Today I’m going to switch gears a little bit and focus on something other than the road trip around Europe.
My dad and stepmom came to visit me in Austin this weekend and we decided to venture out a bit. My dad lived here in the early 1980s and was eager to see things he hadn’t seen in almost 30 years, and to see things he hadn’t had the chance to see at all when he lived here.
About an hour and a half west of Austin, there is a little German town called Fredericksburg. Before moving to Austin, I didn’t know that there was such a large German population in this area. In fact, there are several German towns surrounding Austin–Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, and Gruene.
Fredericksburg was named after Prince Frederick of Prussia and was founded on May 8, 1846 by 120 German immigrants. In the late 1840s through the 1850s, over 5,000 colonists from Germany made their way to the Gulf Coast and took two-wheeled ox carts or traveled by foot to get to Fredericksburg and New Braunfels (for reference, that’s about a 4-hour trip by car on today’s highways).
Today, Fredericksburg is a little touristy town comprised of antique and mostly homegoods shops, and restaurants boasting authentic German fare, such as schnitzels, wursts, and sauerkraut. I personally think you only need to spend a few hours there, as the town is mostly one main street (though, there are shops on a few others off the main street). If you want to stay longer, there are a few B&Bs in town and you can spend a weekend eating schnitzel, shopping for antiques or boutique clothing, and grabbing ice cream, fudge, or candies from some of the nostalgic shops.
Fredericksburg is very charming, and being there kind of makes you feel like you’ve walked back in time a bit. It’s filled with historic buildings that are impeccably kept. In many, you’ll find original wood details, tin ceilings, and gorgeous exposed brickwork.
If you’re ever in Austin and looking for something different to do, I definitely recommend spending a day in Fredericksburg!
When I lived in Dallas many years ago and took a road trip to San Antonio and Austin we didn’t have a chance to make it to Fredericksburg. It looks awesome, though. If I recall there is an awesome water park in that area? Maybe as my son gets older and we have to do some of that type of kid-focused travel we could combine the two.
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Yes, there’s a huge waterpark in New Braunfels called Schlitterbahn. I haven’t been, as waterparks aren’t really my thing, but I’ve heard great things about it from lots of friends!
I love the look of those old buildings. I’ve really got to make it to Austin one day (and hit all the cool day trips). I’ve never been to Texas!
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If you do end up coming to Austin, let me know so we can meet up! I’ll show you around. :)
We just had an Airbnb guest stay with us 2 days ago from Texas and he told us about this cute little town…Fredericksburg. He said to make sure to go there if we were in the area. Then I saw your tweet about Fredericksburg, so I had to check out the blog post. Glad I did!
Oh, good! I’m glad that you stopped by and read it. Fredericksburg is such a cute town, and I hope you’ll get a chance to see it in person someday.