Austin, Texas Attractions
Unusual landmarks, museums, roadside attractions, and hidden wonders in Austin and the surrounding area. State capital, college town, and new tech hub that embraces its weirdness, with an impressive spray of oddball public art, much of it DIY. Little museums cater to the non-normal. Also: urban bats!
Sights for Oddball Excursions
Cathedral of Junk
Austin, Texas
Vince Hannemann has been building a folk junk-art environment in his back yard since 1988. In 2019 he announced it was "99 percent complete."
Museum of the Weird
Austin, Texas
Monsters, UFOs, ghosts, Bigfoot -- this small-but-enthusiastic museum in a gift shop covers it all. Don't miss the frozen missing link, and the sideshow theater performance. Open since 2007.
LBJ Museum and Library, With Robot
Austin, Texas
12-story cement block houses the history of Lyndon Johnson's presidency. Best of all: a life-size LBJ robot that tells G-rated versions of LBJ jokes.
Quirky Store, Cowboy on Jackrabbit
Austin, Texas
Eclectic antiques store advertises its weirdness with a statue over the entrance of a big rabbit ridden by a cowboy.
33-Foot-Tall Humanoid
Austin, Texas
"Looking Up" was sculpted by Tom Friedman to appear as if made out of thousands of mashed-up aluminum roasting pans.
In and Around Austin
Choice field reports and tips. Or check out: Complete list of Texas attractions.
- Austin: Museum of the Weird
- Austin: Statue of the Cannon Lady
- Austin: Texas Toy Museum [tips]
- Austin: Jackalope Bar - Ride a Jackalope [tips]
- Austin: Willie Nelson. Janis Joplin Mural [tips]
- Austin: Larger-Than-Life Willie Nelson [tips]
- Austin: The Tejano Monument [tips]
- Austin: World's Largest Urban Bat Colony
- Austin: Statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Austin: Grave of the American Sniper [tips]
- Austin: Mural: "Hi, How Are You" [tips]
- Austin: World's Largest Longhorn [tips]
- Austin: Peter Pan Mini Golf [tips]
- Austin: 50-Foot-Tall Pile of Boats
- Austin: Moonlight Tower: Dazed and Confused
- Austin: Giant Olmec Head Replica [tips]
- Austin: LBJ Museum and Library, With Robot
- Austin: Your Essential Magnificence: Stick-Your-Head-Here Photo Op
- Austin: Museum of Natural & Artificial Ephemerata [tips]
- Austin: Eureka Room [tips]
- Austin: Giant Fork with Attachments [tips]
