Austin, Texas sits as Texas’ capitol.
We decided to take a small family trip with the kids down to visit the “weird” city and detail our experience here in this family travel guide.
Known for it’s food, live music venues, sprawling parks, natural spring pools and eclectic culture, Austin is as a unique city as they come.
Not because there is no other city like it, but because it is not like the rest of Texas at all.
In a more conservative state, Austin stands out in so many ways. Like this floppy disc repair shop downtown.
Ok, I think it was actually a bar…but I found it super creative regardless!
We broke this guide into 5 parts
- GETTING THERE AND GETTING AROUND
- WHERE TO STAY
- WHAT TO DO
- WHERE TO EAT
- WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
These points will be all with keeping in mind families with young children.
Let’s get down to it!
Getting there and getting around
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is the main airport hub in Austin.
It’s a pretty efficient and clean airport and the best part is that it is not unusually located. A ride from the airport to downtown Austin is approximately 20 minutes.
Once you get to your destination in Austin, if you want to experience Austin and have a list of activities and must “sees” you will quickly realize you ABSOLUTELY NEED A CAR.
While researching our trip, one of the big questions was “should we rent a car?”…being born and raised in New York City, a car is a bonus, not a necessity.
Not in Austin.
Austin has a bustling downtown and city center, it has sprawling hills and mountains, it has suburbs, parks etc all very spread out and all worth a visit for it’s different attractions and activities.
We traveled by car everyday.
TIP: don’t pay $50 a day in valet parking at your hotel if staying downtown, we paid maybe $40 for the whole time we were there (5 days) by using metered parking. We always found an available spot and it was free 6pm to 8am.
Although we have heard Austin traffic gets hairy, we didn’t find it unbearing at all. I guess this depends where you are from, but the traffic was manageable and never overly congested while we were there.
So TAKE IT FROM US: unless you know you will stay downtown and downtown only,
RENT A CAR !
Where to stay:
Depending on your reasons for visiting Austin, we found the best place to stay was smack in the middle of it all: Downtown.
Downtown is walkable with enough attractions on its own. It’s a great point to branch off to the rest of Austin. You can take the kids on many walks. Like a walk to the Texas State Capitol building, the seat of the government in all of Texas and interestingly enough taller than our nation’s capitol building.
No son…this is not the leaning tower of pisa.
There are many cool and hip hotels downtown.
While we usually like resort style hotels with large pools for the kids while they are young, we also think its cool to show kids the chique side of life.
We chose to stay at the Westin Downtown Austin, with a super cool rooftop pool we enjoyed thoroughly.
And don’t forget the night views. We definitely forgot because you know……we are in bed by 8pm….even on vacation…parent life.
What to do with the kids:
What is there NOT DO DO should be the question.
Let’s take you through some of the many activities. NOW…like our 10 at home practical activities we are not going to give you 34 things to do with kids in Austin. We are going to give you what we actually experienced and got to do in 5 days. Here we go!
- Barton Springs in Zilker Park
This is an absolute must.
It is awesome to look at this pool and realize it is actually a natural body of water. Three acres in size, it is a main attraction in Austin and it’s water is fed from underground springs. It’s open for year round swimming. It is also home to the Barton Springs Salamander. This type of Salamander is only found…you guessed it, at Barton Springs. So if you swim here, you are technically swimming with an endangered species. How cool is that?
Not in the mood for a swim? Just walking around the pool is awesome and then you have the rest of Zilker Park to explore.
- Inner Space Cavern
Remember that car we told you to get? Well…if you decided to stay downtown. This is a time it will come in handy.
Inner Space Cavern is actually in Georgetown, Texas – just outside of Austin (about a 30 minute ride from downtown). It is one of the best preserved caves in Texas. Open to tourist in 1966, it was discovered by the Texas Highway Department during one of their drilling expeditions.
Seeing the different shapes and formations of the rocks, the expansive rooms and prehistoric animal bones is truly an awesome experience, especially for kids who will take it all in with much excitement.
- Downtown
Take a walk with the kids and feel the sounds and sights of downtown Austin.
Take a walk to the capital building and read up on some Texas History. Stroll through the republic square and maybe catch a farmers market or a festival.
Take the kids for some dessert at the many shops, like the Baked Bear where you can make your own cookie sandwiches.
and do not forget to experience…
- THE AUSTIN BATS!
After an early dinner head down to Congress Avenue Bridge and watch the largest bat population in North America fly out from under the bridge. The bats begin to fly during the sunset hours and you will always catch crowds waiting for them to take flight.
- Austin Aquarium
We also visited the Austin Aquarium, but if we are going to keep it real here…not worth it. They should actually call it the Austin Fish Tank because there is little to see…ok that is mean, but we aren’t going to lie to you! HOWEVER…the kids did enjoy it, so if your sole purpose is your kid’s enjoyment and you have time…check it out! They can feed a turtle that likes to walk around the whole establishment.
They can also enter a pretty cool bird sanctuary.
Other notable mentions that kids would love:
*Thinkery Children’s Museum
*Bullock Texas State History Museum
*Dinosaur Park (Cedar Creek-Car Required)
Where to eat:
You definitely will not run out of places to eat in Austin! And we know what you are thinking…where is the best BBQ! Well…you search for that and you will get 100 different answers, here are some places that won’t disappoint though:
- The County Line (BBQ – Lake Austin)
With most of it’s locations based in Texas, it’s a true Texas BBQ restaurant serving brisket, ribs, sausage and chicken all with traditional BBQ staples and sides.
We went to the County Line on the lake which had a pretty cool view by the lake and turtles that the kids can feed.
The prices were very reasonable, service was friendly and the food was super tasty, check it out!
- Lamberts (BBQ-Downtown Austin)
This Texas restaurant stepped it up a notch. While the County Line was good…Lambert’s added a little more class in the bustling downtown area. The atmosphere was conducive to a night out for some good food and drinks.
The food was well cooked serving slow smoked BBQ and other Texan plates. On some nights they have live music on the second floor.
- Juan in a Million (East Austin)
Breakfast tacos anyone?
Juan in a Million was our first stop after a super early flight into Austin. In East Austin, it’s a very popular spot with tourist and locals and has been voted to have the best breakfast tacos in Austin.
It was good…but…we did expect more. It wasn’t BAD…it just did not live up to the hype for us, but we feel we may be the exception as the place seems to being doing very well.
Two great things about this place…JUAN (the owner) and the prices. The prices were extremely reasonable, and Juan is just such a nice guy! He goes out of his way to say hello or goodbye to all his patrons and for that reason alone you should check this place out for some breakfast tacos!
- Snooze AM Eatery (Rosedale Neighborhood)
This is a breakfast diner branch.
BUT…in only 8 states (Austin, Texas being one of them with two locations) if you don’t have them in your state…it is a MUST TRY.
This is some of the best breakfast we have ever had.
The ingredients are fresh, tasty, and oh so creative!
We ordered some french toast to share and literally the words out of our mouth was “OH…MY…GOD” …lo and behold the name of the french toast was “OMG French Toast”.
We can’t say anymore, if you are in Austin…it’s a MUST for breakfast!
Other notable mentions:
Blacks BBQ ( BBQ-Downtown Austin)
What to watch out for:
We feel this should always be part of your planning itinerary when traveling with kids.
Austin is a safe city but it has an elephant in the room that was OVERWHELMING.
A very active and very big Homeless population.
This is nothing against the homeless population, but let’s keep it real here…it is uncomfortable, an eyesore, and you’d be a fool not to have your head on a swivel with young kids and literally tons of homeless men walking around asking you for money.
Texas is trying to ban camping out in public, but as it stands right now this is one thing that you should prepare for.
Keep in mind this is coming from someone born and raised in the lower east side part of Manhattan in the 1990’s…right on the notorious Bowery. Austin’s homeless population IS BAD but…we did not experience any issues and overall felt very safe.