Austin, Texas is a great place to spend a few days. It isn’t a huge city, so 2-3 days is a good amount of time to spend exploring! Perfect for a long weekend trip or, if you’re a nurse, a quick trip during a chunk of days off without having to take time off. Austin is knowns for its “weirdness”, bats, and live music. As summer approaches, more and more live music events are going on each weekend! Be sure to check it out if you’re going to be visiting.
Accommodations in Austin
I was lucky enough to have time off to visit and stay with a friend who lives outside of Austin, but if you are looking for a good place to stay in Austin, here are a few recommendations
Hotel Magdalena
A bit on the pricier side, but a beautiful place to stay, Hotel Magdalena is located right off S. Congress, where all the fun is happening in Austin. With a pool, multiple options for food and drinks, and even free bike rentals, this place is a great option for those looking for something more upscale, but unique.
Hyatt House Austin
A bit more reasonably priced, but also a really nice stay, Hyatt House Austin is located perfectly in downtown. Breakfast is included at this hotel, and they also have a nice pool, a gym, and a bar on-site. They even have an arcade and game room!
The Beehive Condo
This is more of a private place versus a hotel, but the location is all you need to know! There is a great outdoor space here, as well a grill available for use.
Day 1
S Congress
We spent most of the day wandering around S Congress, one of the main areas of the city. We parked on the street and walked down, checking out some of the street art, and window shopping while we looked for a place to eat.
Grab brunch at Summer House on Music Lane (if you’re staying at Hotel Magdalena, this is one of their restaurants!) The food here was really good and the location is perfect for spending the morning on S Congress shopping and exploring. I ordered their Summer House Breakfast – 2 eggs, sourdough toast, some greens, and a green romesco – which was really good. The only thing I would mention is that the butter is a sweetened or flavored, so be careful putting that on your eggs! I also ordered a latte, and I can’t complain there either!
After brunch, we walked back out to S Congress and did a little shopping. There are TONS of shops, boutiques, and vintage stores along here. Something for everyone, truly. We chose the above 3 shops to go into, 2 vintage shops and one boutique. I bought a pair of vintage sunglasses, but there were so many fun things in all of these places! Highly recommend stopping in.
Austin Street Art
As I said before, there are so many cute and fun street art installations along S Congress. Be sure to snap a few pics while you’re here! One of the most well-known being the “i love you so much” on the side of Jo’s Coffee (if you know you know). Personally, I think the coffee here is a bit over-hyped. The latte I got wasn’t anything special, but it was fine.
Grab a Snack at Love and Cookies
A new cookie and ice cream shop on South Lamar (other locations around the area as well), Love and Cookies is a cute, pink, frosting-filled bakery! We heard about it on instagram, so you know we had to make a stop by. It was well worth the quick drive over. I ordered the Frank, an M&M cookie, and my friend ordered a slice of one of their cookie cakes. A delicious way to stave off the hunger before dinner.
Peter Pan Mini Golf
This place has been around and a staple in Austin since 1948! It was actually a really fun way to spend an hour or so. With 2 different courses, there are different sculptures and obstacles to get around. Of course, you get to pick your all and keep score if you wish! They don’t sell drinks, but they are BYOB (no glass) and you can bring your own food too. 18 holes costs $10 each and if you want to play both courses its $15 pp.
Dinner at Terry Black’s BBQ
Did you even go to Texas if you didn’t get some barbecue? My friend was adamant that Terry Black’s is the place to go. And to be honest, she wasn’t wrong. This place was packed every time we drove past. Id recommend going on a weekday and getting there a little bit early.
Basically, you get a tray and pick and choose what you’d like to eat; sides, drinks, and meat. Then, you pay and find your own seat in the large open space. They have outdoor seating as well. Different flavors of barbecue sauces are at the tables along with all the napkins you’ll need. We shared Mac and cheese, pickles, cornbread, and beef brisket. Everything was incredible!
Ann Richard’s Bridge
Austin is well-known for having bats (if you didn’t know, now you do). One of the main places to see them is Ann Richard’s bridge right near downtown. You can literally see the capitol building from the bridge, it’s such a pretty spot for sunset! And that’s exactly when you want to go. Of course, there is not guarantee that the bats will make an appearance, but it’s worth it to go! We didn’t get lucky enough to see them swarm out from under the bridge where they sleep during the day, but it was a gorgeous sunset.
Day 2
Breakfast at Snooze
This place is a must-go if you are a big pancake lover! They do pancake FLIGHTS! Of course, we got one to share, along with their traditional eggs, bacon, hash browns combo. Ironically, despite the sign in the pic below, the bacon was my least favorite part of the meal.
Walk Around Pease Park
Find the troll in Pease Park! It is a nice way to get out of the city-feel and into a green space. Austin is full of trees, and this little park is a great way to spend an hour or two in the afternoon. The troll is a new art installation and was pretty popular, so you’ll find someone to take your photo if you’re alone! Isn’t he so cool?!
Cidercade
This arcade bar is FULL of fun, old arcade games! Tons of pinball machines, driving games, guitar hero, basketball. It’s not on the level of Dave and Buster’s, but it was a fun spot! You get a wrist band when you go in, and for $12 a person, you get unlimited play time on all the games in the arcade. There is also an outdoor patio, where you can eat pizza or wings. It’s right on the river, so it has some nice views! I’d go back here for sure, and it would be a fun date spot!
Amy’s Ice Cream
Another Austin staple, Amy’s are all around the city, and they have some really yummy ice cream! We got one of their little ice cream cakes and shared it. It was way more than enough for 2, but so delicious! Definitely recommend. And if you’re wanting the flavor that they got their start from, try the Mexican vanilla!
Drive North to The Domain
The Domain is a MASSIVE outdoor mall. It is so big you have to drive from one end of the other to park your car near the place you want to shop. We did a little shopping, a little browsing, and we grabbed a snack at Bakery Lorraine. This is a good place to go to kill some time or shop if you want more of the typical mall stores. Otherwise, I’d recommend more of the thrifting/vintage shops like I mentioned above, or go to some of the boutiques in downtown!
Dinner at El Jacalito
We had to get some TexMex while I was in Austin of course! This was a good spot! It’s just in a little strip mall, so it’s easy to miss. I ordered the fajitas with a mix of chicken and
Mean Eyed Cat
If you want to go out for a drink or two, Mean Eyed Cat is a Johnny Cash themed bar. Fitting for Texas. Although a little divey, it looks like a fun spot and has lots of local brews on draft! The building itself has been around since before Austin was built up to what it is now. We thought about going here, but never did. When I go back to Austin, I’ll definitely make a stop here!
A Couple of Non-Recommendations
As usual, there are places I went in Austin that I wouldn’t recommend going. I want to mention them here, just so you don’t waste your time.
Rooftop Pool
First, we spent an afternoon (which I didn’t include for this reason) at a rooftop pool. Now, it was mid-April, so the weather is a little hit or miss, and although it didn’t rain, it wasn’t sunny at all. However, even if it had been the perfect weather day, I don’t think this was worth it. I used a site called ResortPass, which is a good idea, but the hotel we went to was way overpriced, especially for off season.
No one even checked my pass, so we could have gotten in for free. I think this frustrated me the most. The bar didn’t open until 3, and our passes were only good from 1-4. We didn’t even stay the whole time because it got too cold. Long story short, don’t do this unless it’s summer and you know the weather will be great. And look for a less expensive pool than Azul rooftop at the Westin in downtown.
Juliet Italian Kitchen
We ordered this with DoorDash, so I will say some of the issue could have been that we didn’t eat it fresh at the restaurant. But honestly, it was not good. I ordered a basic Margherita pizza and my friend Kaytlyn got bolognese pasta. Neither are ground breaking dishes. They were both not good. We did not finish the food and it was way over priced. If you’ve had a different experience here, I’d love to know!
So that’s all for a 2 day vacation in Austin! I hope to go back soon to do some more exploring, but I think we did a pretty good job on such a limited amount of time! What would you recommend for my next trip?
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