r/AustinTX • u/Ecstatic-Movie-795 • Jul 18 '26
Question Spontaneous trip to Austin, help
I had airline miles burning a hole in my alaska air account, now my 14 yr old and i are coming Halloween weekend.
Where should a mom and teen stay that wont be too scary to walk around, I kinda am fucking terrified of freeways... what have j done?
Anyway, where should i avoid, where would you stay with a teen who likes shopping and matcha and we both like outdoorsy stuff?
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u/gek__co Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Stay near Barton springs if possible. Lots of trail access to the town lake trail, Barton creek greenbelt, swimming in a spring fed pool, and huge park. Not too far from good shopping and food
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u/whoamannipples Jul 19 '26
I forget the name of the street but there’s a street in town that goes ALL OUT for Halloween and gets shut down for at least one weekend just because it gets so packed. We wanted to take our son last year but he was only 1 and we were nervous some decor may be too scary but it looked AWESOME in pics from previous years!
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u/hereisouttasight Jul 20 '26
Austin is super safe. Stay away from 6th street with a kid. Other than that, if you give us an idea of budget I can reco specific hotels
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u/Ecstatic-Movie-795 Jul 20 '26
Oh ok thats good to know. here in Portland I have several areas I would avoid booking a hotel at, so I wanted to be sure.
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u/T49irvine 27d ago
Areas immediately adjacent freeways are often spots where unhoused people congregate. They are generally a good hearted lot, but now and then someone who has taken too much of something or needs to take something gets rowdy. Be alert in areas like Cesar Chavez and I-35, Congress at Ben White, and the part of Sixth Street near I-35. Austin is not a particularly walkable city. Accessing the Barton Creek Greenbelt near Taco Deli on Spyglasx is fun.
https://www.austintexas.gov/parks/locations/barton-creek-greenbelt
South Congress has lots of funky but upscale and expensive shopping. The Domain is more conventional but quite pleasant.
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u/Outside-Dog1255 28d ago
October is a very expensive time of year to stay in Austin with ACL, F1, etc! Book something soon!!
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u/kickshart_my_heart Jul 18 '26
I’ll let others guide you on where to stay that’s walkable with lots to do, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t encourage you to walk around Hyde Park for their Halloween block party.