The high-desert city of Sedona offers both the ultimate escape and a sensory overload, whether you're visiting a vortex site to feel the Earth’s energy or trekking to a natural sandstone bridge with vertiginous views.
24.04.2024 - 10:45 / lonelyplanet.com / Art
Austin's incredible live music and culture scene has resulted in skyrocketing popularity in recent years – it's quickly become one of the most visited cities in the US.
This boom, combined with a population surge during the pandemic, has resulted in price increases across the board in the Texan capital. But while Austin may be more expensive, you don't need to blow your budget on a visit.
There are lots of fun activities that will show you the best of the city and all without spending a dime. Here are our 10 favorite free things to do in Austin.
Austin is famous for having a colony of Mexican Free-Tailed bats that live under the Congress Avenue Bridge. In fact, it’s the largest urban bat colony in the world!
If you visit Austin from late March through early fall, you can watch the 1.5 million bats ascend into the sky around sunset every night. Their nightly flight will start slow and then grow into a massive wave of bats that fly over Lady Bird Lake. It’s a magnificent sight to witness and can last about 45 minutes. Arrive early to get a good spot for the show.
Planning tip: The bats fly to the east when they leave the bridge, so keep this in mind when choosing a viewing spot on Congress Avenue Bridge or the grassy hill of the Statesman Bat Observation Center (adjacent to the bridge.) If both areas get too packed, find a spot (off the path) on the Butler Hike and Bike Trail. For a more unique experience, take your kayak, paddleboard, canoe, or water bike to Austin and watch the bats' nightly flight from the water.
Learn more about Austin's incredible history on a free guided or self-guided tour of the Texas State Capitol. Admire the incredible architecture and visit different areas like the Senate Chamber, Supreme Court Courtroom, and more.
If the Capitol isn’t your vibe, check out Preservation Austin and their 12 different self-guided historic tours around the city. These tours will take you through major neighborhoods like South Congress, showcase the East Austin Barrio landmarks, and tell you all about historic homes and sites in Downtown Austin. Some of them even have a GPS bike route that you can follow on two wheels.
Preservation Austin also set up narrated audio-visual tours through the Otocast App, including “Tejano Trail” and “African American Austin”, which exhibit the city’s diverse populations and their impact on Austin, while the “Iconic Music Venues” tour tells the story of Austin’s musical past.
Keep exploring in these top neighborhoods in Austin
Hanging out at a park may not seem all that exciting but trust us – 358-acre Zilker Park is one of THE places to visit in Austin. Forget you're even in a city as you wander along the Hike-and-Bike Trail, play some disc golf or sand volleyball and
The high-desert city of Sedona offers both the ultimate escape and a sensory overload, whether you're visiting a vortex site to feel the Earth’s energy or trekking to a natural sandstone bridge with vertiginous views.
With summer just around the corner in the USA, you’re likely already dreaming of where to spend your vacation.
The Netherlands is a treasure chest of exquisite art-filled cities and towns, canals, windmills and tulip fields, along with shiny-new sustainable urban environments, and glorious natural landscapes, coastlines and islands. While it’s one of Europe’s smaller nations (you can cross the entire country in a handful of hours), choosing where to spend your time takes planning.
In many ways, the Netherlands is a year-round destination, with each season offering its own charms. Spring sees fields full of tulips in bloom. Summer spells long days at sandy beaches along the coast and on the Wadden Sea islands, and as autumn turns to winter, the darkening chill invites you to embrace the Dutch quality of gezelligheid (conviviality, coziness) at atmospheric cafes. Cycling is a Dutch way of life, while festivals fill the calendar throughout the year.
Over the past few years, Copenhagen has become a wildly popular destination. Some come to visit the Little Mermaid and walk in the footsteps of Hans Christian Andersen, others to have a bite of the famous food scene, but all are impressed by Denmark's capital.
The 60th edition of the art extravaganza that’s the Venice Biennale runs until 24 November at the two main venues Giardini and Arsenale. as well as countless offsite locations, official and unofficial. There are 88 National participations this year, with four countries participating for the first time: Republic of Benin, Ethiopia, United Republic of Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of Timor Leste. Here are eleven of the must see country pavilions.
The traditional foods of Indonesia never quite get the credit they deserve. Thousands of islands spread across three time zones ensure a culinary diversity like no other nation.
"Yeah, right," I muttered while staring at a deal on Royal Caribbean's homepage last week. A countdown clock just below the promotion told me that I only had seven hours, 40 minutes and 28 seconds left to pounce on the offer before it would magically disappear.
The creations of Arizona-born Orlando Dugi, a member of the Diné Nation, are nothing if not dramatic: gowns glittering with delicate beadwork, silks embroidered with symbolic flora and fauna. Some have been exhibited at places like the Denver Art Museum and the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles. While his imagination is fueled by his upbringing—days spent watching his grandmother sew and nights stargazing at his family's sheep ranch—Dugi also finds inspiration in Santa Fe, which he's called home since 2010. “All the tribal, colonial, and Spanish history—it's all here,” he says. “It's very small, but it's also pretty international.” New Mexico's capital city is set to draw a global audience as host of the inaugural Santa Fe Native Fashion Week, the first of its kind in the country, held from May 2 to 5, where Dugi will present highlights from his mens- and womenswear collections. When he's not designing, he enjoys connecting with Indigenous culture on the ancestral lands of the Tewa people—or kicking back with a margarita.
I absolutely love Italy, for many different reasons. But I hate the way in which many Americans go about planning trips there. Survey after survey shows it is the number one dream destination for U.S. leisure travelers, but the way those travelers get their information and advice gives me nightmares.
Mom may have a daily skincare routine that she follows religiously at home but packing a variety of creams, gels and serums can be challenging when traveling – especially if she doesn’t want to check a bag.
Organizing a group trip can be a daunting task. Deciding where to go, what to do and where you'll stay with a group of people — who all have their own opinions — can be challenging enough to nearly convince you not to go.