My bf and I were visiting friends out in Austin and after dinner for Valentine's Day we came out…read morehere for some additional fun! We didn't have any reservations and we were able to secure a time slot upon arrival. We had to wait for awhile after paying before we were brought over to our section while the guy helped others also. Our friends had been here before but they mentioned that this one was a bit jankier than the others but we made do. It was our first time axe throwing in an establishment and our friends had been here before. This was a lot of fun and would definitely recommend and play a few different ones.

The place was quiet, which isn't surprising for a Tuesday afternoon. But the experience was…read moreawesome, place felt very taken care of, and the boozy ice-cream was delicious.

We love escape rooms and gave this one a go one Sunday…read more When we went it was an under sea submarine machine. It was a lot of fun with multiple rooms and a bunch of fun puzzles/clues. This was a very fun hour adventure - would highly recommend.

I went to Novel Escape to enjoy the 20,000 leagues under the sea experience with my book club…read more Seven of us decided to join, which is slightly more than they usually have for a room, but we weren't crowded as we enjoyed the experience the team that welcomed us when we arrived and helped with our experience with a lot of fun.

My brother in law (BIL) will be visiting us in Texas from Chicago for the summer starting in June…read more I was supposed to return to work after vacation on Tuesday, but I am too jetlagged for intensive work. Thus, I will not be starting back to work until next Monday. I have some time this week to recover and do a little scouting for things to do for my BIL. We have taken my BIL to most popular spots in Austin, however, we were looking for some new things to do. Thus, I headed to the Austin Visitors Center located on 5th Street near Congress. Let me be the first to say that the Austin Visitor Center has completed changed since I was there last. The last time I visited they were giving out maps, bluebonnet seeds and other trinkets. It is a full-on operation now...y'all! The Austin Visitor center has transformed into a one-stop shop for travel info, local recommendations, and shopping (yes...shopping!). Shopping includes clothing, hats, magnets, stuffed animals, to name just a few. Wow...I was not ready for this paparazzi of items. Other services include free maps and guides, tour booking services, free Wi Fi, restrooms, charging stations and luggage storage for a small fee. In addition, their coffee shop, 5th and Brew, is a nice respite for tourists. The space is large and spacious. The ladies in the Austin Visitor Center were super sweet and helpful! Such a pleasant experience.... Great space...excellent services.

When friends and family come to visit, I send them here (or I sometimes accompany them)…read more You can get anything here, from gifts and souvenirs to maps and coffee (they have a cafe). Tours are booked in and out of the center as well. A good idea if you only have limited time in Austin and want to see as much as possible. It's truly a welcoming place and a great representation of our city. I also like that there is a large room with comfy seating to rest your weary feet after a day of sightseeing, or to prep for your day of exploration. I can't say enough nice things about this place. It's clean and modern. The staff are so incredibly knowledgeable about everything related to Austin. Super friendly too.

So so so fun. I highly recommend if you are solo, with a friend, on a date, with a parent... it is…read moreseriously fun for anyone who enjoys Harry Potter, interesting scenery/lights/sounds, or honestly someone who just wants to get outdoors and see something new. When you first enter, you walk through a signature walk-way that leads to a few food/drink stores, a gift shop, an area for marshmallow roasting, and the start of the trail. The trail lasted about 75 minutes and had so many cool attractions. Some are physical structures, some are animated on screens, and a few are user-driven by casting a spell! A few of the 'bigger' stops also have staff working who can provide wands for your to do the activity/spell. Once you finish the trail, you exit through the gift shop which I actually really liked because I was able to browse/pick up a few souvenirs without having to go out of my way. All around I had a great time and would absolutely go back with a few friends. I got there a bit late (8:30) and it closes at 10, but I would have liked to spend a few more hours just hanging out and maybe walking the trail again. Awesome stuff!!!

It is a fantastic experience that is not to be missed. We went here as a group and arrived at the…read moredesignated location. Getting to the parking lot was a bit confusing as they had changed the traffic flow on the highway that leads you there. But once you turned onto the property, it was smooth sailing. The parking attendants followed a straightforward process to line up all the cars and park them in the right spots. Having the gate attendants scan our QR codes for entrance was easy. Walking in, we were immediately taken to a different world. From the lights and aesthetics to the sounds and smells, we quickly forgot we were in Texas. There are several food and drink stalls where you can order bites and drinks. They have different hot chocolates based on which character house you identify with. They also had butter beer, but we didn't enjoy it as much as the original found in Universal Studios. I wasn't expecting this to be a walking experience, but I was pleasantly surprised as we entered the Forbidden Forest. We also wanted to meet the cast here, but there are different areas with highlights within each one. Some unique features are interactive, while others are simply interpretations of characters in the series. A wand isn't necessary but adds to the overall enjoyment. There are some places where you can do spells with your wand. But if you want to, you could wave your hand. The trail is well-lit, so you know where you need to go. The trail is also one-way, so there's no chance of getting lost in the forest. All in all, we had a wonderful time. Make sure to take lots of pictures to preserve your memories of this once-in-a-lifetime experience!

YES YES YES!!! SO MUCH FUN!!! I can't recommend this tour enough. We went on the van tour and…read morewent to three different locations. Our tour guide took time at every location to thoroughly go through all of the "Haunted Tales" and give all of the background information. It was definitely an interesting and unique tour that would be a big miss if you come to Austin and didn't take this tour. My favorite location was the second stop, which is now an Indian restaurant. I don't want to give too much away, but this felt the most haunted of the locations. It took about 2 1/2 hours-ish so plan accordingly.

All right to start off with I have to say how easy it was to get an adjustment for our party of…read moreeight. So typically the van is only able to hold so many people and in order to make accommodations for our party, the reservation was able to be combined with a second reservation to allow the group to be all together. Next it is super cool that you can bring your own beverages if you would like and that definitely allowed the group to be a little bit more silly with each other nothing too crazy, and I believed our guide Matthew really enjoyed the high energy we were bringing to the tour. The tour overall was super fun and educational regarding the different historical landmarks within Austin. The ending at the Littlefield house was super interesting because it tied into the Bell Tower incident and how those two individuals though decades and decades apart had similar visions within their stories. Highly recommend Matthew with his Scooby-Doo mystery van vibes and his awesome Halloween playlist. We are so excited that we got a chance to do this for my sister's bachelorette party. And also great suggestions given by Matthew regarding speakeasy bars and pubs around the area that you would never have thought were there.

AD lead the tour like he was introducing us to an old friend, with the background of how the city…read morebecame what it is today (1885 to current). Also some great suggestions on what to eat/do. In my adventures I've been in 50+ tours (walking, food, kayak, etc.) - and this one was one the best. Go ahead buy this- you will thank yourself later.

We went on the Ghost Tour led by Will this Valentine's night and it was incredible! My wife and I…read moreare both native Austinites but we still learned some new things from Will. He is a very entertaining guide too and brings lots of visuals and personal stories too. The Ghost Tour is probably the best I've been in in town and is also the best priced. Please try one Walking Tours of Austin's tour if you haven't already, they're awesome!

We visited Austin for my wife's 40th birthday for 4 days and did the Hipside Peddler as our first…read moreevent with our group. Our party was 20+ and did the East Side Ride and were very pleased with the tour. Pros: Very responsive, professional, drivers Alex and Max were great and fun Cons: Nothing really outside of one of the bikes having an issue, but we still did our tour and had a blast. Highly recommend the Eastside Ride because all 3 places we went to were excellent. Central Machine Works- Make sure you don't bring in any outside drinks or food. The drinks were great but they had an amazing vegetarian pizza that was delicious Lustre Pearl Rainey- This was the second place we went and we had some appetizers and drinks. Unfortunately, we were there for a short time and wish we could have stayed longer because the bartender working there was awesome Last place I don't remember the name and the food was great, but the service was iffy. Overall it was a great tour, but I think we didn't get enough time at the last 2 places because it felt rushed. We ended up having the tour leave us at the last place because we wanted to enjoy it. Going to give them 5 stars even though I felt it's probably more closer to a 4, but the tour guides were awesome and they helped make the decision easier

Hipside Peddler is such a FUN thing to do because it is not every day that we get to ride around…read moreAustin on an electric assisted bar on wheels, while sippin' on an alcoholic beverage that makes you feel a little bit prettier & blasting your favorite music so loud, that you think you're at the club!! ;)) Sounds fun, right?! :)) Trust me, you WILL for sure get points for creativity if you book a tour w/ Hipside Peddler to celebrate a special occasion. We booked the "Eastside tour" w/ Hipside Peddler on Saturday, 11/14/2020 to celebrate my friends 40th birthday & we had so much FUN! This was my 1st time so I had no idea what to expect but I can say that I am so glad that we were able to safely celebrate my friend's milestone birthday during this time of pandemic craziness. Since sharing is caring here are a few of my "Helpful Tips", "FYIs", & "Likes"... FYI: *You will be peddling the same way you would if riding a bike so be mindful of your foot wear & you will be getting a mini workout while peddling. *There are mini fans above each seat that you can turn on, if needed. *The peddle boat driver does have a plexiglass barrier between him & the passengers as a COVID safety precaution & the peddle boat itself is all open w/out any walls. *You can tip your peddling boat driver in cash & via Venmo. *The "Eastside" tour is 2 hours long & we made 3 separate stops at different local bars for 15-20 mins each so you can use the restroom, cool off, take a few pictures w/ your peeps and/or buy a drink while relaxing at each bar. Our awesome peddle boat driver was Matt & he also made a 4th stop at an Italian ice truck. *Each passenger must submit a liability waiver & you can do it electronically. Once your tour has been booked, you will get the waiver emailed to you. Helpful Tip(s): *BEVERAGES~I recommend that you bring your own ice chest already filled w/ ice & beverages (no glass containers are allowed) & there is an open area in the middle of the peddle boat for ice chest storage. *FOOD~only snacks are allowed & I suggest you bring snacks that are easy to munch on since you will be peddling while eating them. ( ex: mini bags of pretzels, individually wrapped cookies) *MUSIC~The peddle boat does have a stereo system that is very loud & has a usb that you can connect your phone to for music. I highly recommend that you create a music playlist of songs that help set the vibe that you're going for. I made a playlist using Spotify of all the songs I wanted to play. Lastly, I just wanted to give a huge shout out to Matt, who was our p.d driver because he really did a GREAT job of explaining "all things peddle boat" :) & putting us at ease so we could fully enjoy ourselves. This was so appreciated because each of us were newbie peddle boat passengers. Stay AWESOME Hipside Peddler & for sure I'll be seeing you again very soon! ~Rebecca out

It was fun. It's nice and new inside. The guy who taught us everything was great. The axes were not…read morein good condition. They were cracked and coming apart. Hope they invest in new ones.

What a fun unique twist to axe throwing! Had a blast and the different games (vs just a board) made…read moreit all the more fun. The valentine theme board was cute too! Highly recommend this business for axe throwing.