Downtown

Downtown is the most convenient base for sights, restaurants and live music, and it is comfortable by day. Nights on Sixth and Rainey Streets are loud and drunken, so go with others and take a rideshare home.

Downtown is Austin's compact center, with the Texas State Capitol, Congress Avenue, the Lady Bird Lake shoreline and the Sixth Street and Rainey Street bar districts. By day it fills with office workers, tourists and people on the trail, and it is easy to get around on foot. Restaurants, coffee shops and bookstores are fine to visit alone. After dark the mood changes: Sixth Street fills with large drinking crowds, and fights and aggressive behavior are not unusual late at night. The converted-house bars on Rainey Street are a bit more laid-back but just as busy and loud. Go out in a group, skip empty side streets and parking garages late at night, and take a rideshare back instead of walking. Some people experiencing homelessness gather on certain blocks, mostly near the shelters and Sixth Street. They are rarely a danger, though you may be asked for money.