Shopping

• Prime Outlets San Marcos—The Prime Outlets in San Marcos are a 40-45 minute drive from Austin, straight down I-35. It's enormous.
• Downtown—As mentioned elsewhere, Congress Avenue offers some unique shops, as does the "West End" (6th Street west of N. Lamar to W. Lynn St.).
• Other Malls—Austin also has its fair share of regular malls. Barton Creek Square Mall is in south Austin (and from outside of the Dillards, a great view of the city), Highland Mall is in central Austin, and the Arboretum is an upscale, outdoorsy kind of strip mall in north Austin.
• Central Market—Central Markets are located in several other major Texas cities, but for those of you who haven't seen one, sometimes it's fun to pop in for a few minutes. Austin has two CMs—one in central Austin and one further down South.
• Whole Foods—You might have a Whole Foods in your town, and you might even have visited one, but we're pretty sure you've never seen one like the Flagship Whole Foods on Lamar Boulevard between 5th and 6th Street.
• Sunset Valley Farmers Market—The Sunset Valley Farmers Market is a great place to people-watch, catch some local live music, and, oh yeah, buy some local foodstuffs. Many vendors have free samples, and there are plenty of stands with fresh baked goods, juice, and coffee, if you'd like to enjoy a light breakfast on Saturday.

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