Three Good Stops

Austin to Tampa: where to stop

1145 miles, about 16 hr 36 min of driving. Here are the real towns worth stopping in between Austin, TX and Tampa, FL, and why each one earned it.

Your first stop

Katy, TXStretch your legs in Katy, TX · mile 129

The other 7 stops on this drive

Named for your own departure time and driving style when you plan the trip — your first full plan is free.

B•••••, TXstretch, meal · mile 264
L•••••, LAfuel · mile 320
B•••••, LAstretch · mile 452
T•••••, ALstretch, overnight, fuel, meal · mile 592
C•••••, FLstretch · mile 735
T•••••, FLstretch, fuel, meal · mile 877

Name every stop — first trip free

No card for the first trip. After that it's 99¢ for three trips, or $2.99 a month.

How the days break up

DayMilesDrivingNight in
15928 hr 49 minTillmans Corner, AL
25537 hr 47 min—

How we picked these

Every stop is a real town on your actual route — not a chain billboard. We score towns on what a driver needs at that point in the drive: fuel and food for a stretch break, parks and grass when a pet is along, hotels and restaurants when it's an overnight. Detour distance counts against a town, so nothing here costs you a long side trip.

This page is planned for a 9-hour driving day leaving at 8:00 AM. Change any of that — your hours, your MPG, pets, small children, an EV's charging range — and the stops change with it. Plan Austin to Tampa your way →

Questions

How far is Austin, TX to Tampa, FL?
About 1145 miles, roughly 16 hr 36 min of driving before stops.

Can you drive Austin to Tampa in one day?
Not comfortably. At a 9-hour driving day it splits into 2 days, with a night in Tillmans Corner, AL.

Where is a good place to stop between Austin and Tampa?
Katy, TX is the first one on this route.