Austin runs on things that cost nothing: a Capitol you can walk straight into, cold creeks in the middle of the city, and a Gutenberg Bible in a free gallery. This three-day route keeps plates under $16 and puts the best views at the top of a footpath.
The 1888 pink granite dome rises 15 feet higher than the US Capitol, and both the building and the 45-minute guided tours cost nothing. Open weekdays 07:00–22:00, weekends 09:00–20:00, with free wifi in the underground extension.
A UT research library whose free galleries hold a complete Gutenberg Bible and the world's first photograph, Niépce's 1826 heliograph on pewter. Open Tue–Fri 10:00–17:00 and weekends 12:00–17:00, all exhibitions included.
Vince Hannemann has welded roughly 60 tons of bicycle wheels, hubcaps, bottles and bowling balls into a three-storey backyard sculpture in South Austin. Visits run by phone appointment only, in small groups, in a residential garden.
The 1892 limestone studio of German sculptor Elisabet Ney, still holding her plaster portraits of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston. Free admission Wed–Sun 12:00–17:00, and the meadow behind it is open dawn to dusk.
Sundays 10:00–14:00 in the Mueller neighbourhood: around 60 Texas growers and producers, plus breakfast tacos and kolaches from the prepared-food stalls for $3–5. Entry free, samples generous, live music most weeks.
The East Cesar Chavez trailer that made the migas taco famous — crispy tortilla strips, egg, avocado and cheese on flour for around $5.50. Open daily from 07:00, picnic tables in the gravel lot, cash or card accepted.
A South Austin garden with a spring-fed creek, koi pond and shaded picnic tables where nobody minds you nursing one iced coffee for two hours. Food trailers on site, free wifi, dogs everywhere, open until 22:00.
Smoking brisket and mutton on East 12th since 1957, in a cinderblock room with no queue and no hype. A brisket plate runs about $16, a sliced-beef sandwich around $9, and the window stays open until 03:00 Friday and Saturday.
Twelve miles of limestone canyon trail running through the middle of the city, free and open 05:00–22:00. From the Twin Falls trailhead off Loop 360 you reach the swimming holes and climbing walls in about 15 minutes.
A cable-stayed footbridge over the Colorado that hands you the downtown skyline from water level at no cost, at any hour. Stairs drop straight onto the Ann and Roy Butler trail, and the spiral ramp is the best photo angle.
The oldest swimming pool in Texas, hand-dug in 1915 beside the river and fed by cold springs at a steady 21°C year-round. Open daily 08:00–20:00 in summer, with a shaded grass bank and a wading end for cooling off.
102 stone steps climb to Austin's highest point, 775 feet above the river, where the Colorado bends below and the Hill Country turns gold. Free, open 05:00–22:00, and there is no parking charge on Mount Bonnell Road.