Houston to Austin
Data Freshness: August 24, 2026 Where this comes from
Houston to Austin is 161 miles and about 3 hours 5 minutes. There are 283 places to stop within 10 miles of the route. The longest stretch without one is 24 miles, between Sealy and Columbus.
Questions People Ask
What is there to stop at between Houston and Austin?
283 places within 10 miles of the route: 79 Shipley Do-Nuts, 76 Whataburger, 51 H-E-B, 29 Dairy Queen, 20 Torchy's, 19 P. Terry's, 6 Rudy's, 2 Buc-ee's, 1 Texas Royalty. The table on this page has them in the order you would pass them.
Where is the longest stretch with nothing on it?
Between Sealy and Columbus — 24 miles, starting about 43 miles into the drive from Houston.
How long is the drive from Houston to Austin?
161 miles, about 3h 05m without stopping. That is a real driving route rather than a straight line, which is why the mileage is road mileage.
Where should I stop halfway?
About 80 miles in, near Weimar, there is Weimar Dairy Queen — 10.0 miles off it. Every other option and how far along it sits is in the table on this page.
The Facts
- 283 stops along 161 miles — 79 Shipley Do-Nuts, 76 Whataburger, 51 H-E-B, 29 Dairy Queen, 20 Torchy's, 19 P. Terry's, 6 Rudy's, 2 Buc-ee's, 1 Texas Royalty.
- The longest stretch with nothing on it is 24 miles, between Sealy and Columbus — 43 to 67 miles in.
- The last Buc-ee's before Austin is the one at Bastrop, 36 miles from the end of the drive.
- The furthest off the road is Weimar — 10.0 miles each way, so about 20 miles of detour.
- The drive is about 3h 05m without stopping, so a stop halfway is roughly 1h 33m in.
- Katy Buc-ee's in Katy is the world's longest car wash — 255 feet of conveyor, by Buc-ee's own count.
What's on this drive
- Shipley Do-Nuts 79 along the wayMoreFind 'Em
- Whataburger 76 along the wayMoreFind 'Em
- H-E-B 51 along the wayMoreFind 'Em
- Dairy Queen 29 along the wayMoreFind 'Em
- Torchy's 20 along the wayMoreFind 'Em
- P. Terry's 19 along the wayMoreFind 'Em
- Rudy's 6 along the wayMoreFind 'Em
- Buc-ee's 2 along the wayMoreFind 'Em
- Texas Royalty The only one on the driveMoreFind 'Em
Where to stop between Houston and Austin
- 24mi · 28m Katy Buc-ee's Katy · on route One of only 2 Buc-ee's stops on this drive.
- 43mi · 50m Sealy Dairy Queen Sealy · on route The last stop before the 24-mile stretch with nothing on it.
- 67mi · 1h 18m Columbus H-E-B Columbus · on route The first thing on the far side of that stretch.
- 80mi · 1h 33m Weimar Dairy Queen Weimar · 10.0 mi off The closest stop to halfway, 80 miles in.
- 82mi · 1h 36m Hruska's Store & Bakery Ellinger · on route The only Texas Royalty on this drive.
- 125mi · 2h 26m Bastrop Buc-ee's Bastrop · on route One of only 2 Buc-ee's stops on this drive.
In the order you would pass them, driving from Houston. How far in is measured along the real route rather than in a straight line. The time is proportional — this site knows how long the whole drive takes and how far along each stop sits, not how fast any one stretch of it moves.
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