Austin is built for the party of one: barbecue joints seat you at shared tables, dive bars run free jams where nobody asks who you came with, and Rainey Street porches fill with locals by 6pm. Three days of easy, safe, sociable wandering.
Austin's only downtown hostel, inside the 1885 fire station next to the Driskill. Dorm beds from $45, private rooms $110. The lobby hides a speakeasy behind a bookcase door. Free walking tours and pub crawls leave from the front desk most evenings.
The taco trailer that made the migas taco famous, on a gravel lot with communal picnic benches under shade sails. Migas taco $4.50, three-taco plate about $13, agua fresca $4. Cash and card, open 7am-4pm, order at the window and grab any free bench seat.
A three-acre spring-fed pool holding 20°C year-round inside Zilker Park, filled by the Edwards Aquifer. Entry $9 for non-resident adults, open 5am-10pm with cleaning closures on Thursday mornings. The grassy south hillside is where solo swimmers spread a towel.
A row of 1930s bungalows converted into bars with front porches and yards — Container Bar, Banger's, Lustre Pearl. Everything is outdoors, well lit and walkable in four blocks, which makes it the least intimidating first-night drink in Austin for anyone alone.
A South Austin coffee-and-beer hybrid with a huge gravel yard, the Veracruz taco trailer parked out back and free live bluegrass most weeknights. Cortado $4.50, draft beer from $6. Locals work laptops here all morning and drink at the same tables by dusk.
A trailer smoking beef ribs and jalapeño-cheddar sausage on Rosewood, with a queue a fraction of Franklin's and shared picnic tables under a tarp. Open Wednesday-Sunday 11am until sold out, usually by 3pm. Plates run about $22-28 by the pound.
The outdoor coffee counter with the 'i love you so much' mural on its wall, the most photographed spot in Austin. Iced turbo $6. Strangers constantly ask each other to take mural photos, which is the easiest conversation opener in the city.
An East Austin honky-tonk with free two-step lessons at 7pm most nights, live country from 8pm and no cover before 10pm. Lone Star $4, whiskey shots $5. Dancers rotate partners during lessons, so arriving alone is the standard way to arrive.
Twelve miles of limestone canyon trail running west from Zilker, with swimming holes at Twin Falls and Sculpture Falls and free access at every trailhead. The Spyglass entrance drops you into the canyon in five minutes. Busy enough on weekends to hike alone comfortably.
Texas's largest independent bookstore, three floors on Lamar with a café upstairs and free author events almost nightly. The Austin and Texas sections on the ground floor are where staff recommendation cards are worth reading. Open 9am-10pm daily.
A 106-step limestone staircase to the highest point in central Austin at 236 metres, overlooking Lake Austin and the Hill Country. Free, open 5am-10pm. Small enough that everyone at the top ends up chatting about the view while waiting for the light.
A 1955 club that runs a 6:30pm happy-hour set most weeknights with a $5-10 cover, hours before the late crowd arrives. Standing room at the bar, residencies from Austin players who have held the same slot for decades. Cash bar, small room, no bad sightline.