Lady Bird Lake Trail
ExperienceDowntown#38 of 50

Lady Bird Lake Trail

Austin, Texas

Photo: Fabo Novoa

A 10-mile hike-and-bike trail that loops around Lady Bird Lake in the heart of the city. It's where Austin runs, walks, paddles, and people-watches. The section between the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge and the Lamar bridge is the sweet spot — wide paths, good shade, the skyline reflected in still water at dawn.

Insider tip

Sunrise on the south shore trail heading east from Zilker. You'll have it nearly to yourself before 7am.

Get Directions
See all 50 picks in Austin

More in Austin

You might also like

Houndstooth Coffee
CoffeeWest Campus

Houndstooth Coffee

Skip the line at whatever everyone's posting about this week. Houndstooth has been quietly doing single-origin pour-overs better than anyone in the city for over a decade. The West Campus location has this perfect mid-morning light that makes you want to stay for a second cup.

Uchi
EatSouth Lamar

Uchi

Tyson Cole's flagship is still the best meal in Austin, full stop. This isn't a sushi restaurant — it's a Japanese farmhouse that happens to serve the most inventive raw fish in the Southwest. The omakase is worth every dollar, but honestly the à la carte hot tastings are where the kitchen really shows off.

Hotel Saint Cecilia
StaySouth Congress

Hotel Saint Cecilia

Named after the patron saint of music and poetry, and it earns both. This is a 14-room estate hidden behind a wall of bamboo on South Congress. No lobby, no check-in desk, no corporate anything. Just a pool, a record collection, and the distinct feeling that you're staying at a very cool friend's house.

Experience picks elsewhere

More experience we love

ExperiencePearl District · Portland, Oregon

Lan Su Chinese Garden

A walled classical Chinese garden in the middle of Old Town, built by artisans from Portland's sister city, Suzhou. Covered walkways, a central lake, scholar's rocks, and a teahouse that serves traditional gongfu-style tea. It's one of the most authentic Suzhou-style gardens outside of China, and stepping through the gate feels like stepping out of Portland entirely.

ExperienceHighland · Denver, Colorado

Lookout Mountain

A twenty-minute drive from downtown puts you at the top of Lookout Mountain with a 200-mile view of the Continental Divide that will stop you mid-sentence. Buffalo Bill's grave is up here — worth a look — but the real draw is the drive itself: switchbacks through pine forest that open suddenly onto the vastness of the Front Range. This is what people mean when they talk about Denver's proximity to the mountains.