Public Tours
Pick from one of Lone Star Riverboat's public tours down Lady Bird Lake. These tours include commentary by the captain. You are welcome to bring your own beverages on the Little Star, Southern Star, and Lone Star. The Lone Star has a non-alcoholic cash bar available.
Our Boats
Choose from one of three different Lone Star Riverboats to host your next Austin adventure. Lone Star offers a luxurious double-decker paddle-wheel riverboat and three smaller boats ideal for sunsets and bat watching.
Private Charters
Imagine your social occasion on a delightful cruise right through the heart of downtown Austin, Texas aboard a Lone Star Riverboat. Private charters are available year-round for groups of 30 to 100 people.
Lone Star RiverboatAbout Us
Located on Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) in Austin, Texas. Lone Star Riverboat Cruises and Austin are the two shining stars of Texas!
Join us aboard one of our all environmentally-friendly vessels. Experience the exhilaration of the outdoors, the abundant waterfowl, our ever changing city skyline and the natural beauty that is Austin. We offer public, narrated sightseeing cruises or witness the spectacular emergence of the world famous Mexican free-tailed bats on our sunset/bat watching cruises! Come see the sights and learn about Austin or jazz up your next occasion and have a private party aboard The Lone Star, the largest electric powered paddle wheeler in the nation.
Our staff at Lone Star Riverboat is committed to excellent customer service and making your trips as enjoyable and relaxing as possible. We want to show you Austin in Texas-friendly style.
We are a city concession and a portion of our gross sales goes to support our nationally recognized park system. Fred DuPuy is the new owner of Lone Star Riverboat which has been in business as an Austin icon since 1987.
ReviewsEverybody Loves Cruises
"Lone Star Riverboat tours have consistently been one of the most popular tours in Austin. Their sightseeing, moonlight and afternoon cruises are a great way to see the city skyline and Lady Bird Lake. Their bat watching tour lands them consistently at the #1 activity in our Things to do in Austin Guide during bat watching season."
~Ivan Collins
Austin City Guide
"Ever since I learned about the Austin bats, I have wanted to see them. The Lone Star Riverboat bat tour was excellent!! We had so much fun and learned quite a bit about the Austin area and the bats. 10/10 I would definitely do it again!!!"
~Sharon S.
"The staff was friendly and very knowledgeable. Reagan was our guide and she was funny and entertaining. The boat ride is nice and slow, making it very relaxing. Seeing the bats fly out was exciting. We were able to be center stage for the bats flying out and for the price (very reasonable & cheap) it's definitely worth it! We'll be doing this again next time we're in Austin!"
~Ashley E.
"Lots of fun, learned a lot of history of downtown Austin and beyond. Our tour guide, Melissa, was a lot of fun, very energetic and informative . I would definitely recommend for some family fun, nice sunset tour and to see the momma bats , of course!"
~Jalissa R.
"We took the bat cruise. It was a beautiful, relaxing sunset cruise. Our captain was very entertaining and informative. Hearing the bats as we floated quietly under the bridge and watching them emerge was awesome. Reasonably priced too!"
~Carson V.
"Highly recommend. Natalie was our tour guide on the Northern Star pontoon and she was terrific. Melissa greeted us, checked us in, and was the tour guide for the Southern Star pontoon; she was great as well. We sat in the front row and could hear all of Natalie's facts, tips, history, and information. The boat ride was lovely, the information was interesting, our guide was engaging, and the bats were AWESOME! The four of us completely enjoyed ourselves and would do this tour again."
~Stephanie F.
"In addition to watching the bats, the boats will take a quick tour down Lady Bird Lake. The captain gave us information on the different landmarks (Stevie Ray's statue, etc.) while downtown Austin moves all around us. It was wonderful!"
~Sam S.