Austin – capital of Texas, home of the Longhorns, live music, breakfast tacos and BBQ that will have you lining up for more.

Highlights: Torchy’s Tacos, LBJ Library and Museum, Double Decker Austin, Bangers + anything on Rainey Street

My husband had work trip to Austin so I tagged along.  We checked into the Four Seasons Austin on a Monday night and stayed until Friday, if your budget allows it’s an amazing place to stay.  The hotel sits on the shores of Lady Bird Lake and was central to many landmarks, the happy hour at the downstairs restaurant Trio (5 – 7pm) is worth the trip if you stay somewhere else.  Slightly cheaper is the historic and beautiful Driskill Hotel downtown.

Day one started at Texas State Vistors Centre which had its own exhibits and a friendly information desk, I then headed next door to Texas State Capitol, both are free and the Capitol building has interesting and worthwhile tours which depart every  about every 20 – 30 minutes.  From there I got a Fasten car to South Congress Street (there is no Lyft or Uber in Austin at time of writing) to have lunch at Hopdaddy which was recommended by  few people, it was okay – we’ve had so many great hamburgers in California that it didn’t wow me, they did have a great selection of beers on taps there though, I read that the line is often out the door and if that’s the case just go across the road for Home Slice Pizza.  I made my way back to the hotel after that as it was bucketing down but take the time to check out South Congress while you’re there – take a good few hours, there’s great shopping, a few places to buy cowboy boots, second-hand shops, art and great food.  That night on the recommendation of the concierge for some good BBQ we went to Coopers BBQ and we were not disappointed.   It was great casual style BBQ with a separate bar selling beers for under $5 a pint, delicious and fun.  We were also recommended Iron Works BBQ, both are in downtown Austin.

On my second day I jumped on the Double Decker Austin bus and did the hop on/hop off option.  There are only six stops but I found it worthwhile and would recommend it but only if you get on when it first starts, the first bus is at 10am.  As I’d already done the State Capitol I got off at the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum which ended up being one of the highlights of the trip, possibly because I had no expectations of it.  It was really well laid out and I found all the information fascinating and informative, well worth a look. It’s 1.5 hours between stops on the bus so I tore myself away to wait for the bus and then headed onto the Bullock Texas State History Museum which was good but I’d choose the LBJ Museum if I only had time for one of them. After that the last stop was South Congress (SoCo), the weather was slightly better that afternoon so I jumped off to have a better look around.  The last bus leaves SoCo at 5pm so I jumped on that and headed back to the Austin Information Centre and then headed back to the hotel.  That night we headed to Fixe for dinner for some Southern comfort food with a modern twist, it’s upmarket inside but the prices are reasonable, and the staff were lovely.

Our third day in Austin I was hoping to get out on Lady Bird Lake and do a kayak tour but there was a risk of thunderstorms so they were not running, instead I had a lazy morning and had perfect brunch at Forthright cafe – the best coffee I’ve had in the U.S and a waffle sandwich with smoky bacon, egg and melted gruyere covered in maple syrup.  Then I headed up to the Blanton Museum of Art which has free entry every Thursday, nothing better than free art on a rainy day.  I wanted to have more of a look around Austin so I did the Austin Detours ‘The Real Austin‘ tour, after the Double Decker Austin tour it was a lot of the same sites so I wouldn’t recommend doing both but the tour guide was lovely and it was nice to drive around in a comfortable car in comfort.  That night we headed to Rainey Street, don’t leave Austin without going here! We started at Bangers which had a great beer selection and tasty food, we had boiled peanuts, poutine and one of the sausage plates – perfect! a band was starting up jut as we were leaving, it was tempting to stay but we wanted to check out a few other places.  Next we hit up L’Estelle House as I felt like a wine, we were guided in by the sign that was advertising prosecco on tap, I went with the chardonnay and we got cosy inside as it was still raining, my husband had to work the next day so we went to one last spot G’Rag Mahal for a late night curry and a nightcap, there was a great 3 piece band playing a combination of Indian and Country music which was really entertaining.  We then walked along the Lady Bird Lake back to the hotel.

We departed Austin at 3pm on our last day there so I spent my last few hours meandering along South Congress Street.  I started at Jo’s for a breakfast taco and a Belgian bomber which is their version of an iced coffee – perfect, especially as the sun had decided to emerge and was in full force.  I then did a heap of Austin touristy things, looked for souvenirs, tried on cowboy boots, contemplated art and tried to work up a hunger so I could finish it all off at Torchy’s Tacos.  I got there at midday and there was a line out the door which took about 15minutes to get to the register but once I ordered the food was at my table within 5 minutes.  I had the green chile con queso which was incredible, I’ve been craving it ever since, and an independence taco.  The con queso was the star but the taco was great, well worth the line up, and with that we left Austin – the trip out to the airport from downtown took 20 minutes tops.  I left Texas wanting to check out more of the country and hopefully I’ll get more time around that neck of the woods.

Austin tips:

• At time of writing Austin did not have Uber or Lyft.  Use Fasten instead.  Feel free to use my code of IK4914 to get a free $5 credit on your account.
• You cannot leave Austin without trying Torchy’s Tacos, I am still dreaming about their Chile Con Quesco, they have more than 10 locations in Austin so there is no excuse not to go.
• There are a lot of great tours in Austin that only run on the weekends (Music, foodie tours, winery trips), if you’re only there during the week there are limited options.
• Don’t miss the LBJ Museum, it’s worth a look.