Austin Attractions
Austin, Texas is a great place to live. Austin has a lot to offer everyone. I’m sure you’ve heard Austin referred to as the outdoor city, gateway to the hill country, music capital of the world, creative city, and as dog-friendly city. Whatever your tastes, Austin has something to offer!
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is Austin's only independently owned and operated movie theater. We serve a full menu of dinner and drinks to your seat while you watch the movie.
Arthouse (formerly the Texas Fine Arts Association) was founded in 1911, and for more than ninety years it has advocated for the support of contemporary art in Texas, organizing exhibitions and presenting them in Austin and statewide. From its home, the Jones Center in downtown Austin, Arthouse pursues its mission: to promote the growth and appreciation of contemporary art and artists in Texas. Through its exhibitions and programs in Austin and statewide, Arthouse helps nurture artists careers and deepen public understanding of contemporary art.
The Austin Children's Museum inspires young children and adults in their lives to experience the joy of learning through the power of constructive play.
For over 30 years, Austin City Limits has presented live music, pure and simple, to audiences across the world. The award-winning series spotlights artists of every musical genre — from rhythm and blues to rock, jazz, and alternative music. Austin City Limits is a co-production of KLRU-TV and Capital Sports & Entertainment.
The Austin Lyric Opera was founded in May 1986 as Austin’s first professional opera company, the Austin Lyric Opera has rapidly become a cultural touchstone for the fine arts community in the Central Texas Region and gained national-acclaim as a producer of great opera.
At the Austin Nature and Science Center you will find nature exhibits, education programs, recreation resources, countless visitors, teachers, and children of all ages. When you come by for a visit you will be able to meet a coyote and red-tailed hawk in our Wildlife Exhibits. You can follow the path of Texas fossil hunters and un-cover evidence of pre-historic life in the Dino Pit. You can explore natural science specimens and add to your own collection through the Naturalist Workshop and Trade Counter. Come on by and help us celebrate natural wonders of Austin.
The Austin Symphony offers a "Passport to Excellence" in a variety of concerts, including eight classical concerts, four pops concerts and three family concerts. The ASO also performs a selection of free concerts throughout the year for the Austin community.
Ballet Austin is classically innovative. Through excellence and faithful stewardship, we create, nurture and share the joy of dance.
For the swimmer, Zilker Park offers Barton Springs Pool, a natural spring-fed pool with a year-round average temperature of 68 degrees.
The Blanton Museum welcomes and engages all visitors by offering personal, extraordinary experiences that connect art and ideas, reaching within and beyond campus to stimulate the thriving, creative community that is Austin, Texas.
For more than a quarter century, the folks at Esther's Pool have kept Austin rolling with laughter. Part magic show, part vaudeville review, part improv tour-de-force, Esther's Follies takes no prisoners, offering biting, hilarious satire on all the news makers and events fit to parody.
Top ranked on the stand-up circuit, Capital City Comedy Club books nationally recognized comedians like Dave Chapell, Carlos Mencia, and Bobcat Goldwaith. The cream of the crop turn up on Friday and Saturday, of course, but you'll find plenty to laugh at (including lower cover charges) the rest of the week.
Escape from the 21st Century and relax with The Austin Steam Train on a ride through American railroading’s romantic past. Let the rivers and ranches of the Texas Hill Country, or the historic neighborhoods and lush parks of the heart of Austin, slip by your window as you, your family and friends share the delights of an adventure on Central Texas’ very own vintage passenger train!
Whether you're new to Austin, just visiting, or a native Texan, there is more Texas history right here in Austin than you could ever see on your own. Let Austin Overtures take you to the historic hot spots! It's fun, fast and informative, and best of all, you can leave the driving to them.
At Austin's Park 'n Pizza you'll find more than 22 acres of fun-filled attractions, event areas, an interactive game pavilion and delicious pizza, pasta, and salad!
The Austin Park Police Lake Patrol Unit offers Basic Boater Education Classes. The topics included in the course range from choosing the right boat to boating laws and handling accidents.
Austin Theater for Youth is a professional theater which creates enriching, relevant and entertaining theater experiences for the young people and families of Central Texas.
Austin Zoo is a rescue zoo and provides sanctuary to displaced animals from a variety of unfortunate and often neglectful situations.
Every summer night, hundreds of people gather to see the world's largest urban bat colony emerge from under the Congress Avenue Bridge. These 1.5 million bats are fun to watch, but they're also making our world a better place to live.
Built in 1886 as the showplace of a cattle baron, The Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas stands as a landmark of Texas hospitality. Austin's legendary luxury hotel occupies a dynamic site in the city's business district, convenient to the capitol building, convention center, entertainment district and other key destinations.
Duck Adventures is a narrated driving/boating tour, approximately 90 minutes in length, starts near West First Street, near the Radison by Town Lake. Riding aloft in your British Alvis Stalwart (a.k.a. duck), you'll visit the Capitol Building, Governor's Mansion, LBJ Library, Sixth Street, Congress Avenue and splash down in scenic Lake Austin. The "duck" can hold 45 people; larger groups, family or corporate parties can be accommodated at the party pavilion on Fifth Street.
The First Thursday of each month, merchants of the historic, pedestrian friendly, South Congress Avenue keep their doors open until 10 pm (and later in some cases) playing host to an array of events and activities.
Nestled in a quiet, green corner of the bustling modern capital of the State of Texas, The French Legation was originally built in 1840-41 to be the residence of the chargé d'affaires who represented the government of France in the Republic of Texas.
This site is a Guide to Texas and has a wealth of information and history about Texas cities and things to do in or near the city (dining, lodging, cultural activities, amusement parks, bike trails, music festivals, and much, much more).
One of the world's finest cultural archives, the Harry Ransom Center houses 36 million literary manuscripts, one million rare books, five million photographs, and over 100,000 works of art. Highlights include the Gutenberg Bible (c. 1455), the First Photograph (c. 1826), important paintings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and major manuscript collections of James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Tennessee Williams, to name but a few. The Center is used extensively for research by scholars from around the world and presents numerous exhibitions and events showcasing its collections. Exhibitions and events are free and open to the public.
Austin's original indoor Inflatable Wonderland, inflatable playground designed for children 10 and under!
Explore Texas' most accessible cavern, Inner Space Cavern, where Ice-Age animals were found amid fantastic cave formations. Located just 20 miles north of Austin and directly under Interstate 35.
Welcome to the wonderful world of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center! The Wildflower Center is a botanical garden in Austin, Texas, dedicated to native plants.
Longhorn Cavern State Park features Longhorn Cavern, a Texas Hill Country wonder created over thousands of years by the dissolving and cutting action of water on the limestone bedrock of the area. Fossil remains show that many Ice Age animals once occupied the cave.
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is the nation’s most visited presidential library and highlights LBJ’s life and presidency and the office of the President in general.
Take the North Cavern Tour at the Natural Bridge Caverns and see what millions of others have seen - an incredible world of natural beauty. This 75-minute tour travels through a half-mile of the largest and most spectacular show cavern in Texas.
The O. Henry Museum offers a look into the life of William Sidney Porter, the man who became famous under the pen name O. Henry. Known as "the master of the short story," Porter lived in this 1886 Queen Anne-style cottage from 1893 to 1895. His home has since been restored and now contains artifacts and memorabilia from Porter's life in Austin.
Take a deep breath and inhale the aroma of some of the best BBQ the Hill Country has to offer. You've found "The Salt Lick" so named by owner Hisako Roberts and her husband, the late Thurman Roberts, because "a Salt Lick is something where all the animals congregate. There is something good, something essential about it."
Schlitterbahn offers three unique family fun experiences. Visit Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort on the edge of the beautiful Texas Hill Country in New Braunfels and experience the waterpark that has been "Voted the Best Anywhere!" eight years in a row.