Day Trips Out
La Grange, Lockhart, Round Top, Gruene, Wimberley, the wineries.
Bastrop County is a good base for exploring a substantial swath of Central Texas. The Hill Country is an hour west, La Grange is half an hour east, the Czech towns are not far north, and Lockhart, Gruene, and the antique-shop circuit are all within reasonable day-trip range. What follows is a brief tour of the day trips that locals actually do.
La Grange and the Czech Towns
La Grange is 30 minutes east on Highway 71. A historic county seat with a square, a courthouse, and a substantial collection of brick downtown buildings. From La Grange, the Czech-Texan towns of Schulenburg, Praha, Dubina, and Ammannsville form the "Painted Churches" tour — six rural Catholic churches with hand-painted interiors that are among the most photographed buildings in Texas.
Round Top and Warrenton
Round Top is 45 minutes east on Highway 237. A village of about 90 permanent residents that hosts one of the largest antique shows in the United States twice a year. During the spring and fall shows, the population temporarily multiplies by 100,000+. Outside of show season, Round Top is a quiet rural town with several upscale restaurants and inns. Warrenton, just north of Round Top, is the same scene at a smaller scale.
Lockhart
Lockhart is 35 minutes south on Highway 21 and Highway 183. The legal "Barbecue Capital of Texas" and home to four of the most-respected barbecue smokehouses in the state. The classic Lockhart barbecue tour visits all four in a day — a stomach-test that thousands of people perform each year.
Gruene and New Braunfels
Gruene is about 75 minutes south on I-35. A historic district inside New Braunfels with the oldest continuously operating dance hall in Texas, the Guadalupe River for tubing, and a substantial restaurant and shopping scene. New Braunfels itself has the Schlitterbahn water park, a substantial German-Texan heritage, and the Comal River for short tube floats.
Wimberley and the Hill Country
Wimberley is 90 minutes west via Highway 71 and Highway 290. The classic Hill Country small town, with Blue Hole, Jacob's Well, and a substantial market square. From Wimberley, the rest of the Hill Country — Dripping Springs, Johnson City, Fredericksburg, the Pedernales River — is within easy day-trip range.
Houston, Galveston, the Coast
Houston is 2.5 hours, Galveston is 3, and the Coastal Bend is 3.5. Day trips to the coast are technically possible but more comfortably done as overnight trips. The Houston museums, the Galveston seawall, and the Bolivar Peninsula all fit cleanly into a one-night side trip.
The Wineries
The Texas Hill Country wine region is centered on Fredericksburg, about 2 hours west, with a substantial cluster of tasting rooms along Highway 290. Several closer-in wineries operate inside Bastrop County and along the route west, making for a good combined Bastrop-and-Hill-Country day trip.
The Local Loop
For a day trip that does not leave the county, the locally favored loop is: morning at Bastrop State Park, lunch on a downtown Bastrop Main Street patio, afternoon antique-shopping in Smithville, sunset cocktails at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines, dinner back in Bastrop. About 60 miles of driving, eight hours, and a fair sample of what the county is.