Austin · 3-day itinerary
3 Days in Austin: A Grown-Up Itinerary
Three days in Austin should give you three different musical nights (jazz, country and roots), a swim, a museum and at least one legendary plate of barbecue.
- Day 1
- Downtown: Capitol, Blanton, P6 and the bats, Elephant Room
- Day 2
- South: Barton Springs, Uchi, Broken Spoke two-step
- Day 3
- East and SoCo: Franklin, LBJ Library, Güero's, Continental Club
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Day 1: Downtown
History and art by day, bats at sunset, jazz underground.
Afternoon
Texas State Capitol
1100 Congress Ave
A free 40-minute tour.
Free 40-minute guided tours leave every 15 to 30 minutes from the South Foyer (from noon on Sundays), or wander the building and grounds on your own.
Afternoon
Blanton Museum of Art
MLK Blvd & Congress Ave, UT campus
Don't miss Ellsworth Kelly's Austin. Free on Tuesdays.
The university's art museum, home to Ellsworth Kelly's Austin, a light-filled stone chapel of coloured glass. Free on Tuesdays; closed Mondays; open until 8 p.m. on Saturdays.
Sunset
P6 at The LINE
The LINE Austin, 111 E Cesar Chavez St
Book a rooftop table for the bat flight (in season).
A sixth-floor rooftop over Lady Bird Lake with Mediterranean small plates and a front-row view of the Congress Avenue bridge, so you can watch the bats fly out at sunset in season.
Dinner
Lamberts Downtown Barbecue
2nd St & Guadalupe St
Barbecue at a table, a band upstairs.
Barbecue with a sit-down dining room in the 1873 J.P. Schneider Store, and a swanky upstairs bar with a stage for local bands. A block from the Moody Theater.
Late
Elephant Room
315 Congress Ave (basement)
Jazz in the basement until late.
An old-school basement jazz bar under the 19th-century Swift Building, with live jazz seven nights a week since 1991 and a small cover ($5 to $10).
Day 2: South Austin
A spring-fed swim, a sushi dinner and a dance hall.
Morning
Barton Springs Pool
Zilker Park, 2201 Barton Springs Rd
Not on a Thursday (closed for cleaning 9 to 7).
A spring-fed pool three acres long, around 68 to 70 degrees all year, in Zilker Park. Open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.; $9 for non-resident adults.
Early dinner
Uchi
801 S Lamar Blvd
Book a 6 p.m. table.
Tyson Cole's non-traditional Japanese restaurant, the place that made Austin a sushi town. Go for the tasting menu or the omakase.
Evening
Broken Spoke
3201 S Lamar Blvd
Lesson from 8 to 9 p.m. (Wednesday to Saturday), then the band.
A honky-tonk dance hall and restaurant open since 1964. Two-step lessons run Wednesday to Saturday, 8 to 9 p.m., then the band takes over. All ages, all abilities.
Day 3: Barbecue and roots music
Queue, nap, then South Congress.
Late morning
Franklin Barbecue
900 E 11th St
Join the line early; it sells out.
Aaron Franklin's brisket, served Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. until it sells out. The queue is part of the ritual: three to four hours, longer on festival weekends.
Afternoon
LBJ Presidential Library
2313 Red River St, UT campus
Half price on Tuesdays.
A presidential library that holds your attention: civil rights, the Great Society and Vietnam, told candidly. Open 9 to 5 daily; half price on Tuesdays.
Dinner
Güero's Taco Bar
1412 S Congress Ave
Margaritas and free music in the Oak Garden.
Tex-Mex and margaritas in an old feed store, with free live music under the trees in the Oak Garden from Wednesday to Sunday.
Evening
The Continental Club (and the Gallery upstairs)
1315 S Congress Ave
Check both the main room and the Gallery upstairs.
South Congress's legendary roots-music club, open since 1955. Upstairs, the 40-person Gallery is a speakeasy-ish room for jazz, soul and songwriters, with regulars like James McMurtry.
Swaps
- Special occasion? Book Jeffrey's in Clarksville instead of Uchi.
- Blues fans: swap the Elephant Room for a show at Antone's.
- Fourth day? Drive out to Fredericksburg for Hill Country wine.
Jeffrey's
1204 W Lynn St, Clarksville
Austin fine dining since 1975: dry-aged prime steaks, classic service and one of the largest wine lists in Texas. On OpenTable's 2026 list of romantic restaurants.
Tip: Weeknights book about a week out; Saturdays about two weeks.
Antone's Nightclub
305 E 5th St
Austin's home of the blues since 1975, where the Vaughan brothers came up. Touring blues legends, anniversary bills and Blue Monday jams.
Fredericksburg & the Hill Country wineries
About 90 minutes west on US-290
A German-settled Hill Country town with a long Main Street and more than 40 wineries along US-290. Take a tour or a shuttle so nobody has to drive.
Everything here was checked in September 2026. Line-ups, covers and hours change, so check the calendars before you go.
Questions people ask
Is 3 days enough in Austin?
Yes. Three days gives you three great music nights, Barton Springs, the Capitol and a museum or two, Franklin Barbecue and time on South Congress.
How long is the line at Franklin Barbecue?
Typically three to four hours, and longer on weekends and during festivals. It opens at 11 a.m. Tuesday to Sunday and closes when the meat sells out. Pre-orders of 5 lb or more skip the line.
When can you see the Austin bats?
Roughly mid-March to early November, around sunset, from the Congress Avenue bridge. Rooftops like P6 at The LINE face the bridge.