Weekend Trip to Texas for Austin City Limits Festival

There are all kinds of great music festivals that fill the summer calendar, but if you want to pretend summer isn’t quite over yet then a trip down to the capital of Texas for the Austin City Limits festival next month is a grand idea. Even in early October, the weather in Austin is enough to make you remember what summer feels like (especially after the so-called summer San Francisco had this year), and when you combine nice weather with a great list of musical acts you’ve got the makings of a fabulous weekend.

Even if you’re really in the mood for a road trip, driving all the way from San Francisco to Austin is pretty ambitious – especially when the festival starts so soon. There are other methods for getting to the Austin City Limits Festival, of course, including taking the train or the bus. And since Austin’s airport isn’t terribly large and you might find better deals on airfare into Dallas or Houston rather than on flights to Austin, you might end up renting a car and having a mini-road trip to get from the airport to the festival site after all.

If you manage to get a great last-minute deal on a flight, then you might have a little extra in your travel budget to spend on accommodation – which might be necessary padding, since most of the cheap Austin hotels will have been snapped up by festival-goers months ago. Consider renting an apartment or vacation home in the Austin area – especially if you’re going to the festival with friends – and you’ll have a comfy place to crash and potentially save money in the process.

photo by andinarvaez