Austin Family-Friendly Bucket List

Austin Family-Friendly Bucket List

Whether you’re visiting Austin, Texas, or you call it home, you definitely need a bucket list to keep track of all the things to do in this happening city. To help you get started, here’s a quick guide to 40 of the best things to see and do when you explore Austin with kids.

Want to go more in-depth? Check out my Austin Family Travel Guide.

40 Things to Do with Kids in Austin

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

1. Take a boat ride on Lady Bird Lake, where your options range from kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddle boards to duck boats and tour boats.

2. Enjoy views of the city and beyond from the top of Mount Bonnell, one of the highest points in Austin. (You can also stop at nearby Mayfield Park to take a walk and see roaming peacocks.)

3. Go shopping on South Congress and discover stores like Allen’s Boots and Big Top Candy Shop as well as quirky shops like Uncommon Objects.

4. Relax at Zilker Park, Austin’s urban backyard and the home of the Austin City Limits music festival. You can picnic, play frisbee, check out the playground, and ride the Zilker Eagle train.

5. Jump in Zilker Park’s Barton Springs Pool! With spring-fed water temperatures remaining around 68-74 degrees, this iconic swimming hole remains open all year. For more swimming hole recommendations, check out my post Top Ten Swimming Holes near Austin.

6. Eat at some of the city’s many food trucks. For tips on which trucks to try, check out the Austin Chronicles’s guide to the best food trailers.

7. Go on a walk or bike ride on the popular Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail, which extends ten miles to circle Lady Bird Lake. Some highlights of the trail include the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge, the Boardwalk Trail (built over the lake), and the sections at Zilker Park and Vic Mathias Shores.

8. Take a free tour of the Capitol Building, or just visit the grounds and wander inside to see the giant rotunda.

9. Watch up to 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from Congress Avenue Bridge. The bats are in town from roughly March to September, and you can view their flight from land or by water.

10. Murals such as “Greetings from Austin” and “i love you so much” have made Austin’s street art a popular scene for locals and tourists alike. Check out Free Fun in Austin’s guide to plan a tour of your favorites.

11. At the Austin Nature & Science Center, you’ll find rescue animals, hiking trails, and a giant sandpit as well as small indoor spaces for additional nature discovery. Admission is free!

12. Experience the beauty of Texas Hill Country at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, a unique botanical garden with plenty of outdoor, nature-themed activities for kids.

13. Check out FC Austin’s schedule to see if Austin’s first major league sports team will be playing during your visit.

14. Go for a hike in one of the city’s many green spaces, from the Barton Creek Greenbelt to McKinney Falls State Park.

15. Play at Butler Park’s Alliance Children’s Garden, a fantastic playground located just south of Lady Bird Lake near the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

16. For big-time lake adventures, head west to Lake Travis, where you can rent a boat or visit Lake Travis Zipline Adventures. Other popular destinations along the lake include Mansfield Dam Park and the cliff-side, balcony-bedecked restaurant The Oasis.

17. Wander through the outdoor sculpture park and enjoy the lakeside setting of The Contemporary Austin – Laguna Gloria. Kid-friendly activities are available at the Visitor Center.

18. Spring-fed Deep Eddy Pool, the oldest swimming pool in Texas, has a zero-entry side that’s perfect for kids. Bonus–it’s open all year.

19. Test your skills at quirky Peter Pan Mini-Golf, a local favorite since 1948.

20. From April to September, head north to Austin’s suburbs to watch the minor league baseball team Round Rock Express in action.

21. If you’d like to learn more about Austin’s 19th-century history, visit the living history museum Pioneer Farms or stop by the Neill-Cochran House Museum.

22. Austin Zoo has an impressive, though not extensive, range of rescued or retired animals, including lions, tigers, bears, and lemurs. There’s also a petting zoo and zoo train.

23. The Zilker Botanical Garden, located within Zilker Park, offers a lovely and peaceful respite from the city. We particularly enjoy visiting the Japanese Garden (lots of rock bridges to cross) and the Rose Garden (lots of room to run around).

24. Less than an hour west of downtown Austin, Hamilton Pool has blue-green water and a gorgeous setting beneath a partially collapsed grotto. Swimming is allowed when bacterial counts aren’t too high, and advanced reservations are required.

25. Travel outside of Austin to tour one of the spectacular cave systems found throughout central Texas (thanks to its karst topography). Head north to Inner Space Caverns, south to Natural Bridge Caverns, or west to Longhorn Caverns.

26. Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is Austin’s prestigious Formula One racetrack. Even if you don’t come for the United States Grand Prix, you can attend many other special events as well as try out karting on a nearby track. COTALAND, a kid-friendly amusement park, will open sometime in 2022.

INDOOR FUN

27. There’s a lot to do on the University of Texas at Austin’s sprawling campus, from attending one of the many sporting events to visiting the Lyndon Baines Johnson Museum and Library. My kids love playing ski ball and air hockey in the basement of the student union.

28. The University of Texas’s Blanton Museum of Art boasts over 21,000 pieces of art, including impressive collections of Latin American and Western art. Be sure to ask at the information desk for kid-friendly brochures and activities.

29. Austin’s children museum, The Thinkery, is filled with hands-on, STEAM-themed activities best suited for kids up to age 12. If you visit, you can also stop at the playground and duck pond across the street as well as the nearby food truck park Mueller Trailer Eats.

30. Immerse yourself in all things Texas at the Bullock Texas State History Museum, where you’ll find multimedia exhibits and artifacts ranging from a 17th-century explorer’s ship to Stephen F. Austin’s desk.

31. The Austin Public Library’s rooftop garden and screened porches offer views of the city and Lady Bird Lake. While you’re there, you can relax with some books or play one of the many board games available for visitors to use.

32. Watch a performance at the ZACH Theater, which often stages family-friendly shows.

33. Stop by Austin’s favorite locally-owned bookstore, Book People, and browse through their excellent children’s department. Then head across the street to Whole Foods’ flagship store, where you can shop for food and enjoy its rooftop terrace and playground.

34. At the Texas Military Forces Museum, you’ll find uniforms, vehicles, weapons, memorabilia, and more from Texas military engagements dating back to 1823.

35. Exploring Austin with kids doesn’t need to keep you from enjoying the “Live Music Capital of the World.” Free Fun in Austin has a great guide to venues where kids will be welcome. For information about all live music events, visit The Austin Chronicle.

36. Watch a movie at locally-owned Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

WHAT TO EAT

37. Start your day out Austin-style with some breakfast tacos!

38. Don’t visit Austin without trying some of its famous BBQ! Some of your best options are Franklin Barbecue (beware the long line), The Salt Lick, Terry Black’s BBQ, County Line on the Lake, Rudy’s Country Store & Bar-B-Q, and La Barbecue.

39. Cool off with a stop at one of Amy’s Ice Cream’s numerous locations. For more local frozen treats, try Lick Honest Ice Creams, Manoli’s food truck, or Jim-Jim’s Water-Ice.

BEYOND AUSTIN

40. Sure, Austin is great, but so is the rest of central Texas! Plan a day or overnight trip to a nearby destination like San Antonio, Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, or Wimberley.