Best day trip from Austin?

My GF and I want to take a day trip. Where is the best place to go from Austin?

This time of year....the best day trip that you could take would be to Fredericksburg and Enchanted Rock.

Here is my proposed itinerary:

head southwest out of Austin on 290, this will take you through Johnson City...birthplace of LBJ. There you can stop at some antique stores and the Feedmill, if you are hungry. It is a cute restaurant in an old feedmill that has crazy art work and kitschy decorations. I once saw Blanche from "The Golden Girls" there!

Stay on 290west....you will pass LBJ state park which is his old homestead and is now a pretty park where you can see pioneer farm 'reenactments'....just in case you always wondered how to make cheese or use a washboard! :)
You will also pass the Wildflower Farm(in spring they have dramatic gardens) where you can buy gifts and wildflower seeds. If Burg's Corner is open, stop and get some homemade peach ice cream or honey butter. Yummm!

In about 1and 1/2 hours of driving, you will reach Fredericksburg....If you aren't a nature lover, stop here. If you are...continue on the extra 20 miles to Enchanted Rock State Park. You will see signs in Fredericksburg off of the main road. This is a stunning park with a HUGE granite slab mountain rising out of the liveoak and cedar. If you huff and puff it to the top...you will be rewarded with an amazing view of the hill country. There are lots of other trails through the park and even some fun rock climbing to be had.

Afterwards, head back into Fredericksburg for dinner and drinks. If you don't go to Enchanted ROck,, you could also do some antique shopping in the TONS of cute stores there. THere are a lot of good restaurants on the main street. I like the Navajo Grill for something a little nicer. The Auslander has a Beer Garden and great authentic German food. THe Fredericksburg Brewing Company is good for a burger and beer. When you have wined and dined eachother, head back to Austin. Or...be spontaneous and book a one of the hundreds of bed and breakfasts that are in the area and contiue the romance!

Hope this helps! Have a great trip!

-Kango Traveler

Wine Country Tour/Bed and Breakfasts - Fredericksburg
Historical/Theme Parks - San Antonio
Camping/Hiking/Outdoors - Enchanted Rock
Antiquing/Arts and Crafts - Salado

It depends on what you like to do, but these are some ideas

Go to San Antonio ... it is only about an 1-1/2 hour drive from Austin.

Corpus is nice.

Well The best trip my dearest Husband took me to, was Springfield, Missouri the "Show Me State" LOL we went to Bass Pro it was awesome we ate in their Restaurant and made the day out of it, I really enjoyed it, and will never forget it! memories!

has to be into the hill country...head sw towards Leakey Tx and then into Gardner State Park..take a camera. Probably a 2 to
2 1/2 hour dive. Might be more enjoyable heading west to Johnson city and Fredericksbure then head s-sw rather than going thru San Antone then west.

If it is a week day, then drive to Shiner Texas, southeast of Austin. There you can visit the Shiner Beer Brewery and you get samples!! It is a pretty drive and the small brewery is fun and the tour is informative.
I say week day because they don't have tours on week-ends.

Whatever you do, don't waste your time going to the Blue Bell factory in Brenham, it is not worth the time or the money (they charge for their tour!)

When we have out-of-town visitors we always go to San Antonio. We first go to the Lone Star Brewery and Museum which is so much fun and of course free samples! Then the usual boring trip to the Alamo. Then down the River Walk, the zoo (where we always ride horses and that is fun) and you can go up on the sky-high twirling restaurant and get a fantastic view of the whole city! You can make a pretty cheap and fun day of it in San Antonio. Their zoo is wonderful and if you really want to spend money I guess you could go to Sea World. But that takes a lot of time out of your day. Our friends loved the brewery, the Alamo, the River Walk and the zoo most. Have a blast!

well, let's see, you mean Austin, TX??
I think, the coolest place in Texas is DALLAS!