How to Spend a Week in Austin with Toddlers
It is summer vacation so I decided to go spend a week in one of my favorite cities, Austin, Texas. I actually lived in Austin for four and a half years as I attended college there. Hook ’em! So I had a long list of things I knew I would want to do, or could do with my kids one day. I always thought I would want to bring my kids back to Austin to see the campus and love the city that I love, and thankfully during my last semester of college my mom actually moved to Austin, which gives me an excuse to visit more often.
I envision my boys growing up going to Austin for a week every summer going to all the swimming holes, eating at our favorite places, and exploring all of the small hill country towns that surround Austin. Our of things to do in the future may look quite different than what we have done the past 3 summers, but we had a blast, and I figured I’d share my recommendations in case anyone else wants to spend some time there with young babies/toddlers.
THINKERY
If you’re looking for an indoor option, Thinkery is so cool. It is basically a hands on children’s museum that promote learning through play, hands on play, and sensory learning. There is a cool park nearby too, and walking trails. We visited on Monday morning when they have a time specifically blocked off for toddlers called Baby Bloomers. No need to worry about bigger kids running the show. The boys played for hours and could have stayed even longer. One highlight too is that they have an amazing private nursing room with a chair, sink, changing table, dim lighting, and some toys. I give it 5 stars!
THE AUSTIN ZOO
As a college student I had always heard bad things about the Austin Zoo, so I never went, but in hind sight I question what their problem with the zoo was. Yes, it is small, but it is small in a good way, and very much geared toward education and being family friendly. Best of all it is a refuge zoo for wild animals in need of a home for some reason. Injury, abandonment, a rescue from labs were some of the reason the animals called this place home. There were routine educational sessions, feedings, and a petting/feeding zoo. Holden was also a big fan of the train that has pretty views of the hill country. I enjoyed our time there very much and will probably take the boys back next summer.
LADY BIRD JOHNSON WILDFLOWER CENTER
One of the best parts about Austin are the endless, beautiful places to be outdoors. LBJWFC is one of those places. Walking trails with ponds, butterfly gardens, swings in huge oak trees, and various set ups in the family garden are perfect for a place to be outside. If you go in spring or summer you can expect to see fields of wildflowers of course. I also love walking around Lady Bird Lake and Zilker park.
ZILKER PARK/ BARTON SPRINGS
Like mentioned above there are great walking trails if you’d like an excuse to be outside. Zilker park also has a playground with a train that runs regularly called the Zilker Zephyr. My boys love train rides and “slides.” Barton Springs pool is a natural spring fed pool, but it is deep and quite cold, so swimming with toddlers can be tricky. Zilker park offers outdoor concerts on Wednesdays throughout the summer called Blues on the Green, and during Christmas they have the Trail of Lights, depending on what time of year you plan to visit Austin.
PEASE PARK AND SPLASH PAD
Pease park offers another great place to walk and play on a play ground. However Pease Park also has a Splash pad that the boys LOVED. It was my alternative to swimming in Barton Springs, but we will do that one summer one day.
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
I love an excuse to visit campus and soak in the nostalgia of college. There are plenty of places to grab a bite to eat on The Drag (Guadealupe St.) and plenty of sights to see while on campus. The Tower, which has tour available, and has the best view of the city. There is the turtle pond, you can walk around the beautiful campus and there is the Temple for Light on campus too, and the Co-Op of you wanted a longhorn souvenir.
HOME SLICE PIZZA & DO-RITE BARBEQUE
If you want a kid friendly bite to eat we love Home Slice (53rd street location) if were in the city. The pizza and garlic knots are some of my all time favorites. They have a fenced in play space in the outdoor waiting area that is perfect for toddlers, and they also provide a ball of pizza dough for kids to play with. On the south side there is Do-Rite BBQ at Graceland, a hole in the wall kind of place with really good food, and a super cool set up complete with picnic tables, playgrounds, and chalk board fences.
U-PICK ORCHARDS
If you’re up for a drive during the spring or summer you may want to head to nearby Hill Country towns for U-pick orchards. We love Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls and Jenschke Orchards in Fredricksburg. I love to take the boys fruit picking, we’ve gotten apples, pumpkins, strawberries, blueberries, and peaches. Its one of my favorite ways to get to boys outside and do something new and different. Plus you get delicious fruit to take home.
LOCO-MOTION
If you want another indoor option because Texas weather is finicky and HOT, we loved Loco-motion. Its an indoor play place full of inflatables, ball pits, themed rooms for playing pretend (a garage, vet’s office, theatre, school) and jungle gyms to climb with slides. There are also specific areas designated for two and under, and they do birthday parties. Loco-motion is on the far south/west side of Austin.
I plan to spend the remainder of my kids childhood summers adventuring through Austin, so we haven’t gotten to everything I would like to do with them there. There are still many swimming holes to swim in, hiking trails to explore, sights to see, food to eat, and things to do, but but with toddlers in tow I think this was a pretty enjoyable list.