DEPARTURES
On business in...
Austin Texas
Despite its long and illustrious history, the Texan capital shows no signs of being stuck in the past. It’s the fastest-growing US city, thanks in part to its ‘Keep Austin Weird’ motto attracting a hip, free-spirited crowd. Meanwhile, low taxes have drawn in the likes of Google, Apple, Oracle and Facebook to create a new Silicon Valley in the south, known as Silicon Hills, writes Neal Baldwin
KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD
S L E E P IN G
Located at the Fairmont Hotel
with a four-passenger maximum
For cattle baron chic, look no further
(another top stay option), this
and fares around $30.
than The Driskill. This impressive
elegant grill house takes meat, fish
period property exudes old-
OLD SCHOOL SOUTHERN CHARM
Getting there Austin’s modern infrastructure has meant boom time for tech start-ups and prompted the arrival of the biggest players. To meet demand, Virgin Atlantic is launching a new direct service from London Heathrow four times a week on Boeing 787-9 aircraft from May 25 – it’s first new US route since 2015. Together with joint venture partner Delta Air Lines, it offers seamless connections from Austin to 10 US cities; Seattle, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Detroit, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Raleigh Durham and JFK. British Airways also offers four weekly flights a week to the Texan capital from Heathrow, while Lufthansa and KLM fly from Frankfurt and Amsterdam respectively.
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and poultry to new levels of juicy!
M ust-see Sights
Alternatively, Veracruz All Natural
Austin is as Texan does, so make
hide-covered coaches and
has a host of outlets and taco trucks
sure your trip takes in the cowboy
longhorn busts celebrating
around the city serving up the
classics. First stop has to be Allens
its cowboy heritage. For a
freshest ingredients – fast food
Boots, a landmark
maybe, but delicious definitely.
outfitters boasting the
school Southern charm, with
more modern take, Colton House – with its 80 Texas-sized apartment-styled suites – attracts
best in boots, hats and AF TER HOURS
fancy shirts. Properly
DIVE-bar honky tonks
the trendy tech crowd, while
Downtown restaurant, bar and
attired, head to either
Kimpton’s Hotel Van Zandt, amongst
nightclub Higher Ground has a
The Broken Spoke or
the slick bars of Rainey Street, is a
religious theme and a ‘Seven Deadly
the White Horse – the best
must for hipsters.
Sins’ cocktail list likely to put you on
in dive-bar honky tonks offering free
the path to damnation in the
Texan two-step lessons. Legendary
morning. In the Warehouse District,
Franklin Barbecue has long queues
Tex-Mex and barbecue rule in
the stylish Roosevelt Room has a
and awesome ribs, while the Texas
Austin, and Garrison tops the lot.
bold playfulness (plus a loyalty card
Capitol Building is an historic gem.
E ATIN G
to tick off – complete its 50 cocktails and you’ll win a free T-shirt!) G etting Dow nto w n
By far the cheapest way to and from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is the reliable high-frequency Capital Metro Route 20 bus, which does the 35-minute trip for just $1.25. Taxis operate from a rank
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On Biz in Texas V3.indd 54
5/10/22 02:44 PM
