FAQs

The staff at the Fredericksburg Visitor Information Center can help answer visitor questions by phone (830) 997-6523, email or in person, while providing free maps, event calendars and brochures upon arrival in Fredericksburg. The VIC offers free parking and WiFi, public restrooms, and a 10-minute overview video of everything to see and do in town. Prior to arrival, VisitFredericksburgTX.com provides a complete look at the lodging, restaurants, attractions, shops, wineries and events that make our town a special place to visit.

With so much to see and do in Fredericksburg - there is never a bad time to visit. Weekends are popular for Texas as a drivable getaway, while midweek (Sunday-Thursday) visitors will find the best value on lodging, less wait times at restaurants and more elbow room at attractions.

Known for generations as a shopping haven, the things to see and do in Fredericksburg have continued to expand, while keeping its authentic small town charm. For a complete look at the shops, attractions, wineries, restaurants and events that make Fredericksburg a special destination, click here.

Fredericksburg is home to more than 400 events annually, so no matter when you are in town you are bound to find something unique happening in the area. For a full look at all the events happening in Fredericksburg, click here.

There are plenty of opportunities for the kiddos to enjoy while in the Fredericksburg area – from touring the Pioneer Museum, to experiencing life as a German pioneer at the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm at the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site. Other fun ideas include exploring the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, hiking the Live Oak Wilderness Trail at the Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park on U.S. Hwy 16 S. (Adams St.), and seasonal pick-your-own fruit-gathering from area orchards. In fact, here is a whole list of things to see and do with kids in Fredericksburg.

Parking is available at no charge in Fredericksburg on the street and in the large lot behind the Visitor Information Center at 302 East Austin Street. On weekends and holidays, additional parking is also available behind the courthouse.

Public restrooms are available at the Visitor Information Center at 302 E. Austin Street, at the Marktplatz (town square) on the 100 block of Main Street and Adams Street, and at the Pioneer Museum at 325 West Main Street.

Enchanted Rock is located 18 miles north of Fredericksburg on RR 965 (off Main Street onto Milam Street). Enchanted Rock is one of the area's most visited attractions. Known for its distinctive pink granite, it dates back almost one billion years and is considered to be formed from the outcrop of a volcano. Early Native Americans who lived in this area considered this batholith, the nation’s second-largest behind Stone Mountain in Georgia, to be haunted because it made mysterious crackling sounds. Geologists have since theorized that the sound emanated from the granite swelling from the heat during the day, and retracting during the cool of the night.

Fredericksburg is at the heart of the ever-growing Texas Wine Country. With more than 75 wineries and tasting rooms located in Fredericksburg and Gillespie County and more than 100 in the Texas Hill Country region, you can try the best vino that the Lone Star State has to offer. To discover more about Texas Wine Country, click here.

The National Museum of the Pacific War originated from the Nimitz Museum which was established in Fredericksburg in honor of the men and women who fought during WWII with Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet, and Fredericksburg native. His grandparents owned the Nimitz Steamboat Hotel where Nimitz spent some of his childhood. This iconic structure, with its boat-like exterior, exists today on Main Street. Over time the hotel was converted to the Nimitz Museum where it is now a part of the 6.5-acre National Museum of the Pacific War complex that includes the recently updated (2009) George H. W. Bush Gallery. The museum is operated by the Texas Historical Commission and the Admiral Nimitz Foundation, currently headed by General Michael W. Hagee, USMC (Ret), 33rd Commandant of the United States Marines.

Fredericksburg is full of historical buildings. You can take a self-guided walking tour that features 30 historically significant structures. Highlighting that tour, the Vereins Kirche (or VK as some locals call it) was built soon after the arrival of the first German settlers, and stands as a tribute to the courage and vision of Fredericksburg’s founders. It was the first public building in the town, and served as a town hall, school, and a church for all denominations. Today, this much-loved symbol of our German heritage is centrally located in the Marktplatz and inside, exhibits introduce visitors to the stories of Fredericksburg’s past. Another popular stop on a history tour of Fredericksburg - Sunday Houses, which are small, in-town houses that the early settlers used when they traveled from their farms outside Fredericksburg to town on weekends for supplies, fellowship, and Sunday church services. Good examples of Sunday Houses in Fredericksburg can be found at the Pioneer Museum and on the 400 block of West San Antonio Street.

Fredericksburg's German heritage is evident today in the variety of German-inspired restaurants in town. For a complete list of German restaurants, click here.

Gillespie County is one of the largest peach-producing counties in Texas. The typical peach season runs from mid-May through mid-August, but that can vary slightly due to changes in weather. For more information, click here.

Each spring, the Texas Hill Country comes alive with wildflowers - including bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrushes, Mexican Hats and many others. The typical Texas wildflower season runs from mid-March through mid-May, but that can vary slightly due to changes in weather. But if you want to take some home with you, don’t pick them—visit Wildseed Farms, the nation’s largest wildflower farm located just outside Fredericksburg. During the blooming season, it’s a sea of red, blue or yellow. For more information, click here.

Fredericksburg gets fully decked out for the holiday season. Marktplatz features a custom-built 26-foot, five-tiered rotating Christmas Pyramid, along with the community Christmas tree. Those two iconic structures, plus the downtown shops are illuminated in mid to late November through the week after New Year's. For more information, click here.

Our nation’s 36th president, Lyndon B. Johnson, was born 16 miles east of Fredericksburg at the family ranch located outside Stonewall. The Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is open to the public for free.