Austin, San Antonio, Dallas & Houston - Couple of Questions

Hi,

I%26#39;m a Sydney girl planning a trip to Texas with my husband in 2010.

I%26#39;m trying to at least narrow down a timeframe of when we should travel. We don%26#39;t want to go at the most touristy time. Is there a ';low-season';? We were thinking of maybe travelling in winter thinking it might be quieter and a bit cheaper, are most things operating within normal hours during the winter?

Also I have no idea how cold winter is in Texas. We can have 2 degree celsius (or lower)winter days where we live (I think this equals about 36 Fahrenheit. Would Texas winters be around the same or slightly warmer?

Any help / tips or advice would be appreciated.

Austin, San Antonio, Dallas %26amp; Houston - Couple of Questions

Since you mention those 4 cities in your heading, I will guess from your research that you are not going to the coastal/valley areas or the panhandle. That will help narrow the scope of weather.

As you know, Texas covers a large range of climate. Looking at an almanac, the coldest averages do fall in the winter months from December-Feb, mostly in the 40%26#39;s-50%26#39;s F(4-10C). Keep in mind, January and February are the most likely to produce freezing precipitate if we get any during a particular year, especially in Dallas.

I recommend the fall months, late September- November. The main destinations stay open all year- amusement parks such as Six Flags will change hours as kids go back to school. You could plan to see the State Fair in Dallas if you are here at the end of September, early October.

Write back with more info on your interests. That will help with recommendations.

Here%26#39;s a website to check out for more details plus you can order a travel guide.

www.traveltex.com

Austin, San Antonio, Dallas %26amp; Houston - Couple of Questions

The best weather is in the early spring before the summer heat sets in. If you travel in March or April you will find most everything is open and running and the temperatures and humidity very nice. If you hit the Spring Break weeks in March you will find the beach areas crowded as well as the Theme Parks. Winter months are a bit problematic because the weather can be so unpredictable. You can get snow and ice as far South as San Antonio and temperatures below freezing even along the Gulf Coast.

I think Fall is better than Spring. October and November are generally my favorite months almost anywhere in Texas. Dallas is going to be a bit cooler than Houston, Austin or San Antonio. Houston is going to be more humid. As noted above, January and February are likely to have some sort of freezing rain or ice, mostly in Dallas. We don%26#39;t get much of that in Austin or San Antonio, but when it happens, it really messses up traffic.

Thanks for the quick replies!

I didn%26#39;t realise that Texas winters would be as cold as ours, for some reason I thought it would be a very mild winter.

November sounds like it might be a good month to travel - Our 5th wedding anniversary is also in November 2010 so that would fit in well.

From the tiny bit we have organised and discussed we know that we want to go Austin and San Antonio for the majority of the time. Dallas and Houston will be if we can fit it and we probably would only stay around 2-3 nights in Dallas %26amp; Houston compared to at least a week each in Austin %26amp; San Antonio.

We were discussing possibly going to the Austin City Limits festival (I can%26#39;t remember the month that is held) if the line up is good. Husband is a musician so he will want to go check out lots of bands / music venues. We also want to go to our the normal touristy stuff, eat lots of good food, especially lots of mexican food. Lots of shopping as well.

I think Downtown is the most central place to stay in Austin? What about in San Antonio? Most of my web-surfing has been geard towards Austin so far.

Fall and winter in the areas you are considering, especially central Texas, are quite mild. My husband wears shorts about 10 out of the 12 months.

ACL Festival is Oct. 2-4 this year- probably similar in 2010. Austin is an excellent choice.

If you like live music, consider Fort Worth rather than Dallas. The clubs and venues are easier to get to in FW.

I wear shorts 12 out of 12 months, but some folks think I crazy.

Remember Texas is big - north to south is about the same distance as Sydney to Gladstone; east to west Sydney to Adelaide.

Seriously, I like to use Weather Underground%26#39;s history to see the previous years. Go to there website, enter the zip code for the area and hit enter. When the page reloads, scroll down to the section labeled History %26amp; Almanac, choose a date, click go. You%26#39;ll get detailed info for that day, but click on Monthly, and scroll down about mid page and you get a calendar with the weather for the whole month. This is my favorite way to get a sense for what to expect.

Fall or Spring would be my choices:

Spring - Lots of festivals, beautiful flowers, mild to warm days, water a little too cool for most activities until end of April

Fall - swimming usually through September, lots of festivals, slightly warmer than spring.

Thanks for the website Octoboy - I%26#39;ll check that out today.

I%26#39;ll also check out Fort Worth.

Is it hard to get accomodation during the Austin City Limits festival? I think if the line-up is great then that will be the decider between travelling in October or November.

I would say get on their mailing list so you will get a heads up as soon as the list is up and you can decide then. Most likely if you reserve your room as soon as you see the list, assuming you are wanting to attend, you should have no trouble finding a nice room. Keep in mind getting down into November, Texas weather has a bit of a sense of humor. You might see quite warm and sunny one day, followed by cloudy, rainy, and cool the next. On the whole, both October and November are great months to visit most of Texas, but be sure to bring a jacket and perhaps an umbrella for those occasional cool damp days. The one great thing about a Texas fall, if the weather one day isn%26#39;t peachy, it probably will be the next.

There are still reasonably priced hotels available for this year%26#39;s festival, though they are not downtown. You%26#39;d need to rent a car or take a taxi.

I checked hotwire - 3 star for that weekend $49 a night near north side.

The line up is already out for the Austin City Limits Festival and tickets have been on sale for some time now. Three-day passes are sold out, but single day tickets are available at a cost of $85 per day. All of the information you need is here -- http://www.aclfestival.com/default.aspx

All of that being said, I wouldn%26#39;t really plan a trip around it. You%26#39;re going to get a much better feel for what Austin is like if you come at another time and explore the city, rather than spending three days at ACL. There is always live music happening and you%26#39;ll be able to find a place to stay downtown if you avoid that weekend.