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Sixth Street
You can start and finish a night on the town on this boulevard of bars, dance clubs and more.

6th St
Austin, TX 78701

Cross streets
Congress Avenue

The Overview
Austin's slick version of New Orleans' Bourbon Street is lined with dance clubs, bars, pool halls, restaurants, comedy clubs and live-music venues. You'll find bars specializing in frozen drinks, shots, beer, reggae, country and punk rock. The biggest challenge is finding parking. Unless you know some secret spots, plan to spend $5.

The Experience
Expect a melting pot of folks--college kids, professionals, teenyboppers, punks, homeless people and tourists--all out looking for a good time.

Austin Zoo
Lions and tigers and bears ... in Austin?

10807 Rawhide Tr
Austin, TX 78736-2716

Phone (512) 288-1490

Cross streets
Circle Drive

For the Family
The Austin Zoo is an accredited private sanctuary near Dripping Springs. Lemurs, monkeys, cougars and black bears are among more than 100 species of rescued animals. Many traditional farm animals are available for petting and feeding. There's a daily cow milking demonstration and a picnic grove perfect for lunchtime.

Learning Experience
Talking storybook locations help children and adults learn more about the animals and the importance of nature conservation. Don't miss the Rawhide Rocket, a mini-train that takes a 1.5-mile scenic tour of the zoo in the beautiful hills of southwest Austin, and with advance notice, the zoo will set up a hands-on demonstration for an entire classroom.

Texas State Capitol
More than a century of legislators and governors have passed through the doors of this historic building.

1100 Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78701-1949

Phone (512) 463-0063

Cross streets
11th Street

The Scene
The Texas State Capitol houses offices for the governor, secretary of state and all legislators, as well as the Senate and House chambers, a library, bookstore and cafeteria. The north side extension was completed in 1993, and 1995 saw a comprehensive renovation and restoration of the building, originally dedicated in 1888.

The Experience
The building is open to the public every day of the week, and tours are available. Visitors may view Senate and House proceedings during the legislative session, and the building itself is well-worth seeing, with many impressive statues, artworks and architectural details.

Congress Avenue Bridge
Bat Capital of America: Beneath this Austin roadway resides the largets urban bat colony in North America.

Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78701

Cross streets
Riverside Drive

The Scene
Approximately 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats, the largest urban bat colony in North America, have made the underside of the Congress Avenue bridge their summer home. The bats began congregating in Austin after the bridge underwent structural changes in the '80s. Austinites reacted with fear--until they learned that the bats consume between 10,000- and 30,000-pounds of insects a night.

The Experience
The bats arrive in Austin in mid-March and return to their winter home in Mexico by November. When the bat population is at its peak (in August the newborn bats, or pups, begin foraging with their mothers), it may take up to 45 minutes for the bats to make their exit from beneath the bridge.

The Treaty Oak
Neither heat nor poison nor urban development could bring this piece of Texas history down.

Baylor Avenue
Austin, TX

Cross streets
Between Fifth and Sixth Streets

Shading History
The Treaty Oak has stood against Texas heat and parching droughts for the last 500 years in what is now the West Fifth Street area of Austin. The only remaining survivor of a 14-tree grove called the Council Oaks by local Indians, legend has it that the tree got its name by marking the spot where Stephen F. Austin signed the first boundary treaty with Texas' Native Americans.

Hard Times
Five centuries haven't been a walk in the park for the Treaty Oak. As the 20th Century began, the Council Oaks began to fall prey to Austin's urban expansion, and by the '20s, the Treaty Oak was the last remaining tree. In the late '20s, the tree was saved when it was added to the American Forestry Association's compilation of famous and historic U.S. trees.

Austin City Limits
Austin's musical ambassador to TV Land.

2504-B Whitis
Austin, TX 78705

Phone (512) 471-4811

Cross streets
26th & Guadalupe

The Skinny
Long before the city of Austin decided on the slogan "Live Music Capital of the World," a certain PBS show had already begun spreading the gospel. "Austin City Limits"--with its simple set containing a stage, small white lights and Austin's cityscape as a backdrop--had its first season in 1976. The following year, current producer Terry Lickona began working there as an assistant to the producer. And after 26 years "Austin City Limits" now holds the honor of being the longest-running popular music series on television.

In its first full season, the country- and Texas-heavy list of performers included Asleep At The Wheel (with the Texas Playboys), Jerry Jeff Walker and others. Televised on more than 200 stations, "Austin City Limits" continues to change along with the times booking acts like Fastball and Widespread Panic.

The University of Texas Tower
The nerve center of the campus.

Austin, TX

Phone (512) 475-6633

The Scene
The UT Tower, a 307-foot structure that rivals the Capitol for tallest structure in Austin, was designed by Paul Cret of Philadelphia and completed in 1937. The observation decks reopened in September of 1999 after the University spent $200,000 to install a stainless steal cage to ensure safety. The Tower is one of few places in Austin where sightseers can get the best view of downtown and, then with a quick turn to the right, see the city's lush Hill Country.

The Background
The Tower gained nationwide notoriety when Charles Whitman killed 16 people from the tower's observation deck in 1966. The observation deck was closed to the public in 1974 after several students jumped to their deaths from the 27-story structure.