Zilker: Austin

Considered the heart of the city, this neighborhood centers on the 350-acre Zilker Park. The grassy fields alongside Lady Bird Lake harbor soccer players, kite fliers and other outdoorsy types, while swimmers of all varieties flock year-round to Barton Springs Pool, a spring-fed watering hole with tons of history. Also on park grounds is the Zilker Botanical Garden, a beautiful oasis filled with rose gardens, a Japanese garden and more, along with casts of dinosaur tracks discovered there in the early 1990s.

Zilker Park doubles as the grounds for a handful of annual events, including Fourth of July festivities, the kite festival and the well-known Austin City Limits Music Festival.

Fun, locally owned restaurants sprinkled throughout the area are tourist favorites, including Shady Grove, Romeo's and most tourists' favorite Tex-Mex joint, Chuy's.
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