Getting Here
By Air
The main airport that services the Austin metropolitan area is Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (300 Presidential Blvd., 512/530-2242), located eight miles southeast of downtown. This converted Air Force base offers international connections that can get you to anywhere in the world. Major passenger airlines include America West (800/235-9292), American (800/433-7300), Continental (800/525-0280), Delta (800/221-1212), Frontier (800/432-1359), Northwest (800/225-2525), Southwest (800/435-9792), and United (800/241-6522).
The airport terminal has a couple restaurants (including the famous BBQ of the Salt Lick), coffee shops, and, of course, the usual airport gift shops filled with irritating flying toys, paperbacks, coffee mugs, tourist T-shirts, and key chains. There’s one shop that is worth making an attempt to check out if you aren’t running to catch a plane, and that’s the Austin City Limits store. And, true to Austin’s love of live music, the airport also has live music. Because of this Austin’s airport has landed on USA Today's list of “10 great places to hang out during a layover.”
The one big drawback to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is that passengers often have a connecting flight, and this can eat up most of a travel day. There are only 52 destinations with nonstop service to and from Austin, and nearly all are domestic cities that are “lesser traveled.” However, what ABIA is lacking in connections is made up by convenient parking, which is close to the terminal and easily accessed, with no wait and no hassle. Airport parking is free under 30 minutes, $2 for 31-60 minutes, and each additional hour is $2. Day rate for the covered parking garage is $19 and long-term parking nearby runs $7 a day. Travelers heading to Austin-Bergstrom can call the airport for parking availability and other airport information 24 hours a day.
There are several ways to get from the airport to town. The most economical way is SuperShuttle (512/258-3826 or 800/258-3826), which costs about $13 to take one person to the downtown area. Taking a cab to downtown costs about $22-25, but this may go up with the high cost of gas.
By BUS AND TRAIN
If you have a fear of flying, a low budget, or fascination with the underbelly of America, there’s always ground transportation to get you to and from Austin. The bus station is inconveniently located far north of downtown at 916 East Koenig Lane. The two bus lines available are Greyhound (512/458-4463 or 800/231-2222), which services just about anywhere in the contiguous United States, and Kerrville Bus Company (800/256-2757), which serves many of the smaller Texas towns, including many in the Hill Country. Capital Metro buses numbers 15 (Red River) and 7 (Duval) going south can get you from the bus station in North Austin to downtown. As for train access to Austin, Amtrak (512/476-5684 or 800/872-7245) has a station conveniently located right in the heart of downtown, near Lady Bird Lake at 250 North Lamar Bouvelard.