Things to Do in Austin

To avoid last year's embarrassment of inventing modern art 90 years after the fact, it might do you good to visit an art museum and see what art movements already exist. Marvel and muse among the aesthetically astute with today's Groupon: for $30, you'll get a yearlong household membership to both locations of the Austin Museum of Art. Benefits include:

The tale of the Austin Children's Museum begins in 1983, when a band of parents and teachers started setting up educational exhibits and children's activities throughout the city. This “museum without walls” stretched into schools, parks, and malls, delighting children and families with a sense of whimsy and a place where play was rewarded. In the years that followed, the museum shed its nomadic beginnings and found a permanent home inside the pleasant green walls of the Dell Discovery Center. Firmly rooted, its exhibits have entertained and enlightened more than 800,000 youngsters and their parents while earning praise from the writers of Little Austinite.

Today, the sprawling 12,500-square-foot facility is a kaleidoscope of color and lights, where whippersnappers play with giant building blocks, cobble recycled materials into crafts, and marvel at golf balls as they soar through loops and shoots. Others explore the miniature Global City, where they take on roles such as veterinarians in the pet clinic, cooks in the diner, or stray raccoons hiding in the grocery store.

Throughout the week, a team of educators leads Discovery Time, guiding lads and lasses through kid-friendly science experiments that launch paper helicopters and make slime. The museum also hosts Storytime, where grownups read playful stories aloud to encourage creativity and instill a love of literature in young readers.

Each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the cycle shepherds at Bike Nation open their doors to unite riders with a well-maintained fleet of rental bikes. Their Schwinn Sporterra cruisers feature aluminum frames, steel forks, and Sport Ergo saddles ideal for smooth and leisurely rides. For riders taking on the varied roads, trails, and Lego-riddled carpets of central Texas, the staff also lends Schwinn multispeed cruisers. As a partner of tour group Segway Nation, Bike Nation also organizes self-guided tour routes showcasing historic sights and modern attractions around Austin.

Barton Springs Bike Rental outfits fun seekers for bike rides across Austin's historic pathways and scenic landscapes. The shop dispenses single-speed beach cruisers to riders along with lights, baskets, locks, and access to roadside assistance in the event of a flat tire or never-ending parade of ducklings crossing the road. The crew's routes include the 90-minute Peace, Love & Zilker Tour—an easy jaunt past sights such as the Auditorium Shores, the old railroad bridge, and Barton Springs Pool—and the Congress Avenue Bat Tour, an evening trek to witness the world's largest colony of urban bats. Guides narrate the history and significance of local sights, giving guests plenty of opportunities to stop and snap pictures or refill their bicycle’s feedbag.

Bavarian Luxury Rentals, the country’s first all-BMW rental company, ensconces travelers and auto enthusiasts alike behind the well-engineered wheel of brand-new German luxury cars. Co-founded by BMW auto mechanic Brian McKinney and Corey Evers—the customer-service-savvy founder of Central Texas Valet—the local enterprise fills roads with its standing fleet of BMWs that includes a 5-series, a 3-series, and a 1-series. On breaks from the open road, renters’ BMWs entitle them to sumptuous amenities at businesses throughout the city, and 24-hour roadside assistance guards drivers against difficulties such as flat tires and toll booths manned by bridge trolls.

Wazoo's 15,000-square-foot facility invites kids 13 and younger to let their imaginations loose while playing on eight inflatable attractions. The sound of laughter emanates from the bouncy castles, fills obstacle courses, and silences the pleas of candy-filled animals in the piñata zone. Towering over the facility, a 24-foot slide harnesses the power of gravity to create kid-friendly thrills. Elsewhere, the aptly named Toddler Town boasts age-appropriate toys and inflatables that let younger ones in on the fun. Wazoo's other features include a concession stand and big-screen TVs that keep parents up to date on the political climate of nearby bouncy castles.