Not to miss

Blanton Museum of Art

Austin's artiness isn't limited to its rich rock 'n' roll heritage: the city is also home to the country's largest University art collection. The Blanton Museum of Art is famed for its Old Masters (Rembrandt, Dürer and Rubens all make an appearance), and its modern and contemporary American and Latin American works. It also stages regular temporary exhibitions.

Who says art and commerce can't mingle? Blanton is the fruit of a particularly successful union of the two: Archer M. Huntington, heir to a railway fortune, was so inspired by his sculptor wife Anna Hyatt Huntington that he set aside a 4,000 acre (1,618 ha) property for the "support of an art museum". Proceeds from its sale funded the construction of Blanton in 1963; several works by the beneficent industrialist's wife are displayed there to this day.

Zilker Park

The enormous Zilker Park has a nature centre, botanical gardens and a sculpture garden. The park is also home to Barton Springs Pool, a locally beloved spring-fed swimming hole with chilly, sparkling clear waters and lots of bathing beauties.

Sprawled out over 351 acres (142ha), Zilker Park was laid out during the Depression years, seeded from an initial bequest made by the eponymous A.J. Zilker. Today, it comes close to offering all things to all Austinites, including sport fields, festivals, riding trails, canoeing, mini-golf and botanic gardens.

University of Texas Museums & Galleries

The University of Texas, if not quite in the Ivy League, is a rich and prestigious school boasting several impressive museums and galleries. The Lyndon Baines Johnson, Archer Huntington and Texas Memorial museums are particularly worthwhile.

The LBJ Library, named for the 36th President, is a highlight of any visit to Austin. It much propaganda, but also offers a candid look at the social and political climate of the 1960s.

Also on campus, the Texas Memorial Museum packs a huge art deco building with displays of Texas' natural and social history. Exhibits focus on geology, paleontology, anthropology and natural history. Don't miss the impressive pterodactyl skeleton.

The Archer M Huntington Gallery at UT is one art museum in two buildings: the Harry Ransom Center (HRC) on the West Campus and the Art Building on the East. The collection focuses on 20th century North American and Latin American art and on drawings from the 15th century on. Major figures represented include Elsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol, Joan Mitchel, Thomas Hart Benton and Robert Henri. On the first floor of the HRC is the museum's prized Gutenberg bible.