) and bike down around the trail, maybe check out Zilker Park and Barton Springs pool. You could rent a kayak or canoe and paddle along the lake (Zilker Park Boat Rentals) from there.

I'd also take the short drive to check out South Congress, good place to get some Mexican food, shop, and maybe listen to a band (laid back) or get a coffee or drink and people watch...

At some point you should utilize the rental car to check out west Austin, where the hill country scenery is. Drive to the Oasis (on lake Travis) for dinner or just drinks (the drive there will take you through some nice scenery).

For BBQ, you've got Iron Works downtown right by the convention center. Or, if you want another hill country drive, you could drive down to the iconic Salt Lick in Driftwood. However, be advised that it may be cash-only and BYOB.

Other good spots: Mt Bonnell, Mozart's Coffee on Lake Austin (or Hula Hut if you want to eat on the lake).

There are also the more touristy things -- The Bullock TX state history musuem (and IMAX), the Capitol Building (free tours), the LBJ museum (Cronkite exhibit running now) and art museums at UT Austin, the Bats under the South Congress Bridge, etc. But Austin's touristy things are not as fun as just "checking out Austin", IMO.

Festivals/concerts in June:

ROT Biker Rally | ROT Biker Rally

Hartman Foundation "Concerts in the Park" | Events | Tickets & Events | Austin Symphony (http://www.austinsymphony.org/tickets/events/hartman-foundation-concerts-in-the-park/ - broken link)

Ballet under the Stars

107.1 KGSR Blues On The Green

Zilker Pops concerts

Check austin360.com and austinchronicle.com for more stuff. That should fill up 1.5 days!
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Old 05-18-2010, 12:25 AM
 
193 posts, read 1,143,689 times
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thanks so much...this was very helpful!
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Old 05-18-2010, 07:20 AM
 
2,627 posts, read 6,575,652 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagoresident View Post

Also, I won't be renting a car this time around.. just want to get a general idea of the city.. have heard that Austin is a great place to visit and the ppl are super friendly..can't wait!
I think it's a big mistake to not rent a car since you're only going to be in town such a short time. You really won't be able to cover much ground at all in my opinion. Depending on where your hotel is, you're either going to be walking all day long or waiting a long time for buses to get around. Downtown Austin is fairly spread out. In what general area of downtown is your hotel located?
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Old 05-19-2010, 01:37 PM
 
Location: Austin, Texas
544 posts, read 1,667,988 times
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it's easy to find a good meal at a variety of places downtown (eddie v's, trueluck's etc) the elephant room for jazz is a good place to chill -- cedar street is a good party place too -- i like the atmosphere @ fado's too -- antone's is just around the corner -- so many places and sooo little time
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Old 05-19-2010, 01:46 PM
 
47 posts, read 210,299 times
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Don't forget to check out the bats!
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