Planning a bachelorette party can be a daunting task, to put it lightly. Especially when its 13 girls, most of whom you’ve never met, all meeting in a far off land. For me, it was the ever-weird Austin, TX. Now as most of you have probably heard, Austin is an incredible place. With a long list of fun things to do while staying warmer year round then most, it’s a top destination for shenanigans, such as bachelorette parties. The streets are swarming with rowdy groups of gals, adorned in matching “Team Bride” tees, seemingly all year long. So you’d think this makes Austin bachelorette party planning easy, BUT in reality you end up with an overwhelming amount of options for places to eat and other various activities, but don’t worry I have it all planned out for you.
Disclaimer: my best friend (the bride to be) is very low-maintenance, therefore the company she keeps tends to pretty easy going as well, making my life a little easier. So this schedule for the PERFECT bachelorette only applies to laid-back ladies who want to hang, eat, drink and be merry. (I say only but really most girls would love this sched- we just didn’t include any fancy party boats or things of that nature. Or any mandatory tacky tees. But to each their own.)
Before we start, I will say I HIGHLY recommend using Airbnb for your adventure. There are SO MANY cute Airbnbs in Austin and they are very affordable. We stayed in one on Montclaire St off of South Lamar Blvd and it was PERFECT. We could walk to a liquor store, food store, Walgreens, everything you need. Also just a really great location overall with an awesome backyard. Not to mention you can make your own breakfast at an Airbnb on days where you have activities planned early. Just sayin’.
Thursday: Arrival day
Assuming you’re on the typical Thurs-Sun sched, Thursday is likely the day everyone arrives, with different flights/timing, making it difficult to schedule things. In loo of scheduling for Thursday, just have everyone meet at Rainey Street once they get in and drop off their things. This street is the ultimate bar hopping street, lined with historic houses that have been converted into a variety of kitschy drink-slinging establishments, making it perfect for mingling, getting to know each other and starting this thing off on the right foot.
There are also multiple food truck parks along the street to keep all the everyone satisfied. Becky can get a personal pizza while Sarah loads up on tacos, its perfect. No complaints. Another nice thing about this street is you can stay all night. Casual afternoon drinks turns into a late night scene, with a couple bumpin’ dance floors, if you so choose. Now be careful if you’re following this exact plan as you’re getting up early tomorrow for some river tubing fun and LOTS of beers (or Sparkling Seltzers, whichever works).
Friday: River Tubing and Dinner
OH MAN, the river tubing. This is NOT to be missed. Although you gotta get up earlier than you may want in order to catch the bus at 11, this experience is so worth it. You meet your guides near the Austin Visitor Center, hand over all your goods (beers, spiked seltzers, boxed wine, I recommend sandwiches) and they pack up your coolers for you, you hop on a school bus and they drive you down to the San Marcos river (about 30 minutes). But don’t worry, you can get the party started on the bus. Also, tell the ladies it’s in their best interest to bring some water shoes.
Once you get there, you grab a tube from an impressively huge pile, select a couple “bartenders” from your group to hook up to the coolers, and hop in. The reason I recommend using ATXcursions for this, well there are many, but they take care of all of this for you, you literally just have to go through the motions. You float down with your guides (who are a blast) and the others from your bus. The guides are looking out for you, letting you know when you need to lift your butt through the “rapids” etc. (these are baby rapids btw, nothing to be afraid of) and pulling everyone over at the halfway mark to shotgun beers (or mostly spiked seltzers in our case).
Now I don’t have any pictures of the actual float because there is the risk of losing your electronics in the river, which is great in that no one is distracted with their phone but a bummer because it is BEAUTIFUL and I have no pics for you, guess you’re just going to have to see it for yourself.
The float takes about 4 hours or so (depending on the current), everyone just hanging out, drinking, talking, making new friends with other bachelor/bachelorettes and some ‘no special occasion needed’ peeps. The river winds and takes you through what feels like different stages, new trees, plants, rocks- its seriously SO beautiful. Do it, you’ll love it.
Book it here.
To make this day simple, we made reservations in advance for dinner (there are SO MANY good restaurants in Austin, its better to just have this planned out). I chose El Alma for our one scheduled dinner, I had been there before and they take reservations for large parties, no fuss. The food is AWESOME semi-fancy Tex-Mex paired with GREAT drinks and a cool vibe and if you’re lucky enough to fit at a table on the rooftop patio, do it, it’s so charming with a nice little view of the city.
Check it out here.
We left our nights open for interpretation, but a place we did go to party and had a blast was what they call “Dirty Sixth”. The city closes part of Sixth Street on weekend nights so you can wander the street by foot and stumble into a number of bars, some with live music, some with DJs, some with huge dance floors. It has a reputation with the locals to be touristy and a destination for the college kids to party, but I tell you what, it was a BLAST. You would have to actively decide to not have fun. A must go if you want to dance, and I don’t mean two-step.
Saturday: Brunch on South Congress and Beer-biking.
11am: Brunch. Another daunting task was picking where to go eat brunch. The bride didn’t have a lot of demands but did want to go to brunch once, and brunch is big in Austin. So I called around to some popular places mentioned to me by friends who live in the area and I was surprised at how difficult it was to make a reservation for a party of 13 two weeks in advance. Some places require you go through the party planner, others require set menus starting at $50 a person (not including drinks!!!) but I found a perfect spot. South Congress Cafe.
This place is DELICIOUS and very reasonably priced, plus we sat out on their adorable patio. Warning- they don’t take reservations that big and the patio is first-come, first-serve, but we only waited about 10 minutes and they take care of you. They moved tables all around to accommodate us and service was great.
Take a peek here.
The great thing about eating here is that you can wander up and down South Congress afterward. South Congress Ave is famous for its shopping, art, food and authentic cowboy boots. Schedule in an hour or two to hang here and check things out. Again if you follow this exact sched, there’s a super cool free Artist Market on Saturdays right across the street from South Congress Cafe. You can go and get some souvenir handmade jewelry, listen to a local musician, or have a poem written for you on the spot, its pretty cool.
5pm: Beer bike. Or the Austin Pubcrawler as they call it. Now you will see this on every Austin bachelorette party list, as well as every other city that has one of these. BUT it is one of those things, one of those unique, memorable experiences that is totally worth the cliche. Plus at $35 a person, its a pretty affordable activity as well. You do have to bring your own beer and wine (no glass and no liquor) but you pedal around for 2 hours, blasting whatever music the bride is feelin’ and make three solid stops at different bars for drinks and shots, its a blast.
You also get a little tour of an area you likely haven’t been yet, the warehouse district downtown- where old warehouses have been turned into shops and super unique bars and restaurants. Then, when the tour ends, you’re back where you started on Walsh Street and its a natural next step to just walk down 6th street (a main drag through downtown lined with all kinds of bars and restaurants) and stop in somewhere for a bite to eat as you walk into the rest of the night.
Get the party started here.
Sunday: Time to go home
If you’ve had half the amazing time on your Austin bachelorette party that we did, then Sunday will be a sad day for you. We literally had an unbelievably great time and I hope this guide will lead you to have the same. And if you’re like me and you’re the last to leave, there is no shame is going back to South Congress Cafe with all of your things and eating brunch at the bar alone.
xx,
Hannah
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