Austin: Free Tuesday Museum Entry and a German Beer Garden
A museum that fits in a couple of hours, free every Tuesday, then a shaded beer garden serving German fare since 1866.
Blanton Museum to Scholz Garten
🖼️ Tuesday entry costs nothing
Every Tuesday museum admission drops to zero, generously funded by the Moody Family Free Day Endowment. Visitors can reserve Free Tuesday Tickets online in advance, though all guests still check in at the Smith Building desk. The collection highlights Ellsworth Kelly’s Austin, a 2,715-square-foot stone building and the only structure designed by the American artist, featuring vibrant colored-glass windows, a totemic wood sculpture, and black-and-white marble panels. Two-storey galleries also hold European paintings and prints. Tuesday doors run 10 am to 5 pm, and Monday is closed.
🍺 A historic beer garden with German plates
Walk eight minutes south to 1607 San Jacinto Boulevard, where Scholz Garten has been serving German fare and cold drafts since 1866. As Texas’s oldest operating business and beer garden, it offers outdoor picnic tables under shade trees and umbrellas alongside indoor hall seating. A vintage bowling alley sits beside plates of schnitzel, jagerschnitzel and pretzels with beer cheese. Game days bring sprawling UT tailgates across the grounds, and Sunday is short, noon to 6 pm, so a weekday works better after the museum.
🚶 Build one Tuesday out of it
Two stops fill an afternoon. Take the museum first, since admission is free all Tuesday and the galleries reward a slow hour or two, then walk the eight minutes south to the garden for a beer and a pretzel. Museum doors close at 5 pm on Tuesday, which leaves the rest of the day at the garden. Count two hours at the museum and one at the garden. Two stops, one afternoon, and the museum half costs nothing.
