Texas and then where?

[PipPippin]

We are going to Austin for a few days in May for a work event and want to make it into a two week trip with the kids (over half term).

So we need to have a few days in Austin city but then approx 10
days with no plan and I’m wondering what we should do? San Antonio looks cool but is it worth staying in Texas or instead could we even fly down to Mexico and do a week there on the beach etc and then home? Never been to Mexico so that appeals. Or we could stay in Texas for 2 weeks or we could leave Austin and stop off somewhere else on our way back to the U.K.

Any Tips? Kids are 12 and 9 and good travellers. Also we have been before and I really enjoyed it but it’s not cheap and I thought maybe Mexico might be more budget friendly?!

I love Texas so I vote stay in Texas. You could go to the NASA space place in Houston, go to a beach on the southern coast, San Antonio is brilliant for more history and is so pretty. And I personally think the drive up to Dallas is worth it for Fort Worth although not much to do in Dallas itself. It's a longer drive and you may need to lop one destination off, but you could look at Big Bend.

As you said you don't mind driving!

And be sure to go to a Buccees!

Oh they’d love NASA - that would be very cool. Thank you for these tips. On the south coast do you have any tips of beach type areas?

I would be looking at staying in Texas or perhaps flying onto somewhere like Orlando for the remainder.

I would be checking on the current situation re this seaweed problem on the Mexico Caribbean coastline because that season tends to run from April to August.

@PipPippin we went to Galveston which has a retro feel, amusement park on the pier kind of thing, that was fun although I'm sure there are prettier places among the Gulf Coast.

Nearish you could to New Orleans.
DD went to Miami for spring break when studying in Austin but looking it's not that short a flight. She frequently flew to Boston and New York to visit family for under $100 on cheapo internal flights. She did also go to the west coast but I'd stay east to avoid making return journey jet lag worse

How about a cruise from Galveston?

Definitely catch a rodeo in Fort Worth if you can. Wonderful atmosphere in the evenings for families and non-families alike.

For a closer option to Austin your kids might like Blue Bell Creameries ice cream factory tour in Brenham, in beautiful Hill Country.

I'm very jealous of your trip! Have a wonderful time.

We did two weeks road trip from Austin in 2020! After Austin we went to a dude ranch in Bandera for 3 nights x, then San An, drove to Lafayette, from there to Nola, and then back. We were supposed to go to SXSW but it was cancelled so just explored Austin for a couple of days.

It was a lot of driving, so maybe not your thing but all the places we saw were great. We did a swamp tour in Lafayette which was awesome, and would have done a plantation but covid was kicking off so had to spend that day rearranging our return flight.

The dude ranch would be fantastic with kids! Definitely recommend.

@PipPippin I'd love to know what you end up doing and how the trip is, we've just booked flights to Houston for October half term with a 12 Year old and 14 year old and plan to do San Antonio/hill country then down to New Orleans via Lafayette. Excited but nervous too as I've never been before.

@Wherehaveallthepopchipsgone we are going in May and still planning the trip but I’ll let you know what we end up doing.