My first ever stay through AirBnB could not have been more perfect.
I stayed with Julie in her sytlish ultra modern home in South Austin, which is ideally situated close to the hip and trendy South Congress, or SoCo area. Dotted around the area are a great many restaurants, cafes and bars. Access to the city could not be simpler with the Downtown area an easy hop by bus etc. or even by foot. At least 4 Downtown bound buses run very close by the house. Either the number 1,5,10 or 801 buses will get you downtown within a few minutes.
Austin city itself has an extraordinary vibe. The size of the city and it’s simple grid pattern make it easy to navigate on foot with the Downtown area offering an astonishing collection of distinctive bars, restaurants and deli’s etc.
At the Music Capitol of the World head to 6th St or the nearby Warehouse District for your live music fix. Also check out Rainey St with it’s distinctive selection of bars, especially the Container Bar, created out of interconnected stacked shipping containers! Food trucks abound everywhere in Austin offering every mouth-watering culinary creation known to man. Some 1500 of them I believe.
Austin is a very ‘bike friendly’ city. I hired a bike for the week from one of the many bike shops offering rentals and tours. Most routes throughout the city feature bike lanes and the car driving population are seemingly very aware, courteous and used to cyclists along the city streets.
Austin weather, as they say, is either perfect or hot. Either way, I highly recommend heading down to Barton Springs. A cool spring fed, landscaped natural swimming pool and a hive of happy activity on a gorgeous day. The number 30 bus will take you there.
Finally, a word about Julie, your wonderful host; I stayed with Julie for one week and felt like we had been friends for years. A more warm hearted and welcoming host would be hard to find. Julie is a fountain of knowledge concerning all things ‘Austin’ and will help you in any way she can to make your stay as delightful as it can possibly be.
I will be back in Austin as soon as I can and I will be staying here again (unless you booked it first)