Looking For Texas Hill Country Recommendations

I love Texas, but have never been to the ';Hill Country'; so we%26#39;re looking to go. Austin, Fredricksburg and New Braunfels all look interesting - any other ideas? Could you please make recommendations on B%26amp;Bs or Cabins to rent, hotels, restaurants, things to see and do for a few days? It would be great if there were recommendations for a central agency to handle the lodging reservations. Thanks in advance for your help.

Looking For Texas Hill Country Recommendations

Can you give us more information about what you like to do? and when you%26#39;d be coming? kids/no kids? want to stay in one place or drive around to different places?

Austin is really fun; lots of nightlife and things to do. New Braunfels is great if you like floating in a river. Fredericksburg is great if you like meandering up and down a quaint main street.

I also love Marble Falls. Enchanted Rock is wonderful. You%26#39;ll get a lot of help on this board, but give us an idea of where to start. :-)

Looking For Texas Hill Country Recommendations

Adding to the above heliskimaster post:

We are two newly retired adults with adult kids/grandkids - they probably won%26#39;t be joining us, but one never knows.

I think we%26#39;d like to spend a couple days in each area, so driving around would be fine.

We like to eat good local fare with a cold beer - fine dining is great too. A few sightseeing sites of note are fine, but we mainly just like to poke around and see what happens.

We%26#39;re not too much into nightlife, but if something appeals to us, we%26#39;ll check it out. We mainly enjoy C %26amp; W music.

Generally speaking, when we check out a new area of interest, we go and get the locals input over the course of a few days and then come back for a more thorough visit. We%26#39;re mainly just looking for some good places to start and just learned about Tripadvisor, so we figured we%26#39;d give this a try.

Great!! Thanks for the direction.

I%26#39;ll get it started. I don%26#39;t know if you%26#39;ve been to San Antonio or not. I don%26#39;t think it%26#39;s technically ';Hill Country';, but the Missions and the Riverwalk would captivate you.

Spend one day in Fredericksburg - maybe a B%26amp;B. One that I%26#39;ve heard of and have been wanting to try is the Fredericksburg herb farm:

www.fredericksburgherbfarm.com/bnb/index.htm.

Since I haven%26#39;t stayed there I couldn%26#39;t tell you if it was fabulous or awful, but maybe someone else knows. I%26#39;ve just read complimentary write-ups. There is a lot of fabulous German food there; a day walking up and down the main drag is really neat, plus the Admiral Nimitz museum is worth a stop.

I think you%26#39;d really like Greune (pronounced Green) - have a meal at the Grist Mill and a beer at Greune Hall:

http://www.gruenetexas.com/activities.html

People on this forum are probably tired of hearing me recommend Marble Falls. LOL. I swear I don%26#39;t work for the tourist bureau or anything there. But it%26#39;s a really cute little town. There is a Marriott resort there that we have enjoyed; don%26#39;t know any B%26amp;B%26#39;s there but there certainly must be at least one or maybe one in nearby Horseshoe Bay.

http://www.marblefallstexas.com/

The Bluebonnet Cafe is a favorite there.

Austin is a topic unto itself - a great place. There%26#39;s a lot about Austin in these forums and I%26#39;m no expert, but I do think The Oasis (on Lake Travis) is very unique:

http://www.marblefallstexas.com/

And I also love Chuy%26#39;s (the original one, on Barton Springs) - it%26#39;s really fun.

http://www.chuys.com/index.html

That%26#39;s a start... now I%26#39;ll let some other Texans have a turn!!

Sorry - I messed up the web address for The Oasis:

http://www.oasis-austin.com/

That%26#39;s better! :-)

Check out Settler%26#39;s Crossing just east of Fredericksburg near Luckenbach (www.settlerscrossing.com). I was there maybe five years ago and it was awesome. We went with our toddler, but I would love to go back with just my husband. Very nice houses. I haven%26#39;t found the ';fabulous'; German food in Fredericksburg. Maybe someone can let me know where it is. ;-) But August-E%26#39;s has a good write-up in Southern Living (http://www.august-es.com/). I haven%26#39;t been there but have been meaning to give it a try.

I%26#39;d second San Antonio for the Riverwalk. Tourists love that place. There is a great restaurant at the end of the Riverwalk called Fig Tree (http://www.figtreerestaurant.com). I%26#39;ve also stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort in San Antonio. If you%26#39;re into pools and spas, it%26#39;s great, though its%26#39; a good family pick and you will see many kids. (There%26#39;s an adult pool with an adjacent bar, though, so there are places to hide!)

I know others will chime in with more.

Have fun!

I second the Gruene Hall and Gristmill experience. The steak salad is usually wonderful, and the environment is truly Texas Hill Country. Fredericksburg or Wimberly would be a must see as well. If you like scenic drives, take Hwy 71 West out of Austin and then Take RM 3238 (Hamilton Pool Road) all the way out to Hwy 281 on your way to Fredericksburg. It is a beautiful country drive through a bunch of old family ranches.

Fredricksburg is filled with B%26amp;Bs. Our favorite is the Cotton Gin Inn. It is made up of log cabins imported from Ky and Tn. Wonderful food in the resturant and a delightful diner, Peggy Sue%26#39;s down the road. Climb Enchanted Rock, antique shop in Comfort and Boerne as well as Fredricksburg. Golf in State park across from Cotton Gin Inn.

Now that I%26#39;ve had more time to think...

Since you just like to poke around (me too) what about just driving from San Antonio north on Hwy 281? It would give you a chance to drive through towns and stop whenever something strikes your fancy. There are plenty of small town restuarants. You could drive as far north as Stephenville (although I don%26#39;t think there%26#39;s all that much to see other than pretty terrain north of Lampassas). You could even drive as far as Burnet, then head to Llano, from Llano head back down to Fredericksburg (past Enchanted Rock) and make almost a ';loop';. Sounds fun to me!!

Two other things I want to mention (as a fellow ';poke around-er';) is (1) that the Kerrville/Ingram area is really pretty too and (2) there%26#39;s a really beautiful cave near Boerne called Cave Without a Name.

www.cavewithoutaname.com

It%26#39;s a much smaller cave than the ones most tourists go to (InnerSpace and Natural Bridge) but I wanted to mention it in case you think you might like something like that. Personally, I%26#39;m fascinated by the caves we have in Texas... but not enough to take up spelunking. LOL.

Oh... and (3) Bandera is wonderful.

Great replies above. My only addition is a recommendation for a B%26amp;B.-- Rosehill B%26amp;B- in Stonewall, TX, about 15 minutes outside Fredericksburg. It%26#39;s beautiful, quiet, and the food is delicious. I highly recommend it, and if you do stay there, try their full course dinner there one night (it%26#39;s also a small restaurant) The food is delicious, I could go on and on. See my review of Rosehill on tripadvisor for more info/pics. Also, their website is http://www.rose-hill.com/.

They book fast though, and their most popular room is the Sunrise Room (where we stayed).