Texas: San Antonio, the Hill Country and Austin

1. Day 1: Arrive in San Antonio

   San Antonio International Airport (SAT) to your hotel by the River Walk

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Dinner
   • Stay in San Antonio
   Day 1 details

   Fly into San Antonio International Airport (SAT), about 15 km north of downtown, where a driver meets you in arrivals for the short ride to the hotel near the River Walk. Plan to land by about 3 pm so there is time to settle in before the group meets at 5:30 pm; later arrivals are met and brought to dinner. Your See Sight Tours guide, who leads day tours in this city, runs through the week: the bike ride to the missions, the early mornings, the Hill Country roads and the evening in Austin. Then we walk down the steps to the river, a loop of paths a floor below the streets, shaded by cypress trees and lined with restaurants, and sit down to a welcome dinner together. Afterwards the guide takes the group along the quieter stretch towards La Villita, the old neighbourhood of stone and adobe houses. Anyone tired after the flight can head back to the hotel, a few minutes away, whenever they like.

   Included

   • Pick-up at San Antonio International Airport (SAT)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner on the River Walk
   • An evening walk along the River Walk to La Villita

   Free time: Free until the 5:30 pm meeting

   Activity: Plan to land by about 3 pm.

   

2. Day 2: The missions by bike

   Downtown San Antonio along the Mission Reach to Missions Concepción, San José, San Juan and Espada

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in San Antonio
   Day 2 details

   We set off at 8 am, while the air is still cool, on bikes along the Mission Reach, a paved trail that follows the San Antonio River south of downtown. The four southern missions were founded in the 1700s by Franciscan friars, and together with the Alamo they became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. First Mission Concepción, its stone church largely as it was built, with traces of painted patterns inside. Then Mission San José, the largest, with its rebuilt compound walls, the rooms where the mission's Indigenous families lived and the carved rose window; a park ranger talk is often running. Lunch is Tex-Mex nearby. In the afternoon we ride on to Mission San Juan and finish at Espada, near the 1731 aqueduct that still carries water across a creek, about 12 km from downtown. The van brings everyone and the bikes back. The churches are active parishes, so on a Sunday we time visits around mass. Late afternoon brings a river barge cruise, and the evening is free.

   Included

   • Bike rental and helmet for the Mission Reach ride with your guide
   • Mission Concepción, Mission San José, Mission San Juan and Mission Espada with the Espada aqueduct
   • Tex-Mex lunch near Mission San José
   • A river barge cruise through downtown San Antonio

   Optional experiences

   • San Antonio Museum of Art
   • An evening at the Tower of the Americas

   Easier option: Ride in the van between the missions instead of cycling; the van stops at each one with the group.

   More active option: Cycle back to downtown from Espada along the trail instead of taking the van, about 12 km more.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: About 15 km of flat cycling on a paved trail, with a long stop at each mission, or the same day by van.

   

3. Day 3: The Alamo, Market Square and the Pearl

   San Antonio River Walk to the Alamo, Market Square and the Pearl, then Boerne and Comfort to Fredericksburg

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Fredericksburg
   Day 3 details

   We walk the River Walk at 7:30 am, when the shopkeepers are hosing down the paths and the ducks have the water to themselves, and climb up to the Alamo for its first entry at 9 am. The church and the Long Barrack are what remain of Mission San Antonio de Valero, the mission that became a fort in the 1836 siege; your guide tells the story from the Tejano and Mexican side as well as the Texan one. Mid-morning we drive to Market Square, the Mexican market on the west side of downtown, for its stalls of papel picado, guayaberas and pan dulce. Lunch is at the Pearl, the former brewery north of downtown, now a quarter of food halls and shops by the river. At about 1:45 pm we leave for the Hill Country on I-10, stopping in Boerne, a town founded by German settlers, and in Comfort, with its 1800s stone buildings, and reach Fredericksburg by about 4:30 pm. The evening is free on Main Street.

   Included

   • An early walk on the River Walk with your guide
   • The Alamo at its first timed entry
   • Market Square
   • Lunch at the Pearl
   • Stops in Boerne and Comfort on the drive to Fredericksburg

   Free time: Evening free in Fredericksburg

   Activity: About 4 km on foot in the morning, then a drive of about 1.5 hours in three legs.

   

4. Day 4: Enchanted Rock, Fredericksburg and Luckenbach

   Fredericksburg to Enchanted Rock and back, then Luckenbach

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Fredericksburg
   Day 4 details

   We leave at 7:45 am for Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, about 30 km north, and are at the gate when it opens, with a day pass booked: on busy days the park closes its gate once the car park is full. The dome is a great bare hump of pink granite, and the Summit Trail climbs it in about a kilometre, steep in places, to a wide top with the Hill Country rolling away on every side. Comanche and Tonkawa stories tell of the rock groaning at night, which geologists put down to the granite cooling and contracting. We are back in Fredericksburg for a lunch of your choice. The afternoon is free on Main Street: the Pioneer Museum, with its Sunday houses, is included, and the National Museum of the Pacific War, built around Admiral Nimitz's home town, is there for anyone who wants it. At about 4 pm we drive 15 minutes to Luckenbach, a general store, a dance hall and a bar under the oaks, where musicians often sit in a circle and play. German-Texan dinner together back in town.

   Included

   • Enchanted Rock State Natural Area with your guide, day pass included
   • Pioneer Museum in Fredericksburg
   • An afternoon in Luckenbach
   • German-Texan dinner in Fredericksburg

   Optional experiences

   • National Museum of the Pacific War

   Easier option: Walk part of the Loop Trail around the base of the rock, mostly level, and wait for the climbers in the shade by the picnic area.

   More active option: Climb the Summit Trail, then add the Echo Canyon trail down the back of the dome with your guide.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Fredericksburg

   Activity: The summit climb is about 1 km each way and some 130 m up on bare rock, which is slippery when wet; allow two hours. Shoes with grip and water are essential.

   

5. Day 5: Peaches, wine and down to Austin

   Fredericksburg along US 290 to Stonewall and two wineries, then Johnson City and Austin

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Austin
   Day 5 details

   A later start at 9:30 am along US 290, the road east of Fredericksburg lined with wineries. First a family peach farm near Stonewall: on late-May departures the first peaches are in, and earlier in spring or in autumn the stand sells its preserves, peach ice cream and cobbler. Then two Hill Country wineries, a tasting at each and lunch at the second, among the vines; your guide picks them for the day's group and season. We pass through Johnson City, where Lyndon Johnson grew up, and drive the last hour into Austin, checking in by about 3:30 pm. Then the springs: Barton Springs Pool, in Zilker Park, is fed by springs that keep it at about 20°C all year, so a swim is cool and clear even in November. At dusk, from March to early November, anyone who wants joins the guide on the Congress Avenue Bridge to watch the free-tailed bats pour out; others rest before dinner. Farewell dinner, then a live music set in one of the city's clubs, cover charge included.

   Included

   • A peach farm stop near Stonewall
   • Tastings at two Hill Country wineries
   • Lunch at a winery
   • Barton Springs Pool entry
   • The Congress Avenue bat flight with your guide, March to early November
   • Farewell dinner in Austin
   • A live music set in Austin, cover charge included

   Optional experiences

   • Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, on a private or extended trip

   Easier option: Skip the swim and sit on the grassy bank above the pool, or rest at the hotel until dinner.

   More active option: Walk or run part of the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail around Lady Bird Lake from Zilker Park to the Congress Avenue Bridge, about 4 km.

   Free time: Rest at the hotel between the swim and dinner, or skip the bat flight

   Activity: Two drives of about an hour, gentle walking at the wineries and an optional swim. Tastings are for guests aged 21 and over.

   

6. Day 6: Austin and home

   Downtown Austin to the Texas State Capitol, then Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 6 details

   A free breakfast, then at 9 am your guide walks the group up Congress Avenue to the Texas State Capitol, the pink granite building finished in 1888, whose dome stands taller than the US Capitol in Washington. Free tours of the rotunda and the chambers run through the day, and the grounds are lined with monuments to the state's history. The rest of the morning is yours: breakfast tacos, the shops of South Congress, or the Bullock Texas State History Museum a few blocks north. Check out by late morning, and our driver takes you to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), about 15 km south-east of downtown and usually a 20 to 30 minute drive. Your guide sees the group to departures. Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm. If yours leaves earlier, we arrange the transfer at the time you need. If you would like more time in Austin, we can book extra nights at the same hotel and move your transfer to the day you fly.

   Included

   • Texas State Capitol with your guide
   • Drop-off at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)

   Optional experiences

   • Bullock Texas State History Museum
   • Extra nights in Austin, booked on request

   Free time: Late morning free

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm.

   

Wildlife and weather: In spring the Hill Country roadsides are often blue with bluebonnets from late March into April, and peaches come in from about mid-May. October and November are warm and drier, with the vineyards after harvest. The Congress Avenue bats fly at dusk from about March to early November.

• San Antonio2 nights
• Fredericksburg2 nights
• Austin1 night