Despite being the capital city of Texas, Austin is a city that prides itself on being far from ordinary. Known as the 'Live Music Capital of the World', Austin offers visitors a vacation that is as diverse as it is exciting. After all, as a city with the motto 'Keep Austin Weird', a visit to Austin is sure to be a vacation with a difference.

As you might expect from a city referred to as the 'Live Music Capital of the World', Austin has a vibrant live music scene with more music venues per capita than any other U.S city. Austin's music revolves around the numerous entertainment venues that can be found on its historic 6th Street. Originally known as Pecan Street, East-6th Street is the heart of the Austin entertainment district and plays host to a multitude of bars, clubs and music venues. Located along the length of East-6th Street between Congress Avenue and Interstate 35, you'll find many venues offering live music at one time or another during the week.

Austin is also the venue for an annual film, music and multimedia festival known as South by Southwest, which takes place every spring. Centred around the downtown Austin Convention Centre, each part of the South by Southwest festival is relatively independent of one another with different start and end dates. The musical branch of the festival is one of the largest music festivals in the United States with more than 1,400 performers playing across dozens of venues around the city, while the film branch has quickly become one of the world's premiere film festivals, focussing on new directing talent.

Zilker Park in Austin is the venue for the Austin City Limits Music Festival, an annual three-day music and art festival. Bringing together more than 130 bands over eight stages, the festival combines rock, country, folk, indie, Americana, hip-hop, reggae and bluegrass artists, and attracts a crowd of around 65,000 music-lovers every day. The festival has been such a huge success that it is often compared to other top rock festivals held in the United States, including Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Coachella. Other annual events held in Austin include Eeyore's Birthday Party and the Austin Reggae Festival - previously named the Bob Marley Festival.

If Austin's music scene isn't for you, Austin is also the home of a lot of artists. On Guadalupe, you'll find a host of local artistic talent selling their works at the Renaissance Market; while every first Thursday of the month, the eclectic shops on South Congress stay open late, with artists selling their artwork on the sidewalks, accompanied by musicians playing in the streets. For a more contemporary view of Austin's art scene, pay a visit to the Blanton Museum of Art, a 155,000 square foot museum situated on the University's campus, housing some 17,000 works of art from Europe, the United States and Latin America.

Residents in Austin need little cause to celebrate, and 'Austinites', as they are known, take pride in their eccentricities and often celebrate the differences between themselves and other cities in the U.S. The local motto - 'Keep Austin Weird' - features on innumerable bumper stickers, tT-shirts and other memorabilia. Famous Austinites include country singer Willie Nelson, cyclist Lance Armstrong, Aactress Sandra Bullock and tennis player Andy Roddick.

When it comes to eating out in Austin, you would be forgiven for expecting the Texas 'Holy Trinity' of barbecue, Tex-Mex and chicken-fried steak. However, Austin now possesses a much more sophisticated and international flair, with the Wall Street Journal naming the city as one of the country's "up and coming culinary hotspots."

To get the very best experience of this culturally diverse and exciting city, look for a hotel in Austin that is situated in the Central or Downtown areas of the city. Just remember that Austin is a city where it's considered normal to be a little out of the ordinary!