Austin's 6th Street

Besides bats, Austin is probably most known for 6th Street, which is Austin's version of New Orleans's Bourbon Street. 6th Street features bars, pubs, live music venues, and sidewalk pizza kiosks. After dusk live music comes from every crack and crevasse. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights around 10 p.m. Austin Police Department closes off the street and the party begins. The scene on 6th Street is pretty rowdy, with hordes of wasted college kids and scantily clad girls. There's always a contingency of men roaming about, afflicted with an acute case of machismo, looking for a date, a fight, or both in one. The scene can get pretty sketchy later in the night when "gangsta" types start mixing with the college kids. A good time to bail on this scene is around midnight, and especially before the bars close at 2 a.m.

Besides clubs and bars there's also a slew of terrible tourist shops that feature belt buckles, Texas memorabilia with the state flag screen-printed on everything, samurai swords (don't ask why), and ridiculous touristy T-shirts that say things like, "F*** Y'all, I'm from Texas," which doesn't represent Texas or Austin in even the slightest way.

Sure there are some good live music spots here, but you have to put up with lots of nonsense to enjoy it. If you like Spring Break at Daytona Beach, or New Orleans during Mardi Gras, you'll probably like 6th Street.