Austin to Houston (Clear Lake) best route ? (Elgin, Giddings: how much, restaurants)

[billpritjr]

Hello....

I will be driving from Marble Falls area, thru Austin, and to final destination of Clear Lake area of Houston, TX, in a few weeks. Google Maps shows basically two routes with minimal distance difference, HWY 290 and HWY 71.

what are the locals using, and what is the better road (two lane versus one, restaurants along route, etc)

Thank You !

[piyf]

I'd go 290 only because I-10 is boring.

[westhou]

I-10 is quicker but 290 is a much more enjoyable drive because of the small towns you go through along the way.

[Kuykendall]

Man, I can't tell you how many times I've made this trip. I grew up in Clear Lake and have driven back and forth to Marble Falls/Kingsland hundreds of times. I'm getting hungry thinking of Bluebonnet and Cooper's as I type.

I've never really cared to go 290 for the same reason someone else mentioned it's a more scenic route - traffic lights. If you go 71 to 10 it's 75 mph (think 80-85) once you get on 10 and then you just take 45 to Clear Lake.

It really depends on how much time you have and if you want to stop along the way. You DEFINITELY want to plan you trip on traffic off times in both Austin and Houston. If you're trying to save time and don't know what time you will get into Houston, bring some cash or quarters and take Beltway 8 south once you get into Houston and then you can hit 45 from there.

I usually stop at Weikel's Bakery around La Grange on my way there and hit up whatever is new in Austin on my way back. If you take 290 and you like sausage stop in Elgin and get the regular sausage from Southside Meat Market - it's the best sausage I've ever had in my life.

[billpritjr]

great info guys, thank YOU...I will be with wife and two kids and plan to arrive into Houston outer city limits at 730PM (which I plan for a 4PM-ish outbound departure from Austin area) for traffic purposes (even tho we are coming in from north, in theory opposite the 5PM workday traffic flow) and arrive to Clear Lake by 830PM.

I prefer quicker but if family needs bathroom break or similar, it is important to have those options also.

[Kuykendall]

You should be good to go then.

The other place I stop at is Hruska's Bakery in Ellinger right before you get to 10. Both Hruska's and Weikel's are also convenient stores. You shouldn't have a problem finding a place to stop on 10 if need be.

[Schumacher713]

I-10 is about 20min faster and they are both boring drives. By scenic are these people talking about tons of stop lights? 45 Beltway I-10 71 You don't want to have to take 35 south from 290 to get to 71.

[Texamichiforniasota]

I don't know if it's improved, but 5 years ago 290 was full of speed traps. Giddings was particularly bad. One time I drove through and saw 5 cars pulled over in the 3 miles through city limits. I noticed they happened to be re-paving all the downtown area, no doubt paid for by unsuspecting drivers headed from Houston to Austin and vice versa.

On top of that, 290 is the slower route to begin with. I've driven both and found the 71/10 route shaves off about 20-30 minutes. Less lights, higher speed limits, better road.