ATX Travel Guide

ATX TRAVEL GUIDE

A salty approved guide to one of my favorite cities!

Outdoor Activities 

Barton Springs Pool : The most amazing outdoor swimming pool that is filled entirely with water from nearby natural springs. One of the more popular spots to swim in the summer, it’s an Austin must-see! 


Commons Ford : A beautiful park located right along the river. Dog friendly and lots of fun for an afternoon of swimming, sun-bathing, or kicking around a soccer ball. 


Town Lake Trail : Options vary from 3 - 10 mile walk/runs. There’s also a boardwalk for part of the trail, and you’ll experience some lovely parts of the river as well as some of the most amazing views of the city. 


Stand up paddle boarding or kayaking on town lake : there are many different companies that rent paddle boards and kayaks. My go-to is Rowing Dock ATX...they rent by the hour and have an easy location to access with plenty of street parking. 


Greenbelt : this Austin gem is a 7.25 mile stretch of public land that starts at Zilker Park and stretches south. There are several entrances that feature different areas to hike and several natural pools of water for swimming. 

Bar scene

Rainey Street : This super fun street is filled with renovated homes that are now bars! A few of my favorites…

  • Icenhauers has a fantastic cover band on Sundays. 

  • Anthem has delicious food & good cocktails. 

  • Bangers has live music on Sunday and delicious sausages, just be ready for a long wait!


East Side & East 6th : This neighborhood is where you’ll find some rad bars and funky restaurants.

  • Whisler’s for great cocktails & a mezcal bar upstairs.

  • Hotel Vegas & Volstead for dancing.

  • Barbarella’s for late night dancing and fun hip hop.

West 6th Street : A little closer to campus. This is where you’ll find a variety of sports bars and restaurants.

  • Parlor & Yard has a cool backyard and different games to play while watching sports.

  • Buford’s is a great place to watch UT games.

The Domain : located in north Austin, this bar scene is similar to Santa Monica Promenade and there is tons of shopping. 

  • Groves Wine Bar just opened, it’s a cute spot to stop for a glass of wine while shopping. 

  • Culinary Dropout is dog friendly with a cool patio. Great drinks and decent bar food with live music on the weekends.

  • Saint Geneveive is the best spot to grab a martini and some fries.  

Native Hostel : this place is an actual hostel but has a really cool bar and usually has a rad DJ at night, plus a variety of fun events. 

Food scene

Brunch Options : Snooze, Kerby Lane, Better Half, La Taverna

Tex Mex:

  • Polvo’s for the BEST Mexican food (order the fajitas rancheras w/ extra tortillas, queso & guac w/ chips and a pitcher of frozen margs)

  • El Alma for a rad patio

  • El Mercado for the best frozen margs

  • Matt’s el Rancho for best Tex-Mex

Seafood:

  • Perla’s for everything tasty and heavy pours of deliciously dry rosé!

  • Clark’s for the best dry martinis, yummy oysters, delicious lobster rolls and truffle fries!


BBQ:

  • Salt Lick (in Driftwood- outside of Austin, but worth the drive)

  • Franklins (prepare to wait in a long line)

  • Lambert’s


Asian:

  • Bar Peached serves the tastiest cocktails, tacos and Asian-inspired comfort food! MUST order the pork buns, confit duck foldies, mapo bolognese (spicyyyy), and the birthday cake. ;)

  • Sway has locations down south as well as up north in the domain. If you like spicy food, this is THE spot for you! Delicious cocktails as well!

  • Wu Chow is the spot for amazing dim sum and sichuan cuisine. Order the dumplings, brussel sprouts and everything else on the menu ;)


A little bit of everything:

  • Launderette (literally everything here is delicious!!)

  • Pool Burger (amazing burgers & tiki drinks!)

  • Hula Hut (on lake Austin - great views)

  • Oasis (decent food, beautiful views)

Coffee and small stuff

Jo’s Coffee: location of the iconic “I love you so much” wall on South Congress

Cosmic Coffee: fun coffee spot with trailer food eateries

Radio Coffee: Their cold brew is great, and they have pretty good margaritas during happy hour. Pup friendly patio, and a Mexican trailer eatery

Flat Track: on the east side, reminds me of Deus coffee in Venice

Cenote: on E César Chavez

Other things to do! 

Yoga at Wanderlust

Rock Climbing at Crux (right next to Cosmic Coffee)

Dog-watching at Zilker Park

Concert at Stubbs, Mohawk or ACL Live

Tour the capitol building

Walk and shop along South Congress: heaps of cute boutiques and restaurants 

Country dancing at The Broken Spoke


Zoe Welch