Londoners are invading Austin!

And these days its pretty easy to invade – British Airways  began offering direct 10 hour flights in March of this year (2014)  – definitely the fastest way to get to ATX from London.

The new interest in Austin from the UK has resulted in a number of travel writers checking out Austin, and many of these Londoners sing the praise  of  AO Tours (Austin Overtures Sightseeing Tours).

A good example was recently published by Kaye Holland of Just About Travel :

“Most visitors to Texas rush to the bright lights and big hotels of Dallas but look through recent travel ‘It lists,’ ‘hot spots’ and ‘must visit destinations’ and one Lone State city emerges triumphant. And it’s not the Big D.

Rather it’s the state capital, Austin, that is lauded as the most original, fascinating and increasingly fashionable place to holiday in Texas. And in my mind, Austin – a quirky, bohemian island in the middle of uber conservative Texas – is the only place to live if you’re going to relocate to the Lone State.

For while there are American towns with more history and culture, no city delivers quite as enticing combination of individualism and sheer fun as Austin. To get the inside story on the city, try  a tour with Austin Overtures  – experts on all things Austin. Through Austin Overtures,  I discovered places that I might not otherwise have done: I learnt that Austin is the birthplace of Whole Foods (and that locals are a tad annoyed that the biggest branch is now in London and not Austin). And I  also got to see the renowned University of Texas (nearly half of Austin’s population has earned a bachelor’s degree or higher), the historic and haunted Driskill Hotel (a local landmark whose guestbook is full of doodles from the rich and famous), the suburb of Rock Round (the home of Dell computers), and beautiful Barton Springs Pool – the perfect spot to beat the heat on a hot summer’s day…..”