I just got back from a girls’ trip to Austin, Texas and it was amazing! Three of my closest friends and I have decided to go on a girls’ trip every year after graduating from college and year one was a success.
The weather was hot, the food was good, the music was loud! It’s 100% one of my favorite trips and I highly recommend Austin, Texas, if you’re looking for a great place to visit with friends. That being said, there are some definite hits, delicious eats, useful tips, and places you might want to skip that I wanted to share with you!
Here’s my honest, no-frills guide to a girls trip to Austin, Texas.
What to eat:
Get a heavy breakfast or a tasty snack at Gordough’s Big Fat Donuts.
Best advice? Share these! They’re so huge. All of the flavors we tried were amazing, but it’s nearly impossible to finish these in one sitting! Each donut was 100% worth the price and you get a large serving for each, each was about double the size of an average donut.
We tried the Mother Clucker (a honey donut loaded with crispy, freshly fried, well-seasoned chicken) which was our favorite by far. We also tried the Black Out (loaded with brownie!), the Strawberry Shortcake, and the Blue Balls (literally coated in a blueberry sauce).
We went to the truck location near South Congress, but there’s also a brick and mortar location in Austin. There was a bit of a wait to get these donuts since they’re made fresh, but they were absolutely worth it! There’s a bit of outdoor seating near the truck, a lot of it is in the shade.
Get breakfast at Bird Bird Biscuit.
There’s not a ton of seating here, but it is 100% worth it! I ended up getting a biscuit with apple-cranberry jam (the jam was not my favorite), but the biscuit was giant and truly life-changing. They also have chicken and biscuit sandwiches that looked absolutely delicious. This is a must-visit spot! Also, how cute is their logo?
Grab a snack at the 24-hour Voodoo Donuts.
Yes, this is technically a chain you can get outside of Austin, but the location on 6th Street is open 24 hours and it’s gorgeous! The donuts are super tasty and I couldn’t get over the gorgeous pink exterior or the colorful, mismatched interior.
There’s plenty of seating and a ton of flavors to choose from. I got their most famous donut, the voodoo donut! It was so fresh and delicious but I didn’t even come close to finishing it.
Get lunch or dinner at Chuy’s, a Tex-Mex eatery.
This was a great place for Tex-Mex food! Just be warned that lots of dishes contain cilantro, so be careful when ordering if you, like me, truly cannot stand the stuff. The decor here was very cool and the food was tasty. I recommend the tacos, I’ve never had such a crispy taco shell that didn’t fall apart when you bit it.
Grab a bite at Eureka! before hitting 6th street.
This place is super convenient (located on 6th street) and I got one of the best burgers I’ve ever had here. It was loaded with goat cheese and jam and it tasted very fancy even though the prices were super reasonable. The inside of the place is clean and the service was efficient. We ended up going here twice but I’m pretty sure there are a few more locations of this eatery around Austin.
The Moonshine Grill is amazing but super popular, so try to head there for lunch.
This was probably my favorite place. My best tip? Come here for lunch instead of dinner. It gets super crowded and we tried going for dinner on a Thursday around 6 p.m. and it was an hour wait. But when we went for lunch on Friday around 1 p.m., we didn’t wait at all.
I got the chicken and waffles and it was truly one of my best things I ate on this trip. So filling and so much food!
Grab dinner at Z’Tejas.
I ended up getting this Cajun-inspired pasta with blackened chicken and it was delicious. The place was huge. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, so you don’t have to make a reservation as we did. They serve you free cornbread that was really hyped up though I thought it was just OK.
Get some casual eats at Black’s BBQ.
I liked that you could buy barbecue by the pound here! I got the lean brisket and it was pretty tasty. This place is fast-food style and very casual.
Things to do:
Hike the Twin Falls area
My friends and I aren’t really outdoorsy people who hike BUT this hike was super doable. Wear your comfy sneakers, load up on sunscreen and bug spray and take this short hike to some stunning waterfalls!
The trail involved a few rocky bits but overall it was easy to not get lost and it wasn’t hard to get to the waterfalls. A lot of people were even swimming since the current wasn’t super strong and the water looked incredibly clean. Plus, many fellow hikers also had their tiny pups with them!
This ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was about 20 – 25 minutes away from the downtown area we were staying in.
Walk South Congress Avenue and do some shopping.
Be sure to stop by the Greetings from Austin and I Love You So Much murals, they’re actually pinned on the map if you look Google Maps, which I definitely recommend doing.
They’re right around the SoCo area. We took lots of pics with this mural which I believe is on the side of the store Roadside Relics. Surprisingly, none of the walls were crowded and we didn’t have to wait to take photos. 
Along this street there are so many fun boutiques (keep in mind that most of them are quite pricey, we’re talking $100 to $400 for dresses). We didn’t buy much but we loved walking the shops. I also loved how many stores had Tim Riggins from “Friday Night Lights” as decor or as merch.
Walk around the 2nd street area to check out the shops
Toy Joy is definitely a great place to start. It’s this super cool toy store that’s filled with miscellaneous stuffed animals, pins, knick-knacks, cat hats, pens, etc. It was really fun to walk around! This is definitely a quick little thing to do, but it was a good way to spend part of our afternoon.
I also recommend visiting the ModCloth showroom since the store is mostly online-only and I’ve never seen this store in real life! It was gorgeous inside and I actually ended up getting a polka-dot dress (surprise!) and they shipped it to my house. The whole store had a chic vintage vibe.
Visit the University of Texas and shop at their bookstore, the University Co-Op
This is the place for souvenirs. It’s three floors of adorable Texas merch. I got a long-sleeved Texas shirt here for about $20! We had so much fun walking around here and we even walked around a bit of the campus.
Plus, the area is pretty nice to walk around. We also happened upon some really gorgeous murals near the Co-Op! Perfect photo opportunity.
What to do at night:
Sing loud at Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar.
I don’t like most bars. Period. I’m not much of a going out type of girl but holy CRAP. I love this place. We went here every single night except for one. There’s a cover of about $6 or $8 but you get stamped and can come and go as you please throughout the night.
There’s a rotation of musicians who play on two giant, grand pianos. Sometimes others join in with guitar and drums. The crowd makes music requests and leave tips and the live music never stops! (It starts at 8 p.m. though the bar opens at 7 p.m.). We heard everything from “Piano Man” to “Old Town Road” to even some raps. This place is an absolute must-visit.
Watch a truly unique comedy/music/magic show at Esther’s Follies
Be sure to get your tickets in advance since this show sells out pretty quickly. This show is incredibly difficult to explain but the entertainment NEVER STOPS! There was comedy, music, and magic and it was worth every penny. I think tickets were $25 or less and we also liked that this place was on 6th street so right after the show we could head over to Pete’s.
Enjoy Ladybird Lake at night on a Lonestar Boat Cruise.
This is only offered at 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and you should book it in advance. It’s BYOB and bring your own snacks, which is nice. We ended up bringing some spiked iced tea in cans (no glass bottles are allowed onboard) and I also brought a giant soft pretzel from this bar-bakery Easy Tiger.
The views were pretty but keep in mind that it’s super windy onboard and that the boat plays soft jazz the whole time. Most people on the boat were very quiet, but overall it was a fun time that cost us under $15.
Learn the Texas two-step and Cotton-eyed Joe at the Broken Spoke.
I think this ended up costing around $12? It was worth it! This was also one of our favorite parts of the trip. The place is a dive bar, but the back dancing area is spacious and cool, it’s covered in light-up liquor label signs.
The instructor was full of attitude and the whole experience was funny and simple. We were two-stepping by the end of the night and we also learned the Cotton-eyed Joe which is nothing like the one you do at sweet sixteens and weddings. It was brand-new to us! There’s also an Amy’s Ice Cream that’s walking distance from this place, so it’s a great way to cool down.
Things to maybe skip if you’re in a time crunch:
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center was pretty but there wasn’t much to see.
As pretty as some of the plants were, this place was a bit of a further drive from the Downtown area (25 minutes or so) and there just weren’t as many flowers as we’d hoped. Skip it if you’re tight on time or don’t want to shell out $50 on Ubers both ways (it’s less if you’re splitting it with friends).
Zilker Botanical Gardens was also kind of far from downtown and a bit underwhelming.
Sure, there are some photo-ops. But it’s hot out and there’s not much to see. Not much happening here, to be honest. Also a bit of a drive from Downtown, just like the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Rainey Street could be a fun place to go out but go to 6th street if you can only choose one.
A lot of Uber drivers suggested this street filled with houses that were converted to bars. Unbarlievable was cool and circus-themed (unfortunately, though they serve funnel cake and fried Oreos, the kitchen is closed at night and we didn’t get any).
The Container Bar was impressive and made from old shipping containers. But overall we didn’t stay at any of these places for long, there wasn’t as much live music, dancing, or action as we’d hoped. This is the street to go if you’re the type of person who likes to go to bars to um, talk loudly with friends over music? I’m not much of a bar person and these were filled with people who were chatting and just buying drinks.
The famous bats under South Congress bridge are kind of underwhelming.
We camped out for quite some time to see the bats fly from under this bridge. Apparently, it’s a HUGE deal. There were lots of bugs near the area under the bridge we were camped in. We waited a while until it got dark and the bats took flight. Ultimately, they just looked like a bunch of little black pieces of paper shooting out of a confetti cannon from inside the bridge. My friends and I were underwhelmed and we stayed for about 5 minutes before heading to somewhere else.
Don’t be sad if you miss out on this one. It’s cool, but it’s not AMAZING. It’s bats. You can hardly even tell that they’re bats.
The Capitol Building isn’t that impressive.
Look, I’m not much of a history buff so this might be my personal taste. But we walked to this from our hotel and it’s just…it’s a big brownish building. You really don’t need to see it unless you’re passionate about government or architecture.
Some of my best Texas travel tips:
Pay extra to stay in a hotel with a pool. Being able to cool off was such an amazing thing! We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Downtown. Yes, we later found out that it was located between two homeless shelters (we were warned by multiple people and it doesn’t sound great) BUT the hotel was gorgeous, the pool and its cabanas were luxurious, we were close to everything in downtown, and the prices were excellent. As four young ladies, we weren’t scared or uncomfortable about this hotel’s location and the hotel’s free continental breakfast was fantastic and great for our budgets!
Plus, we always felt safe and the hotel is connected to an upscale hotel, so we were encouraged to use that hotel’s entrance at night and we did and had no problem doing so. But yeah, a pool is so worth it…and this is coming from someone who doesn’t really like swimming!
If you plan to stay in the downtown area, stick to taking Lyfts and Ubers. Renting a car isn’t worth it. We didn’t rent a car but we did calculate it and the fees alone were higher than what we spent on Ubers. Nothing is too far and the traffic is rough. Plus, parking is nearly impossible to find and in some cases, you’d have to park in pricey parking garages.
Stay in the downtown Austin area. Basically everything we did was near here! We paid extra to stay in a hotel in the area but it was definitely worth it since it saved us money on Ubers and we were able to walk to certain places.
Pack so much sunscreen and re-apply. It gets VERY hot. It is very sunny.
Overall, Austin, Texas is wonderful if you’re traveling with close friends! We had a blast and there were plenty of things to do. I recommend visiting early in the summer before it gets too hot. Uber drivers also told us it’s best to avoid visiting during University of Texas game days and during music festivals (unless you’re attending it) since it’s nearly impossible to get around and traffic is wild. Plus, prices for everything go up.
So here’s my guide to the ultimate trip to Austin, Texas! But be sure to check out my New Orleans, Louisiana guide if you want more southern travel ideas! Where do you want to travel to next?
