San Antonio Versus Austin – Which One Should You Visit This Year?
If you love taking your family on cool domestic vacation destinations in the United States, you’ve probably thought about both San Antonio and Austin. I mean, there are seriously so many cool places to visit right here in the United States, and Texas has some major appeal. Texas is a MAJOR travel destination and even has two different cities in US News Travel’s top 17 US cities to visit this year.
If you’re deciding between San Antonio, Texas and Austin, Texas as a travel destination this year, we’ll weigh the pros and cons of each city to help you pick the best one for you.
About us: We’re Kelsey and Sara, two local Texas moms with a combined 29 years of exploring San Antonio, two travel books, and millions of blog readers. After spending thousands of our own $$$ exploring all there is to do in San Antonio and Austin, we’re giving you the inside information on both cities.
TL;DR: Should You Visit SA or ATX?
If I’m going for history, culture, and nature I’ll pick San Antonio, and if I want live music, shopping, and water I’ll pick Austin.
They both have amazing hotels, restaurants, museums, and bars!
Also worth noting: San Antonio is just a bit cheaper than Austin. It’s not enough to make a major difference if you’re doing a solo trip by yourself, but if you’re visiting with a big family for a 5-day trip, it might be something you want to factor in.
San Antonio Versus Austin: Quick Facts
Population:
San Antonio: 2,491,000
Austin: 2,274,000
Square mileage
San Antonio: 465.4 square miles
Austin: 305.1 square miles
Average temperature:
San Antonio: August is the hottest month (high of 98, low of 76), and January is the coldest month (high of 65, low of 41)
Austin: August is the hottest month (high of 97, low of 75), and January is the coldest month (high of 62, low of 42
Mostly known for:
San Antonio: the 5 missions (including the Alamo), the Riverwalk, Tex-Mex and Mexican cuisine, museums
Austin: Texas state capital, live music, great food, booming tech scene, and shopping
Best time of year to visit:
San Antonio: March-May and October-November
Austin: March-May and October-November
Average hotel price
San Antonio: $110 before taxes
Austin: $147 before taxes
San Antonio Versus Austin: Which One Should You Visit?
Having spent A LOT of time (and money, lol) in both cities, I’ll share with you everything I know about the major differences between San Antonio and Austin to help you decide which one you should visit.
Full disclosure: I seriously adore both of these cities. I can’t pick a favorite. I think it’s worth visiting both of them, and since they’re just 1.5 hours apart by car, you could easily get a rental car and fit both cities into one trip! But if you MUST visit just one, I’ll try to help you decide which one fits your travel personality best.
1. San Antonio has a richer history than Austin.
I mean, these are Texas cities so they don’t have as much history as a European city (or even a New England city in the United States).
But San Antonio was founded earlier than Austin, and it has a lot more historical landmarks to see. In fact, the San Antonio Missions Park (which includes The Alamo) is the only UNESCO world heritage site in Texas! You can even bike to all 5 missions in one afternoon.
2. Austin is much more “glitz and glam” than San Antonio.
A lot of us have started calling Austin “Dallas lite” because of all the shiny new high-rise buildings being built downtown, luxury shopping brands everywhere (there’s now an Hermés located at The Shops at South Congress), and high-end national chain restaurants.
Some people visit San Antonio and say that parts of it look a bit run down in comparison. (The truth is that San Antonio simply has a lot of character and history!)
3. If you love being on the water, visit Austin.
Downtown Austin is located next to Lady Bird Lake, which is a portion of the Colorado river that has been dammed to create a gorgeous body of water. You can go paddle boarding in it, swim in Barton Springs, and even rent a boat in Lake Austin, which is another part of the river a few minutes west of the city. Austin is a water city!
There are some Austin hotels that overlook the water (The LINE is my favorite one) and you can enjoy the 1, 3, or 6-mile loop walking trail around the lake while you drink your morning coffee.
4. Both cities have incredible restaurants.
Just a few short years ago, Austin was much more well-known for its restaurant scene than San Antonio. But in the past few years, San Antonio has started racking up James Beard Award nominations, tons of new restaurant openings, and a very impressive list of places to eat with national recognition.
Honestly, I get just as excited about the best restaurants in San Antonio as I do about all the great places to eat in Austin!
5. San Antonio is a bit less expensive than Austin.
Hotel stats say that the average hotel price in San Antonio is about $37 cheaper per night than Austin. But I can also tell you, after spending my money at restaurants and museums and kid-friendly things to do in San Antonio, that prices in SA are just cheaper across the board.
A cocktail at a nice restaurant in Austin will easily cost $18, while I can pretty easily find one in San Antonio for about $14-15. The same is true for museum access, concert tickets, street parking, and Uber prices. It’s all just a bit cheaper in San Antonio.
I think that part of this is simply due to the fact that real estate is absolutely insane in Austin, so restaurants are charging more for food and beverages to help offset that cost.
(This is a huge generalization and NOT OFFICIAL. I’m just saying what I’m noticing as a consumer.)
6. If you want to hear a lot of live music, go to Austin.
Even thought the “keep Austin weird” vibe and live performers on every street corner isn’t necessarily the norm anymore, there truly are a bunch of great music venues in Austin!
Whether you love small music venues or huge amphitheaters, country music or pop, singer-songwriters or jazz bands, Austin has it all. Here are 14 live music venues in Austin that I love.
7. Want theme parks, water parks, and NBA games? Go to San Antonio.
Austin doesn’t have any big theme parks. So if you want those, go to SA! San Antonio is famous for Six Flags Fiesta Texas, White Water Bay (Six Flags water park), SeaWorld San Antonio, and Aquatica (SeaWorld’s water park.)
San Antonio is also home to NBA basketball team The Spurs. There are a lot of big ticket items happening in San Antonio, and they’re all fun!
8. Austin is a taller city, San Antonio is more spread out.
What does this mean for you as a traveler? It means that it’s easier to visit Austin without a car. (Psst: do you need a car in San Antonio? What about in Austin?) It also means that there are more rooftop cocktail bars in Austin with views. And if you’re visiting San Antonio, keep in mind that you might need to factor in a bit more time for getting from point A to point B.
9. Crazy good tacos in both cities!
These are facts. The Latino population in San Antonio means insanely good Mexican street tacos on pretty much every corner. And Austin isn’t too shabby either in its taco representation! You can also get great breakfast tacos in San Antonio and great breakfast tacos in Austin.
Basically if you’re looking at San Antonio versus Austin on who has the best tacos, you just can’t lose either way!
10. They’re both hella hot in the summer…but SA is a bit hotter.
There’s really no way around this one! Both Austin and San Antonio are insanely hot from July - September. San Antonio is a little bit hotter (it’s further south), but I would try to avoid visiting either city in the summer months if you can.
Aim for a May trip, or wait until the weather cools down in October and November. That’s when patio season and outdoor concert season hits, and it’s so much fun!
If you absolutely must visit in the summer, there are some great indoor things to do in Austin that will help you out. And here are a bunch of tips for making the most out of the San Antonio summers.
Like I said before, I personally love both of these cities…I can’t pick a favorite! But if I’m going for history, culture, and nature I’ll pick San Antonio, and if I want live music, shopping, and water I’ll pick Austin. They both have amazing hotels, restaurants, museums, and bars! Also worth noting: San Antonio is just a bit cheaper than Austin. It’s not enough to make a major difference if you’re doing a solo trip by yourself, but if you’re visiting with a big family for a 5-day trip, it might be something you want to factor in.