Austin Small-Group Driving Tour: Discover Local Culture
4.9
1,906 Ratings
Austin
Embark on a small-group driving tour in Austin to discover the city's local culture, art, music, food, and history. Visit major landmarks and hidden gems, and learn why Austin is loved by its residents. Book now!
Duration:
2 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
- Rainey Street Historic District - Popular Austin spot with bungalows converted to bars and restaurants.
- 6th Street - Check out the live music venues and popular nightlife spots on 6th Street, better known as “Dirty 6th.”
- Texas State Capitol - Learn a little about Texas history and when your guide takes you on a brief tour inside the Texas State Capitol building. Enjoy the beautiful architecture and take a moment to snap a few photos!
- University of Texas at Austin - See the home of the Longhorns.
- Greetings from Austin Mural - Great photo opportunity with this iconic piece of street art.
- South Congress Avenue - Cruise down South Congress Avenue –the gem of the South Austin neighborhood– with its many unique local shops, restaurants, and live music venues.
- Congress Avenue Bridge Bat Watching - Cross over the Ann W. Richards Bridge on Congress Ave (also known as the \
What's Included
- Visit the iconic Texas State Capitol.
- Enjoy the services of a knowledgeable driver/guide.
- Experience a ‘bucket list tour’ for a comprehensive city overview.
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Parking fee is $10.00 for up to 8 hours
Additional Information
The favored 2-hour “must-do tour” in Austin provides a comprehensive city overview. It encompasses major attractions, hidden treasures only locals are aware of, authentic residential areas, and even includes a delightful sweet surprise! Gain deeper insights from the knowledgeable commentary of your guide than you would from any other source.
The tour covers the spectrum from Austin’s art, music, and culture to its food, history, parks, and renowned residents, plus an understanding of how Austinites insist on ‘Keeping Austin Weird’. You’ll have a clear understanding of why Austin is so well-loved by the conclusion of your tour. Start the journey as travellers, part as buddies!
- Tour departs from the AUSTIN VISITOR CENTER located at 602 E. 4th Street, Austin, TX 78701.
- Please arrive 15 minutes prior to start time for check in. We are unable to delay the tour for guests who arrive late.
- Guests with young children must provide their own car seats and arrive 30 minutes prior to the start of the tour to install them in the van as our guides are not permitted to handle car seats.
- Parking is available in the Austin Convention Center Garage which is connected to the Austin Visitor Center. Enter the garage on E 5th St between Red River and Sabine.
- The tour runs rain or shine, however we reserve the right to cancel the tour in the event of extreme weather and/or hazardous road conditions that would potentially affect the safety of our guides and guests.
- Guests with limited mobility are welcome to bring a wheelchair or portable scooter on board to be folded and placed in the rear of the van. The vans are not equipped with a ramp or wheelchair lift however, so all guests must be able to step up into the vehicle (about 12 inches).
- We do not permit animals or pets of any kind. Guests with a service dog MUST contact the tour operator in advance to request approval.
- If you have cold or flu-like symptoms or if you are feeling ill in any way, please do not join the tour.
Location
602 E 4th St
East 4th Street
Meet inside the AUSTIN VISITOR CENTER
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(1906 Ratings)
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Mike_r
Apr 23, 2024
Evan and Austin Detours are an Austin must do! - My wife and I booked “The Real Austin Tour” for the 1030 AM on a Monday. Accessing parking and getting to the Austin visitors center was simple with an Waze search, this made the whole experience that much more enjoyable. Evan was our guide, a Texas gentleman through and through. He was polite, energetic, funny and of course, knowledgeable. He highlighted the hotspots and recommended some off-the-beaten-path gems. Our short stay at the capitol was jam packed with history and facts, we felt more connected to the Lone Star State! BTW.. loved the Six Flags over Texas info! The van offered a comfortable ride, which Evan operated both safely and skillfully.
Overall a great Tour!
Review provided by Viator
Christina_p
Apr 22, 2024
Highly Recommended Informative Tour - I have been Austin many times, every time we do self discover visit. I only had 2 days to do visit this time, we decided to book a tour with local tour guide.
It is such a great experience and very informative. Our Guide Mr. Cliff is fun, knowledgeable and friendly to everyone. I started listening and following Cliff’s local advice, half of our tour, I stated to make notes. It is very concentrated information. I will book with this company again on next Austin visit first day, then do site seeing all the interesting places.
Review provided by Viator
Sandra_s
Apr 21, 2024
Tour with my Year 1978 classmates!! - Cliff was an awesome tour guide!! We all loved the tour! I learned so much about Austin, it was very informative, and fun!!!! I would recommend it to anyone!!
Review provided by Viator
Jbw_austin
Apr 20, 2024
One less problem to worry about! - I was hosting 5 women for our reunion celebrating friendship for 50 years. My problem was how to drive them around Austin and show points of interest and make it fun. I searched on Trip Advisor and found my solution. Austin Detours: The Best of Austin Small Group Tour. Our guide was Trace Holt. My guest had a great time seeing Austin’s marvelous sights, and hear about the history. Trace was a very good story teller. We all left the excursion with smiles on our faces and headed to a great restaurant that Trace recommended. Thank you Austin Detours and Trace.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Maryanne_s
Apr 19, 2024
Great tour and tour guide! - Trace was a great guide! Full of information and very entertaining! He made some great recommendations on other things to do and gave us his contact info if we had any questions. He took the time to learn everyone’s name and treated us all to delicious macaroons!
Review provided by Viator
Gina_s
Apr 17, 2024
Excellent tour with Nick - Nick is an excellent tour guide. He was engaging, friendly, and very knowledgable. He remembered all the names of the people in our group which was impressive. He talked about Austin with passion and enthusiasm. The tour was great and I learned a lot about the city. Thank you!
Review provided by Viator
Neolitak
Apr 16, 2024
Tour of Austin with my best friend… - It’s was great to know the neighborhood & history of Austin. Seeing the changes that is happening in the city since my last visit some 20 years ago. Out tour guide (Nick) was excellent!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dreamspeaker
Apr 15, 2024
Excellent Way to Get to Know Austin - We took the essential Austin, or best of Austin tour the day before the total eclipse as a family with a teenager. Our guide, Avery, was fantastic. She had amazing stories that she told us continuously throughout our time in Austin that were funny and factual. I watched how she looked out for a guest who was using crutches in a vigilant but super respectful way, pointing out all the accessible ramps and even pulling up to stops in a certain way to help her out. My teen was the only non-adult in our tour group, but never felt out of place, so the info and the jokes were hitting just right for all ages.
This is a really great way to get an introduction to Austin and even Texas. After our tour, we knew what areas we wanted to revisit, and we learned a lot about the city and Texas in general we wouldn't have learned otherwise. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Darcymania2016
Apr 15, 2024
A gem in Austin - Our tour guide Connor did all great job of making the trip interesting. His personal anecdotes made the trip fun . We saw parts of the city that we never heard of before Hannah made the whole trip come alive
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kb147
Apr 13, 2024
Very poor city tour. why bother??? - Wow I am looking over all these positive reviews and i didn't have that experience AT ALL. Probably my experience is atypical as was on a group tour that employed this company for our Austin City Tour.
We had Cliff for a guide. Unlike a couple other reviewers, he seemed really phony to me: pumped up enthusiasm seemed insincere in my opinion. We drove around and every thing he mentioned was GREAT gotta go see it later kind of thing. The extent of his vocabulary seemed about 100 words. Maybe that's his generation.
The only place we stopped was the Capital. Looked like a fascinating building but we had about 10 minutes to go through and stand under the dome. Unlike some groups, we DID NOT get a photo of our group from the balcony.
We rushed here, rushed there like we had all the time in the world to come back and see it on our own. Supposed to be 2.5hr tour lasted 2 hr max.
The only things Cliff seemed to know anything about were food and music venues. Maybe that's all there is to Austin. No museums? no interesting buildings? Oh well.
Then we finished 30 minutes early at a food court that didn't even open until 11am. Left me wondering what was the mad rush to get out of the Capital???
Review provided by Tripadvisor
