City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
62. Die Gelbe Rose Carriage
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 477-8824
Description: This carriage company (whose name is “The Yellow Rose” in German) offers 25- to 75-minute horse-drawn carriage tours around downtown’s most comely sights. There are tours of the State Capitol area, Sixth Street, Lady Bird Lake, or you can design your own tour. The service, will pick you up at any one of more than dozen hotels and restaurants downtown. Call ahead if you prefer to have a carriage waiting at a certain time to whisk you away. Magnificent Clydesdales are the horses used for this task.
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
64. Capital Cruises
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 480-9264
Address: 208 Barton Springs Rd.
Description: For private or public cruises of Lady Bird Lake, Capital Cruises offers a variety of tour options. Public tours, held Mar through Oct, include weekend dinner cruises and sightseeing tours as well as the popular bat-watching excursions. Capital Cruises also offers private cruises by reservation year-round, and can accommodate groups big and small. These include private and group dinner cruises, party boat cruises, and company outings. They even have a margarita machine for rent during your tour! (You supply the booze.) Check the website to see options and make reservations.
65. Lake Austin Riverboats
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 345-5220
Description: These two stern-wheel riverboats are for chartered cruises on gorgeous Lake Austin, complete with food and beverage service if you like. Commodore’s Pup is for groups of 130 people or fewer, while the riverboat Commodore can hold up to 220 people. They can do weddings, casino nights, corporate meetings, or just about anything else. Entertainment can also be arranged for that special party. Call for rates.
66. Live Love Paddle
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 804-2122
Description: Kayaks are the mode of transportation offered by this newcomer to the Austin tour scene. Led by professional kayakers and whitewater rafters Casey Vick and Beverley Chrystal, Live Love Paddle is all about the water. There’s a 1 1⁄2-hour Bat Tour in which kayakers paddle up Lady Bird Lake to the Congress Avenue Bridge to see and learn about Austin’s famous bat colony. They also offer 3- to 5-hour trips on one of the area’s rivers, as well as overnight kayaking and camping on the San Marcos River. Kayaks, paddles, flotation devices, and water are provided. You can reserve through the website.
67. Lone Star Riverboat
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 327-1388
Description: Electric pontoon cruisers seating 34 or 60 people take visitors on a one-hour cruise of scenic Lady Bird Lake (with the ever-changing Austin skyline as a backdrop) from Mar through Oct. Lone Star offers a variety of cruise times, including a sunset tour with a close-up view of the evening flight of the bats from the Congress Avenue Bridge. There’s also a 1-hour weekend tour offered about mid-afternoon on Sat and Sun, as well as holiday cruises. Group and private charters aboard an all-electric, double-decked, paddle-wheel riverboat are also available. The schedule changes according to the time of year. Reservations are taken by phone at the number above.
68. Austin’s Cosmic Cowboy Tour
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 589-5564
Description: All aboard the Cosmic Duck—a bright yellow amphibious vehicle—for a 2-hour evening tour of Austin on the streets and on Lake Austin. What makes this fun tour unique is it includes a real live (and real good) musician on board as well as food, drinks, and a stop at one of Austin’s clubs, pubs, or saloons. Owner and tour guide Greg Strake knows Austin! Public tours depart across the street from the Hilton Hotel at 500 East Fourth St. Private and group tours also are offered. Check the website for details.
69. Austin Duck Adventures
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 477-5274
Description: What’s that amphibious truck emitting a loud quacking sound rolling down Congress Avenue? It is one of the Austin Duck Adventure vehicles, which goes from the road straight into Lady Bird Lake for a cruise along the river. As you ride/float you get to see and hear about Austin from lively, knowledgeable tour guides. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Austin Visitor Center, 209 East Sixth St. There are several departures daily, and all trips leave from the visitor center. This is not Splash Mountain so no need to wear swimsuits. But do be prepared to quack!
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 921 Aquarena Springs Dr.
71. Austin Children’s Museum
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 472-2499
Address: 201 Colorado St.
Insider Pick:
Description: Fun and educational. What better combination is there to please children and parents alike? The Austin Children’s Museum at Dell Discovery Center is a 12,500-square-foot playscape filled with galleries and hands-on activities designed to entertain and educate even the youngest visitors. This facility is just packed with permanent and temporary exhibits—all aimed at encouraging youngsters to explore and use their imaginations. The museum is open Mon 9 a.m. to noon for children under 3 years old only, Tues through Sat 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sun noon to 5 p.m. Admission is by donation on Wed from 5 to 8 p.m. and free Sun from 4 to 5 p.m. The museum also offers a wide range of summer camps, school tours, and special activities for children throughout the year.
72. Austin Museum of Art at Laguna Gloria
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 458-8191
Address: 3809 West Thirty-fifth St.
Insider Pick:
Description: Housed in a historic villa, this great West Austin museum also hosts the city’s art school for children and adults alike. While small children may feel too restricted in the exhibition space, the museum sits on a 12-acre site, complete with sculpture garden that gives kids plenty of room to move around while still enjoying works of art. The school is in a separate building on-site. The museum also hosts several family friendly outdoor festivals each year. Operating hours for the villa and the grounds vary, so check the website before heading out. Public tours are held at 1 p.m. on weekends.
73. Austin Nature and Science Center
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 974-3888
Address: 301 Nature Center Dr.
Description: Children will get a kick out of looking through microscopes and magnifying glasses for close-up views of specimens, viewing more than 90 animals native to Texas, and working in a paleontological dig in the Dino Pit at this great center in the Zilker Park Nature Preserve. Owls, hawks, and vultures are featured in the Birds of Prey exhibit, while the Small Wonders exhibit displays 20 of Austin’s small animals. Kids can also earn points for correctly identifying the Monthly Mystery Object. The Nature and Science Center is a perfect introduction to Austin’s unique ecosystems and to the wonders of Austin nature. The center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon through Sat and Sun noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
74. The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 936-8746, (866) 369-7108
Address: 1800 North Congress Ave.
Description: This downtown museum just north of the State Capitol is a must visit for visitors of all ages, but kids will love the colorful exhibits, many of them interactive, which present the story of Texas from before we were even called Texas. Because this is a noncollecting museum, some exhibits come and go—so visit often! The museum also houses Austin’s only IMAX theater and the Spirit Theater.
75. George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center
City: Austin, TX
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (512) 974-4926
Address: 1165 Angelina St.
Description: Distinguished for being the first African-American neighborhood museum in the state of Texas, the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center is a 36,000-square-foot facility that includes 4 galleries, a 134-seat theater, a dance studio, conference room, classroom, darkroom, and archival space. The museum’s core exhibit is on Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. There also is a permanent exhibit on Austin African-American families, an Artists Gallery, and a children’s hands-on exhibit on African-American scientists and inventors, including George Washington Carver, of course.