Austin · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Breakfast tacos, free swimming holes and live music with no cover — the cheap parts are the good parts.
East Sixth and Rainey
The budget beds sit east of Interstate 35 and along the lake, with a lakeside hostel near the hike-and-bike trail and a small one downtown.
What a day costs
Bed 35–55 USD, food 15–35 given breakfast tacos run three to five, and CapMetro sells a day pass for a couple of dollars.
Getting around cheap
CapMetro day passes cover buses and the Airport Flyer, MetroBike docks sit downtown, and scooters litter every corner. Downtown itself is walkable end to end.
Free by day
The bat colony under Congress Avenue Bridge emerges at dusk March to October, the Capitol gives free tours, and the Greenbelt trails run for miles.
Where travellers meet
Rainey Street, a row of bungalows converted into bars with a shared yard feel, does the job that hostel common rooms do elsewhere.