Travel

The Perfect Bachelorette
Weekend in Austin

August 25, 2022

When it comes to bachelorette destinations, it’s hard to top Austin.

The capital of Texas, which remains sunny and warm for a majority of the year, is filled with amazing food, unforgettable honkytonks, a beautiful wine region, multiple districts for bar-hopping and plenty of opportunities for waterfront revelry. And with KEY’s vacation specialists doing the planning, all you need to do is pull on your boots and show up.

Welcome to the Live Music Capital of the World.

The best way to start to the weekend is with a Ladies Welcome Package, which can be personalized to your party theme and held at a location of your choosing. Simply let KEY’s party professionals know your preferences and group size, and you’ll soon be a raising a glass to the bride-to-be before heading to dinner.

The dining options in Austin are endless – from fancy barbecue at Lambert’s to fresh California-inspired cuisine at Launderette to artful Japanese dishes at Uchiko. There are also plenty of restaurants that offer unique private dining in settings like La Condesa’s subterranean Flour House or Jacoby’s classy vintage-inspired parlor. Let KEY’s Austin experts handle your restaurant reservations throughout the weekend by providing them with your party number and food preferences.

After your Friday night welcome dinner, enjoy nightcaps at one of Austin’s intimate, speakeasies, like Midnight Cowboy, a reservations-only cocktail lounge set in a former brothel, or Garage, appropriately named for its stealth location beneath a parking garage.

With a full weekend of partying ahead, start Saturday off right.

Begin your day with a personalized yoga session catered to your preferred style of yoga and experience level. This private class can accommodate from one to twelve participants in your home or hotel. Utilize KEY’s delivery service to be sure you have everything you need to get the day started — whether that means pourover coffee or fresh-pressed juice.

Afterward, dive right back into party mode by letting KEY set up a Bloody Mary and taco bar or arranging a celebratory brunch at an Austin favorite like Josephine House or Holy Roller; you’ll need to power up for a Day on the Lake. This customizable KEY package can be held on Lake Austin (downtown) or Lake Travis (northwest of downtown) on a pontoon, ski boat or party barge. Opt to play skipper yourself or let the captain take the wheel so you can enjoy endless fun on the provided wakeboards, tubes, floats and more.

If the weather isn’t quite right for a day on the water, opt for a Personal Shopping Excursion with a stylist for smaller groups of three. Or head to South Congress Avenue to browse local boutiques and vintage shops. Be sure to snap photos at the iconic “I love you so much” mural and power up with afternoon coffee and pastries at Mañana.

As the sun slowly sinks toward the earth, throngs of people will flock to the Congress Avenue bridge to watch millions of Mexican free-tailed bats emerge each night (from roughly March until early November). Book the Austin Bats and Sunset Dinner Cruise and you will enjoy front row seats to this natural phenomenon, all while enjoying finger sandwiches, snacks and drinks.

Because the fun never ends in Austin, disembark the bat cruise and your chariot awaits for an epic Dive Bar Crawl to some of the city’s historic hidden gems. At Lala’s Little Nugget, it’s Christmas all year round, while Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon is known for its weekly Chicken Shit Bingo. And for two-stepping with the locals, there’s nowhere better to learn than the Broken Spoke, one of Austin’s most historic honkytonks.

You simply can't visit Austin without sampling some of the city’s famed barbecue.

But while most visitors will spend upwards of six hours waiting in line for trays of brisket and ribs, the bachelorette and her entourage can enjoy Franklin’s BBQ while lounging in bed thanks to KEY’s VIP delivery service.

The twang of Western swing will undoubtedly still be playing your head after last night’s bar crawl, so there’s no better time to arrange a Custom Boot Fitting in the comfort of your home or hotel. A master boot fitter will custom fit you and your party while you sample whiskies from the best distilleries in Texas.

That should be just the get-up-and-go you need to strap on your boots for the final excursion of the weekend. A private driver awaits to whisk you away on a Hill Country Wine Excursion. Meet the winemakers and enjoy private cellar tours, a gourmet picnic lunch and exclusive barrel tastings.

Let KEY arrange a final dinner for the group in the picturesque Hill Country, home to restaurants like fine dining farm-to-table concept Apis and Trattoria Lisina, which brings a little piece of Tuscany to Texas. Located just outside Austin city limits, these peaceful locales provide the perfect sunset vistas for toasting to the future with the best of friends.