Frommer's San Antonio and Austin, 8th Ed (Frommer's Complete)

356 Pages·2009·8.23 MB·English

by  David Baird

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San Antonio
& Austin
8th Edition
by David Baird
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When not traveling, David Baird hangs his hat in Austin. Upon leaving college he took a
vow of poverty and has faithfully kept it through a variety of pursuits, including anthro-
pology and travel writing. He’s something of a homebody but will occasionally rouse
himself for an evening out, always for the selfless purposes of research.
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ISBN: 978-0-470-43789-6
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5 4 3 2 1
C O N T E N T S
LIST OF MAPS vii
WHAT’S NEW IN SAN ANTONIO & AUSTIN 1
1 THE BEST OF SAN ANTONIO & AUSTIN 3
1 Most Unforgettable Experiences . . .3 6 Best San Antonio Shopping. . . . . . . .7
2 Best Splurge Hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 7 Best Hour in Austin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
3 Best Moderately Priced Hotels. . . . . .5 8 Best Austin Outdoor Activities . . . . .8
4 Best Dining Experiences. . . . . . . . . . . .6 9 Best Places to Hang with
5 Best Things to Do for Austinites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
(Almost) Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 10 Best Plunges into Excess . . . . . . . . . . .9
2 SAN ANTONIO & AUSTIN IN DEPTH 11
1 San Antonio & Austin Today. . . . . . .12 Austin: Dateline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Did You Know?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 3 Lay of the Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
2 Looking Back. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 4 San Antonio & Austin in
San Antonio: Dateline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Popular Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
3 PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO SAN ANTONIO & AUSTIN 27
1 Visitor Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 5 Austin: Getting There &
2 Entry Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Getting Around. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Cut to the Front of the Airport 6 Money & Costs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Security Line as a Registered What Things Cost in San
Traveler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Antonio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
3 When to Go. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 What Things Cost in Austin . . . . . . . . .48
San Antonio Calendar of Events . . . .31 7 Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Austin Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . . . .34 8 Safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
4 San Antonio: Getting There 9 Specialized Travel Resources . . . . . .51
& Getting Around. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
10 Sustainable Tourism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
iv It’s Easy Being Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 11 Staying Connected. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Frommers.com: The Complete Online Traveler’s Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . .58
Travel Resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
4 SUGGESTED SAN ANTONIO ITINERARIES 60
The Neighborhoods in Brief . . . . . . . . .60 2 The Best of San Antonio
1 The Best of San Antonio in 2 Days. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
in 1 Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 3 The Best of San Antonio
in 3 Days. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
N
TI
S
U 5 WHERE TO STAY IN SAN ANTONIO 70
A
&
O 1 Best San Antonio Hotel Bets. . . . . . .71 5 Fort Sam Houston Area . . . . . . . . . . .84
NI
O Deal Well, Sleep Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 6 Northwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
T
N 2 Downtown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 7 West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
A
AN 3 King William Historic District . . . . . .80 8 North Central (Near the
S Family-Friendly Hotels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Airport). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
4 Monte Vista Historic District. . . . . . .83
TS 6 WHERE TO DINE IN SAN ANTONIO 91
N
E
T
N 1 Best San Antonio Dining Bets . . . . .92 Family-Friendly Restaurants. . . . . . . .104
O
C 2 Restaurants by Cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . .93 6 Alamo Heights Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
3 Downtown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 7 Northwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
It’s Always Chili in San Antonio. . . . .100 Frozen Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
4 King William/Southtown . . . . . . . . 100 8 Only in San Antonio. . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5 Monte Vista Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
7 EXPLORING SAN ANTONIO 111
1 The Top Attractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 6 Strolling Downtown San
The Alamo: The Movie(s). . . . . . . . . . .117 Antonio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
2 More Attractions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Walking Tour: Downtown. . . . . . . . . .132
3 Parks & Gardens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 7 Organized Tours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
4 Especially for Kids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 8 Staying Active. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5 Special-Interest Sightseeing. . . . . 128 9 Spectator Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Old Movie Palaces of San
Antonio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
v
8 SHOPPING IN SAN ANTONIO 139
1 The Shopping Scene. . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Love Potion No. 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
2 Shopping A to Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
9 SAN ANTONIO AFTER DARK 150
1 The Performing Arts. . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 3 The Bar Scene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
2 The Club & Music Scene . . . . . . . . 153 4 Movies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Conjunto: An American Classic . . . .155 SA
N
A
10 SIDE TRIPS FROM SAN ANTONIO 159 N
T
O
N
1 New Braunfels & Gruene . . . . . . . . 159 3 Corpus Christi & Beyond . . . . . . . . 166 IO
&
2 Small-Town Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 A
U
S
T
11 SUGGESTED AUSTIN ITINERARIES 169 IN
Neighborhoods in Brief. . . . . . . . . . . . .169 2 The Best of Austin in 2 Days. . . . . 176
1 The Best of Austin in 1 Day. . . . . . 173 3 The Best of Austin in 3 Days. . . . . 177
C
O
N
12 WHERE TO STAY IN AUSTIN 178 T
E
N
T
1 Best Austin Hotel Bets. . . . . . . . . . . 179 5 Northwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 S
2 Downtown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 6 Westlake/Lake Travis . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
3 South Austin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Family-Friendly Hotels. . . . . . . . . . . . . .193
It Pays to Stay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186 7 At the Airport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
4 Central. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
13 WHERE TO DINE IN AUSTIN 196
1 Best Austin Dining Bets . . . . . . . . . 196 6 Central. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
2 Restaurants by Cuisine . . . . . . . . . . 197 Family-Friendly Restaurants. . . . . . . .213
3 Downtown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 7 East Side. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Grocery Store Dining. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203 8 Northwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
4 South Austin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 9 Westlake/Lake Travis . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
5 West Austin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 10 Only in (or Around) Austin . . . . . . 217
14 EXPLORING AUSTIN 219
1 The Top Attractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 2 More Attractions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Going Batty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220 3 Especially for Kids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
vi 4 Special-Interest Sightseeing. . . . . 236 6 Organized Tours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
5 Strolling the University of Texas . . . 237 7 Staying Active. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Walking Tour: UT Austin. . . . . . . . . . . .237 8 Spectator Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
15 SHOPPING IN AUSTIN 249
1 The Shopping Scene. . . . . . . . . . . . 249 2 Shopping A to Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
First Thursdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250
N 16 AUSTIN AFTER DARK 264
TI
S
U Austin City Limits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265 Label it Successful—Austin’s
A
& 1 The Performing Arts. . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 SXSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273
O
NI 2 The Club & Music Scene . . . . . . . . 269 3 The Bar Scene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
O
T Navigating Austin’s Downtown 4 Films. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
N
A Bar Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271 Celluloid Austin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277
N
A
S
17 SIDE TRIPS FROM AUSTIN 278
1 Small Towns & Texas 2 San Marcos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
TS Barbecue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 For Hard Core Only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281
N
E Experiencing Texas Barbecue. . . . . . .279 Lost Pines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285
T
N
O
C
18 TOURING THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY 286
1 Boerne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Fredericksburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .299
The Hill Country Wine Trail. . . . . . . . .290 4 Fredericksburg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
2 Bandera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 Going Back (in Time) to
A Taste of Alsace in Texas. . . . . . . . . . .293 Luckenbach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .305
3 Kerrville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 5 Lyndon B. Johnson Country. . . . . 305
Old England Finds the 6 The Northern Lakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Old West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .297 Viewing Bluebonnets & Other
Bats & Ostriches Along a Back Road to Wildflowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .308
FAST FACTS, TOLL-FREE NUMBERS & WEBSITES 312
1 Fast Facts: San Antonio. . . . . . . . . . 312 3 Toll-Free Numbers
2 Fast Facts: Austin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 & Websites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
INDEX 322
General Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .322 Restaurant Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .337
Accommodations Index. . . . . . . . . .336
L I S T O F M A P S vii
San Antonio & Austin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Austin at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
San Antonio at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . 62 The Best of Austin in 1, 2
& 3 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174
The Best of San Antonio in 1, 2
& 3 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Downtown Austin
Accommodations . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
Downtown San Antonio
Accommodations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Greater Austin Accommodations
& Dining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190
Greater San Antonio
Accommo dations & Dining . . . . . 86 Downtown Austin Dining . . . . . . . .201
Downtown San Antonio SoCo Dining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205
Dining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Downtown Austin
Downtown San Antonio Attractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
Attractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Greater Austin Attractions . . . . . . .222
Greater San Antonio Walking Tour: The University
Attractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114 of Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Walking Tour: Downtown Downtown Austin Shopping . . . . .251
San Antonio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Greater Austin Shopping . . . . . . . .252
Downtown San Antonio
Austin After Dark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267
Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
The Texas Hill Country . . . . . . . . . . .288
Greater San Antonio
Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142 Fredericksburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301
AN INVITATION TO THE READER
In researching this book, we discovered many wonderful places—hotels, restaurants, shops,
and more. We’re sure you’ll find others. Please tell us about them, so we can share the informa-
tion with your fellow travelers in upcoming editions. If you were disappointed with a recom-
mendation, we’d love to know that, too. Please write to:
Frommer’s San Antonio & Austin, 8th Edition
Wiley Publishing, Inc. • 111 River St. • Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
AN ADDITIONAL NOTE
Please be advised that travel information is subject to change at any time—and this is espe-
cially true of prices. We therefore suggest that you write or call ahead for confirmation when
making your travel plans. The authors, editors, and publisher cannot be held responsible for
the experiences of r eaders while traveling. Your safety is impor tant to us, ho wever, so we
encourage you to stay alert and be aware of your surroundings. Keep a close eye on cameras,
purses, and wallets, all favorite targets of thieves and pickpockets.
Other Great Guides for Your Trip:
Frommer’s Texas
Frommer’s USA
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