And best of all it is FREE! There are lots in the hotels nearby in which you can pay a "day" parking fee...the Radisson right there at the bridge is $8...and you can just walk down to the lake-trail or up on the bridge to watch the bats fly! We watched it from a viewing dock right on the water... more

I can not believe that the Congress Street Bridge bats are not the number one attraction in "what to see" in Austin. People come from all over the country to see these bats. Family oriented, educational, amazing, FREE! What more could you ask for? Our family has been to see the largest urban bat colony in North American each time... more

I was in town for business in early June and it was an amzaing sight to see. On the advice of someone, I called a few hours ahead to Capital cruises for the bat tour that night I was glad I did, because they sold out. Also go early to get the best seats on the boat. You can bring... more

It was fun and naturistically beautiful to watch the 1.5 million bats leave the roost around 8:40 this June evening. Capital Cruises ($8) was sold out so we booked on the Lone Star cruise ($10). The guide (Derrick) was a bit funny and a bit versed on bats but he really knew how to get us SUPER close to the... more

On a week long family trip to Texas, viewing the Mexican bats was on our list of 'Things To Do.' This quickly became one of the highlights of or trip! I reserved our viewing spot with Capitol Cruises. I HIGHLY recommend the bat cruise through this company. We boarded our pontoon boat about 20 minutes before take off. Our cruise... more

There were lots of bats last night between dusk & nightfall (~ 1hour past sunset), even though some native watchers thought it late in the season. The best how-to details are found here: http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=122&idSubPage=66 more

Absolutely DO THE BAT BOAT! The location is perfect for viewing the bats at their best - with the evening sky as a backdrop. Even got great photos. The Bat Boat Tour guide also gave us information on the history of the bats in Austin as well as a biology lesson. A bit boring for the under 3 kids, but... more

We took a tour on a bat boat when we visited Austin last May. The boat took us up and down the shoreline of a lake in downtown Austin. Just before sunset, we hovered under the Congress Street bridge and could hear the bats cooing. The bats began to come out from under the bridge in a trickle, but the... more

This was pretty neat. You don't often get to see bats so I think thats really what makes this neat. I've heard in the summer there are so many more and we were just luck to have gone the 1st week in November. We stood under the bridge and saw them come out and then went up top to see... more