10 Things I Want To Do In Austin, Texas

I’ve heard a lot about Austin. My friend Sydney actually mentioned this city to me and ever since then I’ve had it in the back of my mind.

This summer I’m going to see it.

But what is there to do in Austin? People who love the outdoors will love it here. I for one love the outdoors, but I also want to see the city as well. My research tells me that the surrounding Hill Country is the way to go if I want to be outside, so I’m going to be breaking up this post into five outdoorsy things and five metropolitan things I want to do. Sound good? Great.

Hill Country

Let’s start with Hill Country. This region is located to the west of Austin and is sometimes called the “Napa Valley of Texas.” It’s filled with small towns, parks, antique shops, and roadside fruit stands. Wow, that sounds incredible. Also, a lot of ranches in the area have exotic animals like zebras and antelope. Pretty cool.

Many of the attractions are spread out amongst the small towns, so I’m not going to worry about logistics just yet, I’m just writing about what catches my eye.

Okay, enough talking, here’s a few things I want to do:

1. Tube the Guadalupe River – Right in. Basically tons of people get on inner-tubes and float down the river while drinking beer. Awesome. The river is 20 miles long, and there are inner-tube rentals and shuttle services in case you want to have the experience. I will be doing this.
2. The Salt Lick – Did someone say BBQ? If eating BBQ ribs meant selling my soul to the devil, I’d still eat them. And lick my fingers when I’m done. A salt lick is a big block of sodium that animals on a ranch congregate to–just in case you were wondering. It’s also the name of this restaurant, which has barbeque recipes that have been handed down since the Civil War, and it’s situated in the middle of a beautiful, old ranch. I’m definitely enlisting in this little shindig.
3. The Hamilton Pool Preserve – Okay, well, this looks like heaven. The Hamilton Pool is a natural swimming hole formed after the dome of an underground river collapsed a hundred years ago. During the summer months this preserve is filled to capacity, so I’m definitely going to check out. For extra information, many of my sources call this the most beautiful spot in all of Hill Country.
4. Fredricksburg – So apparently Fredricksburg is like a Bavarian-style town in Texas. Being that I’m German, this caught my eye a little bit. Named the most popular getaway destination in Central Texas, this city has a Main Street which runs straight through the town filled with old limestone buildings, storefronts, and, last but not least, biergartens. Bomb.
5. Gruene – This little town is a Wild West-style location with tin-roof buildings, a large water tower, and an awesome music venue called Gruene Hall. There’s a lot of great music going on in this little city, and I’m going to go check it out.

Truthfully there’s so much to do in Hill Country, and this just gives me a little taste of what to do during my first go-round.

Austin

Back to Austin. Alright, I want to see this city. I want to see the nightlife, attractions, and wander downtown. Here are a few things I want to do.

1. 6th Street – This is called the Bourbon Street of Austin. That’s all I need to say.
2. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema – WOAH. This is a movie theatre that shows B-list movies introduced by the stars and directors themselves. And you can also drink beer, eat burgers, and just enjoy watching movies made with a lotta love. I’m such a film fanatic, so this is most definitely happening.
3. Lady Bird Lake – This lake is a stretch of the Colorado River that runs straight through downtown Austin. It has beautiful vegation lining the banks along with turtles, swans, and ducks just chillin out there. You can go kayaking and paddleboarding out here, too. You had me at kayaking.
4. The Bats of Congress Avenue Bridge – So there’s a place you can go sit at and watch a bunch of bats fly up into the air. They say it’s like, a cloud of bats. They fly out from underneath the Congress bridge to go eat a bunch of bugs or somthing during the nighttime. I plan to get on a canoe and watch this go down.
5. South Congress Avenue – This is one of the more popular avenues in Austin with unique stores, boutiques, and curiosity shops to chill at. This will be nice to do right before I go see my bats.

Wow, Austin has a ton of stuff to offer, and I just got really excited for my trip again (not that I wasn’t excited already before). I hope I can scratch all these off my list. Maybe instead of go to Houston I’ll just spend two straight weeks in Austin? Let’s see. Thanks for reading guys, and if there’s any other spot I should go see, please leave a comment below!!