Want to see the best of Austin and the Hill County in the comfort of an air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz sprinter van with a local guide? Look no further! In 90 minutes, this signature tour covers 30 miles and 50+ points of interest, including the Texas Capitol and East Austin’s Six Square District, to give you a taste of the city’s rich culture and history. For even more exploration (with stops), check out the 2.5-hour version of this tour. Route subject to changes or substitutions.

Pass by Hill Country icons such as Austin City Hall, Congress Avenue Bridge (where the city’s bat population lives) and Barton Springs Pool
See where local’s get their grub at places like Chuy’s and Green Mesquite BBQ
Learn about Austin’s music and party scene by places like The Moody Theater (where Austin City Limits is filmed) and 6th Street
Hear anecdotes, local lore and suggestions of what to hit on your trip by a local guide who calls the city home in the comfort of a van

What's Included

Tour in a luxury air conditioned vehicle
Narrated tour with a combination of live commentary and scripted content
Signature PinkTag Partner Souvenir luggage tag
Whistle-stop, Austin in a nutshell, comprehensive city overview

Downtown hotel pickup and drop-off is not included when booked as a private tour
State required child safety seat for infants & young children
Gratuities
Parking Fees
Food and Beverage not included, but you can bring your own food/beverage

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

602 E 4th St, Austin, TX 78701, USA
The tour departs from the Austin Visitor's Center at 602 E 4th St, Austin. The parking garage entrance is at 601 E 5th St, Austin, the same building as the Austin Visitors Center.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

AO Tours Austin

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

2nd Street District (Pass By)

Willie Nelson Statue (Pass By)

The Moody Theater (Pass By)

Austin City Hall (Pass By)

Congress Avenue Bridge Bat Watching (Pass By)

Long Center (Pass By)

Palmer Events Center (Pass By)

Auditorium Shores Dog Park (Pass By)

Lady Bird Lake Hike-and-Bike Trail (Pass By)

Zach Theatre (Pass By)

Green Mesquite BBQ (Pass By)

Chuy's (Pass By)

Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum (Pass By)

Barton Creek (Pass By)

Barton Springs Pool (Pass By)

Zilker Metropolitan Park (Pass By)

Wild Basin Preserve (Pass By)

Austin Country Club (Pass By)

Pennybacker Bridge (Pass By)

Lake Austin Boulevard (Pass By)

Bull Creek District Park (Pass By)

Mount Bonnell (Pass By)

The Contemporary Austin - Laguna Gloria (Pass By)

Westwood Country Club (Pass By)

Mayfield Park (Pass By)

Clarksville District (Pass By)

Austin High School (Pass By)

Seaholm Power (Pass By)

Austin Central Library, Austin Public Library (Pass By)

Austin City Hall (Pass By)

Halcyon (Pass By)

Cedar Street Courtyard (Pass By)

Oilcan Harry's (Pass By)

Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood and Crab (Pass By)

Mexic-Arte Museum (Pass By)

The Contemporary Austin - Jones Center (Pass By)

Texas State Capitol (Pass By)

University of Texas at Austin (Pass By)

Texas State Cemetery (Pass By)

French Legation State Historic Site (Pass By)

Moonlight Towers (Pass By)

The Driskill (Pass By)

6th Street (Pass By)

Lady Bird Lake Hike-and-Bike Trail (Pass By)

Town Lake (Pass By)

Texas Military Forces Museum (Pass By)

Republic Square (Pass By)

Texas Governor's Mansion (Pass By)

LBJ Presidential Library (Pass By)

Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (Pass By)

The Blanton Museum of Art (Pass By)

Texas Memorial Museum (Pass By)

Bass Concert Hall (Pass By)

Harry Ransom Center (Pass By)

Bullock Texas State History Museum (Pass By)

Oakwood Cemetery (Pass By)

O. Henry Home & Museum (Pass By)

Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig Museum (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Smoking not permitted
Not wheelchair accessible
Infants must be accommodated with legal car seats (not provided)
Please note: Adult guests with children younger than eight years of age (unless taller than 4 feet 9 inches) will need to bring a child safety seat, this is Texas State Law
Stroller accessible

Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Request for special accommodations for wheelchair accessible needs will be addressed by management. Special arrangements may require as long as 72 hours’ notice to secure.
As of 05/04/2020 – We are offering tours by reservation only. We are taking the following steps to protect the health of our employees and guests: 1.We are requiring that our guides provide their temperature each day, and they will not be allowed to report to work if ill in any way. 2.We have increased the frequency of our cleanings. We are now fully sanitizing the vehicles after each tour. 3.We are asking passengers to not join us if they currently are ill or if they have had any Covid-19 symptoms with in the last 3 weeks. 4.We will be asking all passengers to make a health declaration stating they’re healthy by signing a waiver that will be sent to you by email. 5.We will be using infrared thermometers to check all passenger temperatures before they board the vehicle. We will ask anyone with a fever or high-temperature to please leave the area immediately, and we will contact them about rescheduling at another time. 6.We are requiring that both our guides and and guest wear masks at all times (this includes the time outside the vehicle waiting to board). 7.Guides will be providing hand sanitizer to each guest as they board the vehicle so that nobody is grasping handles or seat belts with unclean hands as they board and get seated. We reserve the right to reschedule or refuse admittance (without refund) if you can’t comply with requirements 3 through 7. These requirements must be followed to insure the safety of our passengers and guides.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

790 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 790 reviews

Great Overview

Cynthia_S, Apr 2024

Great overview of Austin and gave me info on sites I want to see during my visit. Jaye was a fantastic driver with great additional insight about the city.

Excellent Overview

Cynthia_M, Apr 2024

We've probably done these city tours in 30 cities worldwide. We are newly local to Austin and wanted to learn the basics of where to go and what to do. This tour was a great introduction and orientation to our new home. Can't wait to revisit so many of the highlights. Loved the added technology to the running monolog, lots of tantalizing tidbits of useful information. We would recommend this tour to locals and visitors. Cynthia & Michael McDowell, Liberty Hill, TX

Good Overview of Austin

johnnjen, Apr 2024

Good overview of the area Greg was very friendly and knowledgeable. Bus was comfortable. Taped narration was integrated well with live narration.

Choosy traveler

indrani_m, Apr 2024

Joel was accommodating knowledgeable & friendly guide. Provided interesting information on Austin. Okay okay!!

Austin in a Nutshell

Carole_C, Apr 2024

Enjoyed the expansiveness of the tour. From the heart of downtown Austin to the hillside suburbs. Driver was very good and enhanced the audio tour with additional information.

Fun!

BronwynBurke, Apr 2024

Very enjoyable tour. Corey was an excellent guide! Learned a lot on the adventure. My best friend was with me and he loved it as well.

Delightful tour

Maureen_R, Apr 2024

Jaye was informative and entertaining! He gave us some insider notes on the places we were seeing. He made us all feel comfortable and engaged.

Austin in 90 minutes!

Emily_V, Apr 2024

This was a comfortable and pleasant drive. Quick view of Downtown Austin and The Hill Country area is very pretty. Good audio recorded guide and the driver/guide (Jaye) interjected at times with additional info. Nice.

Great guide

Heather_O, Apr 2024

Jaye was fantastic navigating busy traffic and provided many insider tips to our adventures here in Austin

Good way to get the big picture

Tom_M, Apr 2024

I’d already been in Austin for a few days, but this tour brought my perspective. Got to see the Phil country and learn a lot about the geology of the area which is very interesting. Our guide, Joel, was great (he knew at least as much as the recorded folks!). Recommended.

Nice experience

Rosa_B, Mar 2024

Very nice Tour Guide! The information provided was awesome and the stops we went to to view were amazing! I definitely recommend it. I felt safe and got my money’s worth. I also feel that I got to learn a lot about Austin and even more than people that already live here

Great overview of the area!

Julie_P, Mar 2024

Doug gave us many suggestions on restaurants and places to tour in Austin. The hill country was beautiful!

Awesome Tour

Christine_V, Mar 2024

Very good tour with lots of information about Austin and the surrounding area. Tour goes through the hill country and mentions the stars who live there.

Highlights of Austin in comfort!

Susan_S, Mar 2024

Learned a lot about Austin while riding in a comfortable van with a knowledgeable entertaining driver (thanks, Greg). Saw many highlights of Austin including the University and beautiful homes along scenic drive. The duration of 90 minutes was perfect. Ages in late teens, 20s,30s, 50s, and 60s all enjoyed this trip!

Very good tour

Jessica_W, Mar 2024

Corey our guide was incredible. It was pretty gloomy the day we went but he was still very informative & fun. I wish there were stops at murals or other attractions but overall good tour.

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Hi Jessica, So glad to hear it! Thank you for the wonderful rating and review. We think Corey is pretty great too. -AO Tours Austin

Austin

Linda_M, Mar 2024

Doug was a great tour guide. Very knowledgeable and he made it fun! I would recommend this tour!!!!!

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Hi Linda, So glad to hear it! Thank you for the wonderful rating and review. Doug is a rockstar! -AO Tours Austin

Fabulous tour to get a great insight of the city. Highly recommend!

Merrie_S, Mar 2024

Joel was very knowledgeable about the city! He gave a great history of it along with current info. The tour was fabulous would highly recommend.

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Hi Merrie, Thank you for the wonderful rating and review. Happy to hear you enjoyed the tour. -AO Tours Austin

Great Ride

DrVickie_C, Mar 2024

Very informative! I enjoyed the thorough narrative and the comfortable air controlled ride. All was well!

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Hi Vickie, So glad to hear it! Thank you for the wonderful rating and review. -AO Tours Austin

It was comfortable. The...

DEB_W, Mar 2024

It was comfortable. The guide was very knowledgeable and welcomed questions. He drove slow enough when possible to allow for pictures as well as let you really look.

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Hi Deb, So glad to hear it! Thank you for the wonderful rating and review. -AO Tours Austin

It was okay

Kristi_C, Mar 2024

Fun for a solo traveler wanting to see the city, but it was a little underwhelming. The same could be achieved by driving around with an audio tape about the tour. I mostly wish there were stops for photo ops or at least to take in some of the views more. The driver was excellent and very kind!

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Hi Kristi, Thanks for the review and guide feedback. We really appreciate it. If you could contact us, we'd love to know why you chose this particular tour from our offerings. We ask because we actually do offer a longer tour with stops to do exactly what you said you had wished for in this tour. Both our 2.5 Austin & Hill Country and 90 Minute City Center Tours are slower paced with photo ops. The tour you went on is more of a whistle stop overview tour to get familiarized with the city and return to the places you specifically want to go back and spend more time at. We're curious to know if that information isn't coming through on our Viator and TripAdvisor pages. -AO Tours Austin

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