Free Things to Do in Austin

Austin gets expensive in a hurry. Between $16 cocktails and festival wristbands, it is easy to forget how much of this city still costs nothing. This is a real list of free things to do in Austin, with the addresses, days and hours that actually matter, so you can walk out the door and go.

Watch the Bats Under Congress Avenue Bridge

Roughly 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats live under the Congress Avenue Bridge from about March through early fall, which makes August one of the better months to see them. They come out around sunset, so plan for somewhere in the 8:00 to 8:30 window right now and get there 30 minutes early. Three decent vantage points: the lawn behind the old Statesman site at 305 S Congress, the east sidewalk on the bridge itself, and the hike-and-bike trail underneath. The bats cost nothing. Downtown parking is the only thing that will hit your wallet, so bike or bus if you can.

Free Museum Days You Can Plan a Week Around

The Elisabet Ney Museum at 304 E 44th St is free every day it is open, usually Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5. It is a sculptor's limestone studio in the middle of Hyde Park and it takes about 40 minutes to see. Mexic-Arte Museum at 419 Congress runs free admission on Sundays. The Blanton on the UT campus does free Thursdays. Laguna Gloria's grounds at 3809 W 35th St are typically free on Tuesdays if you want sculpture and lake water in the same walk. Museum free days shift, so confirm the day before you drive over.

The Capitol Is Still One of the Best Free Hours Downtown

The Texas Capitol at 1100 Congress Ave runs free guided tours that last about 30 minutes and leave every half hour or so on weekdays, with a lighter schedule on weekends. Tours start on the ground floor near the rotunda. If you would rather wander, the building is open to walk yourself, and the underground extension with the skylights in the courtyard is the part most visitors never find. The Capitol Visitors Center at 112 E 11th is also free, and the 22 acres of grounds are a good shaded loop in the morning before the heat sets in.

Free Water: Greenbelt Access and Barton Springs Off-Hours

Barton Springs Pool charges during staffed hours, but entry is free before 8am and after 9pm, and the early swim is the better one anyway. The Barton Creek Greenbelt is free at every access point. Spyglass at 1601 Spyglass Dr and Gus Fruh at 2642 Barton Hills Dr are the two easiest entries, and Twin Falls sits near the MoPac access. One August warning: creek flow drops hard in late summer, so check whether there is actually water in the swimming holes before you hike 40 minutes to a dry rock bed. Red Bud Isle off Lake Austin Blvd is free too, and it is the best off-leash spot in town if you have a dog.

Live Music With No Cover

Blues on the Green, Austin's longest-running free concert series, ran June 9 and 10 at Zilker this year, so that one is done until next summer. Put it on your calendar for June. In the meantime, Waterloo Records at 600A N Lamar does free in-store sets from touring bands, usually early evening on release weeks. The White Horse at 500 Comal has no cover before 8pm most nights, which gets you two-stepping and a house band for the price of a beer. Hole in the Wall at 2538 Guadalupe runs free shows on the front stage most nights of the week. Cheap things to do in Austin usually means live music, because the supply is enormous and the door charge is often optional.

Views and Murals That Cost Nothing

Mount Bonnell at 3800 Mount Bonnell Rd is about 100 steps up to the best free view in the city, and it is worth doing at sunset when the river turns orange. Parking is limited and it fills up, so go on a weeknight. For murals, the Greetings from Austin wall at 1720 S 1st is the classic postcard shot, the i love you so much wall sits at 1300 S Congress on the side of Jo's Coffee, and the Jeremiah the Innocent frog is at 21st and Guadalupe. String those three together with a walk down South Congress and you have a couple of hours that cost you nothing but sunscreen.

💡 ATX Weekly Tip: Filter the ATX Weekly events feed to free-only and you will see everything with no cover this week in one scroll, without wading through ticketed shows. Save the spots you want to hit and the app will flag it when something similar pops up near you.