What to do in Austin, TX?

Going to Austin for 6 weeks for an orchestral music festival and wanted to know what's cool to hit up in Austin. No car, might be able to Uber/Lyft or get rides. Down to meet up with someone and show me around please!

How are the gyms? Any crags to check out? Cool gyms?
Bouldering or leading?

I climb at about 5.10-5.11 and I think the hardest boulder problem I've done may be a V4 or V5.
I appreciate any info, word of mouth (or keyboard) is more comprehensive then my google searches
Thanks!!!!

I haven't lived there since 2003, but there are at least two rock gyms as I recall. Limestone sport climbing in town includes the Barton Creek Greenbelt. You can find how to get there here. New Wall and Gus Fruh are probably the best. Now these are some old, polished routes, so be aware. If you are there for six weeks, you may as well drive out to Reimer's Ranch as well. It's about 45 minutes from town more or less. You can boulder at McKinney Falls State Park, also just south of Austin.

Seismic Wall also deserves mentioning in the Greenbelt. Diving for Rocks is a classic 5.10 that has a pretty interesting dyno move. If you are into trad or slab climbing, Enchanted Rock is about two hours away and worth going. Even if you don't go for the climbing, the park is very scenic Texas hill country.

Reimers and E-rock are both great places to visit if you can catch a ride or rent a car.  Be warned that E-rock has a reservation system for the weekends, find more info here: tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/…

Check out the bouldering at Bull Creek. The County Line BBQ is right there and on Lake Austin.

I had to go for a wedding a while back...not much happening in Austin except beer, food and traffic....

We climbed at the Austin Bouldering Gym which was big and watched the bats fly from the bridge.

Franklin BBQ. And then do it again. 

As mentioned, there is limestone sport literally all over town.  No need to hit the gym if the weather’s good.

The best limestone sport crags are the Greenbelt and Reimers. The greenbelt is older and everything is insanely polished but its in the middle of downtown, actually in a neighborhood. Reimers has better climbing but is probably an hourish outside of Austin. Not really sure about the time though as I'm coming from further south

Roots wrote: I had to go for a wedding a while back...not much happening in Austin except beer, food and traffic....

Ha ha ha. You could say that about any town you don't fully explore.

Once upon a time you could explore Airman's Cave without permission, but they gated it and now you need the key. Lots of funky parts of town worth walking around in. I revisited Austin Comics on N. Lamar and was blown away at the titles they had. I mean, not super hero comics but just bizarre humor comics and off the wall titles that I had never heard of. A dip in Barton Springs shouldn't be without a brief swim into the cave under the diving board where the water blows out of. It's emptying out of the aquifer pretty fast, so you can only hang out in there for a few seconds. Mask and dive light are helpful, but googles would suffice. Then sit under one of the massive oaks in the grass with some refreshments and a book.

Many of the art museums on and nearby UT campus are great. You can walk to all of them once on campus. I really like coffee shops too, so visit Spider House off Guadalupe nearby campus. There are lots of other cute places around town, and no doubt a ton of new ones. Rent a kayak near Zilker park and paddle on Town Lake for a while.

There's usually a good music performance going on any given night, so check the Austin Chronicle for that. If you have a car, drive to Lake Travis and jump off the cliffs into the water at Marshall Ford. Some exploring is needed, as it's not necessarily legal. Ha. Actually, go to Pace Bend and you can boulder the cliffs and then drop into the lake. A float is nice for resting.

Join Austin Climbing Group on FB. It's a good way to find partners.

When the weather is decent, there's no need to do the gym thing unless you prefer that. The Greenbelt is easy to access and it's free. Reimers has better climbing but is more of a trip and costs $10 for the day. Enchanted Rock has the best climbing in the area, but it's about two hours from downtown. There usually are people who will give a ride and let you hang with them if you help with gas and beer.

Try going out on weekdays. Reimers and the Greenbelt turn into outdoor gyms on weekends, and Enchanted Rock often closes because it reaches capacity. You can now reserve a day pass online, though.