Drive 30 minutes south on I-35 and you’ll land in San Marcos: a charming, slow-paced respite from Austin’s bustle.<\/p>\n
This is more than a college town. It’s a destination worthy of a day trip\u00a0if you long for “old Austin” and crave being immersed in Central Texas’ natural beauty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A breezy float down the river. Boutiques and lunch on The Square. Exploring a 135-year-old cave. Scoring at\u00a0the outlet mall. These are only a few of the suggestions in our guide to a perfect 12 hours in San Marcos, no Texas State University bobcat tail required.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The best things to do in San Marcos<\/p>\n
Float down the San Marcos River\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Krista Reyna floats on the San Marcos River at Sewell Park.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez \/ American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Grab a tube and spend an hour or two chilling out while you drift down the San Marcos River, which is always at a cool 72 degrees. We recommend Lions Club Tube Rental<\/a> (170 Charles Austin Dr.) or Don\u2019s Fish Camp<\/a> (105 Nelle Lane, Martindale). Prices range from $15 to $30, depending on if you bring your own tube.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n If you prefer wading around in water sans tube, head to Sewell Park<\/a> (601 University Dr.), Rio Vista Park<\/a> (555 Cheatham Dr.) or the waterfall behind Kerby Lane Cafe (221 E Seassom Dr.).\u00a0<\/p>\n Snorkeling in Spring Lake<\/p>\n A turtle eats underwater plants in the San Marcos Springs during the Meadows Center’s underwater snorkel tour.<\/p>\n Mars Salazar\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n Dive underwater and witness what lives at the bottom of Spring Lake: fish, turtles, swaying coontail foliage and algea blooms. For $45, the “Splash into Science Snorkel Tour”<\/a> provides a\u00a0wet suit, goggles, a snorkel and life jacket.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Texas State\u2019s\u00a0Meadows Center for Water and the Environment<\/a> (211 San Marcos Springs Dr.), which hosts this tour, also offers guided stand-up paddle board tours, daytime kayak tours and evening excursions on translucent light-up kayaks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fun fact: The Meadows Center is located on what was once Aquarena Springs, an amusement park that ran from 1950 to 1996. It featured underwater ballet, clowns and even hosted an underwater wedding between two performers. In 1970, a flood swept 24 alligators out of their enclosure into the water. But don’t worry, wranglers recaptured them all, so you won\u2019t be seeing any during your snorkel trip.<\/p>\n Glass-bottom boat rides<\/p>\n The Meadows Center operates San Marcos’ glass-bottom boat tours, which first began when the area was an amusement park called Aquarena Springs.<\/p>\n Mars Salazar\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n If you prefer exploring the bottom of Spring Lake while remaining dry, check out a glass-bottom boat ride<\/a> for $13. The boats, many of which date back to 1945, were part of what made the Aquarena Springs amusement park famous.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The boat tour takes you over Weissmuller Springs, named after the five-time Olympic gold medal swimmer Johnny Weissmuller, who also starred as Tarzan in a series of black-and-white films made in the 1930s and 40s.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fun fact: Local lore has it that Weissmuller took a glass-bottom boat tour in 1965 and wanted to perform for a crowd of fans that had gathered. The 6-foot-3-inch German actor climbed out of the floating boat, belted out his iconic Tarzan yell, dove off the bow and swam about 22 feet to the bottom of the lake. When he reached the spring, Weissmuller tried taking a gulp. He nearly drowned during the stunt, and said the water from the spring flowed with the same pressure as an open fire hydrant.<\/p>\n Explore the country’s only earthquake-formed cave<\/p>\n Visitors tour Wonder World Cave & Adventure Park in San Marcos on June 7, 2026. Wonder World offers tours of its dry-formed cave, the result of an ancient earthquake that caused a fissure, rather than formed over time by water erosion.<\/p>\n Mars Salazar\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n Step inside a 123-year-old earthquake-formed cave, the only one in the country. For $38, this 30-minute tour showcases fossilized prehistoric life encased in ancient rock formations. Though equipped with stairs and handrails, we don’t recommend this if you’re claustrophobic or with kids who are too young to follow along independently.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The cave is its biggest draw, but\u00a0Wonder World Cave & Adventure Park<\/a> (1000 Prospect St.) also has an antique train ride, a wildlife park where you can feed deer and other animals, and a funhouse.<\/p>\n San Marcos’ Wonder World Cave & Adventure Park includes a wildlife zoo where visitors can feed pellets to deer, goats, donkeys and more.<\/p>\n Mars Salazar\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n Score at the San Marcos Premium Outlets<\/p>\n The Gucci store at the San Marcos Outlet Mall.\u00a0<\/p>\n Google Maps<\/p>\n After all that time outdoors, shop in air-conditioned luxury outlet stores like Armani, Balmain, Carolin Herrera, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Jimmy Choo and Saint Laurent at the\u00a0San Marcos Premium Outlets<\/a> (3939 I-35).<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Listen to live music at some local watering holes<\/p>\n The best place to see live music is San Marcos\u2019 historic Cheatham Street Warehouse<\/a> (119 Cheatham St.), a legendary tin shack honkytonk where George Strait, Stevie Ray Vaughan and current owner Randy Rogers cut their teeth on stage. Riley\u2019s Tavern<\/a> (8894 FM 1102, New Braunfels) is another historic\u00a0honky tonk and old-school dive bar that\u2019s a short drive away.<\/p>\n Where to eat in San Marcos<\/p>\n Start your day with breakfast tacos<\/p>\n M&M Taco Corner serves breakfast tacos at 1303 Hopkins St. in San Marcos.<\/p>\n Mars Salazar\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n Loli\u2019s Cafe<\/a> (1501 Aquarena Springs Dr.) is a central drive-thru destination for a quick breakfast taco, but true locals have been getting their potato, egg and beans fix at M&M Taco Corner<\/a> (1303 Hopkins St.) and Herbert\u2019s Taco Hut<\/a> (419 Riverside Dr.) for decades \u2014 both of which serve $2.50 tacos on homemade tortillas.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A slice of pizza or fried catfish for lunch on The Square<\/p>\n Grin’s Resturant (802 N LBJ Dr.) opened in San Marcos on Valentine’s Day in 1975.<\/p>\n Mars Salazar\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n There\u2019s no bad option when choosing lunch on \u201cThe Square,\u201d San Marcos\u2019 town center of local businesses and restaurants by day and vibrant college bars by night. The Root Cellar Cafe<\/a> (215 N LBJ Dr.) is the most popular lunch destination in the area, but closes at 3 p.m. during the week and 4 p.m. on weekends. There\u2019s also Blue Dahlia Bistro<\/a> (107 E Hopkins St.) or Valentino\u2019s Pizza<\/a> (110 N LBJ Dr.) if you want to grab a quick slice. Grins Restaurant<\/a> (802 N LBJ Dr.) is just a short walk away to enjoy fried catfish on a treehouse-style patio.<\/p>\n White House-worthy cinnamon rolls<\/p>\n “Manske Rolls” are served at Gil’s Broiler (328 N LBJ Dr.), the oldest resturant in San Marcos. The dessert was a favorite of Southwest Texas albumi and 36th U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.<\/p>\n Mars Salazar\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n You can find the most famous dessert in San Marcos at Gil\u2019s Broiler<\/a> (328 N LBJ Dr.), the city\u2019s oldest restaurant. The iconic \u201cManske Roll\u201d is a jumbo cinnamon roll swimming in a puddle of butter and dressed in cinnamon. The $4 confection was a favorite of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who had some rolls sent to the White House.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dinner with a river view<\/p>\n Ivar’s River Pub (701 Cheatham St.) has a patio overlooking the naturally-formed waterslide at San Marcos’ Rio Vista Park.<\/p>\n Mars Salazar\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n Dinner on the deck of Ivar\u2019s River Pub<\/a> (701 Cheatham St.) overlooks the natural rock-formed waterslide at Rio Vista Park. If you\u2019re looking for an elevated dining experience, Palmer\u2019s Restaurant Bar & Courtyard<\/a> (218 Moore St.) is perfect for craft cocktails and chef-curated dishes. Not ready to end the night? Zelicks Icehouse<\/a> (336 W Hopkins St.) is a laid-back spot for an after-dinner nightcap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drive 30 minutes south on I-35 and you’ll land in San Marcos: a charming, slow-paced respite from Austin’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-352561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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