General layout of the city;
Austin is divided into north Austin and south Austin by the Colorado River, also known as Lady Bird Lake. Depending on who you talk to, north or south Austin is where the cool people live. “North of the river,” just across the Congress Avenue bridge you’ll find the “Warehouse district” to your left (west) which is where you’ll find a lot of the more upscale restaurants and cocktail bars, a little farther north to the right (east) is the “6th Street district” where a lot of the bars and clubs are located. The east/west streets start with Cesar Chavez St. (aka 1st Street) and go up as you go north. The Capitol Building is on 11th Street. The University of Texas, The Blanton Museum and the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum are on Martin Luther King Blvd (aka 19th Street) and the Ransom Center is on 21st Street. The north/south streets are named (mostly) after Texas rivers. Congress/South Congress is the main one you need to know. Guadalupe will take you to the University of Texas campus except that south of Martin Luther King Blvd it’s one way headed south so you have to take Lavaca headed north. Red River St. is to the east, near IH35, and that’s where’ you’ll find some of clubs like Stubbs, Emos, Red Eyed Fly, Beerland, etc. The LBJ Library is on Red River at Dean Keeton St. (aka 26th Street.)
From the airport to the hotel
Cab fare, including tip, from the airport to the Hyatt Regency, should be about $40.
There is also a bus, the “100 Airport Flyer” that runs roughly every 45 minutes and stops at the lower level of the airport. It’s about a 20 minute trip to downtown. The main downtown stop for this bus is at 6th and Brazos. Brazos runs north/south and is one street east of Congress Avenue. Watch for Trinity, then San Jacinto streets. Brazos is the next stop. From 6th and Brazos, you can walk one more block west to Congress Avenue, then turn left (headed south) and it’s six blocks to Laby Bird Lake. Cross the Congress Avenue Bridge and it’s another block to Barton Springs Blvd. Turn at the Bat sculpture (We love our bat colony) and you’ll find the Hyatt Regency is nearby.
Getting around Austin
The biggest cab company in Austin and the one you are likely to use, if you take a cab, is The Yellow Cab Company. The phone number is 512-452-9999. The other two are Austin Cab Company (512-478-2222) and Lone Star Cab (512-836-4900). All taxis in Austin should accept major credit cards. Don’t count on being able to flag one down. If you see one, sure, but you’re probably going to have to call a taxi if you need one. I’ve had trouble at times getting a taxi to come if I don’t have a specific address to give them. So be aware that you may need to provide a street address if you’re someplace other than “The Hyatt on Barton Springs Road.”
Pedicabs
Pedicabs are everywhere in downtown Austin. They can only operate in the central Austin area (west of IH35, east of MoPac, north of Oltorf in south Austin and south of Dean Keeton Blvd in the north) but almost all are always in the downtown area. And they don’t operate during morning or evening rush hour (that would be suicide.) There main pedicab companies are Capital Pedicabs (512-448-2227), Metrocycle Pedicabs (512-825-1276), Roadkill Pedicabs (512-563-2437). Pedicab drivers work for tips. Cost from the Hyatt to the Paramount would be in the neighborhood of $10. Pedicabs cary 2 to 3 people. Some drivers give downtown tours.
Bus
Capital Metro is Austin’s bus and mass transit company. There’s a nifty webpage called “Trip Planner” at http://www.capmetro.org/planner/
You can type in “Hyatt Regency” and the address (or sometimes just the name) of your destination and you’ll get the times and locations of the bus you need to catch. Cost is $1 or you can get a day pass for $2. The main bus stop for the Hyatt is at South Congress Avenue and Riverside Dr. As you are walking past the parking lot in front of the Hyatt and get to Barton Springs Road, take a left and walk to South Congress Ave (a half block or so). Then turn right and walk south on South Congress one more block to Riverside Dr. and cross the street. The bus stop is on the corner in front of the Howdy Donut Shop.
There is a stop for Bus 30, Barton Creek, in front of the hotel on Barton Springs Road, but that bus isn’t going to take you anywhere you want to go unless you’re trying to go to Barton Springs or headed into deepest darkest South Austin.
Walking
Go to the corner of South Congress Avenue and turn either left to go to downtown Austin and the capital building or turn right and walk southbound along South Congress Avenue. “SoCo” as it’s called has some of the newest and oldest shopping and restaurants in town. After passing the Austin School for the Deaf, you’ll come to such shops as Heritage Boots, the first of two places on South Congress for cowboy boots, Amy’s Icecream, the famous Continental Club (see http://www.continentalclub.com for show schedule) and the Austin Motel (best phallic sign in town). A little farther south you’ll find my favorite new burger place, Hoppdaddy’s and a couple of doors down is Guerro’s the closest real TexMex restaurant to the hotel. Electric Ladyland, a costume and clothing store, and then the shops like Yard Dog, Uncommon Objects and Tesoros Trading Company (imports, Day of the Dead, Tshirts, etc.) Also in this area is Vespaio, one of Austin’s better restaurants and across the street the food trailers (don’t miss The Mighty Cone and the deep fried avacado). Near the end of the primo shopping area is Allen’s boots, the other good place to get your cowboy boots on South Congress.
Our downtown, the warehouse district in particular, has grown so much and so fast that I don’t know where to tell you to start. Highlights would include the capital building (see http://www.tspb.state.tx.us/spb/plan/tours.htm), Whole Foods Market flagship store at West 6th Street and Guadalupe, Mexic-Arte Museum (http://mexic-artemuseum.org/) the Violet Crown Cinema at San Antonio and 2nd Street, near the new home of the Austin City Limits studio at the W Hotel (they fixed the falling windows) and the Ritz theater, my favorite of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas. The restaurants in this area are terrific.
And finally (for now) a place to check out if you are on foot, is the hike and bike trail around our beloved Lady Bird Lake (aka Town Lake). It’s one of the most beautiful and most used parks in the state. You can find a map to the trail at http://www.austinhikeandbike.com/ or athttp://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/trails.htm
There are tons of options for a quick, cheap bite near the Paramount Theatre — Chipotle, Schlotzskys, Jimmy John’s Sandwiches, Pita Pit, Jamba Juice and Starbucks are all within two blocks — but if you’re planning on attending screenings throughout the day on Saturday, you might try branching out a little bit. Here are some ideas, all within walking distance.
