My H has business in Denver at the end of June and I’m going to go with him.
Any pointers of what to do or eat? I have to admit I’m not that excited. We are going to to be staying downtown and I won’t have a car.
How will the weather be at the end of June?
Weather should be nice. The art museum and the botanical garden are both nice.
What do you like to do?
Two thumbs up for the botanical gardens!
16th street mall has some great shops. I’d also recommend going to the Denver Art Museum or Museum of Nature and Science.
Denver has a decent mass transit system and the downtown area has a free shuttle. They gave a nice library. We’ve had some good French food there in the downtown area. There’s a place that specializes in mussels downtown as well. We have found Denver weather to be a bit variable, even within a single day.
Yelp guided us to several nice restaurants.
One of my friends went to a marajuana dispensary in Denver out of curiousity (since MJ is legal there) and found it fascinating. We tried but couldn’t find any that were open when we had free time.
Great, thanks. I’m pretty open about things to do. I love art museums and botanical gardens are nice too. And I love a good mall so I’ll definitely go to the 16th street mall.
Thanks @HImom but I’m not really that interested in the 420 scene. The funny thing is that I looked up reviews for the hotel we are staying at and all the questions are about where you can smoke 420 in the hotel. I didn’t know, but found out from friends that marijuana scene is big.
I like to get outdoors mostly. I’d love to find a tour or something to do some light hiking. In Michigan where I live we don’t have big hills so not heavy hiking but getting out and seeing the scenery and being active is my jam!
One of my kids now lives in Denver so was there a few months ago. I really enjoyed it. We did take the free 16th Street shuttle . The Larimer Square and Union Station areas are interesting. Tour companies like Viator and Grayline have city tours and day trips to the mountains. Many tours will pick up at your hotel. If your hotel has a concierge, you could contact them for tour recommendations. Boulder and Golden are cool. If the Colorado Rockies are in town, a baseball game at Coors Field could be fun. My sister and I had afternoon tea at the Brown Palace. Very nice. Have fun. Denver is a great city!
The Art District on Santa Fe is great for art galleries, good restaurants, and craft breweries.
A tour of the Denver Mint is really interesting.
If you like books, check out The Tattered Cover Book Store for hours of browsing fun.
The Denver Art Museum, and the Denver Central Library are right next door to each other just south of Civic Center park.
Botanic garden is a couple of miles from downtown (and slightly uphill) – doable, but on a hot day might be a bit of a hike. (Remember, you’re at an altitude, and it can be very hot/dry here.) I’d recommend getting there by Uber/Lyft.
You don’t say how long you’ll be in Denver, but the good suggestions above should keep you busy enough for 1-2 days. If you do have access to a car another great option is Red Rocks - a magnificent natural amphitheater, great views and hikes in the area – it’s 25 minute drive from downtown, but a world away.
We went to Red Rocks. I thought it was beautiful. I’d love to see a concert there.
To add to what has been said about altitude - it is about 6,000 feet above sea level or so. Carry a large water bottle and stay well hydrated. It helps!
Estes Park is lovely but we used a car to get to it. I agree Tattered Cover is a great bookstore.
I find the smell of “pot” being smoked very irritating to my breathing but was fascinated by the description of the dispensaries, so was curious to view it.
Our state has legalized medical MJ, so there are many young males especially who get Rx via mail order for “intractable pain” treatable only by MJ in our state.
Personally, I really like Denver and we have been there at least 8x. Agree that the altitude of 5200 feet can take a bit of adjustment. If you like, there is a fun tour of Coors in Golden, CO, where you get samples of their beer at the end. You would probably be able to book a tour to pick you up at or near your hotel and return you. Pike’s Peak is another attraction some folks like.
There is plenty to do in downtown: Union station, Tamarac Square have boutique shops and lots of restaurants, and the Pavilions on the Mall has a movie theater, Lucky Strikes bowling, and chain bars and restaurants (Coyote Ugly, Hard Rock, Magianos) Go to the other end of the mall and there is the state capitol which has a great history tour and you can climb to the dome and see the mountain ranges (if they haven’t put a building in your way). You can arrange a tour of the US Mint, but you have to do it in advance and provide SSN and other information.
It is very easy to take a bus to Boulder from Union Station and go to the mall there, walk Chautauqua, walk along the creek downtown. You can also take Light Rail to U of Denver if there is any activity you’d like to do there (there is a wonderful music hall, sports, lectures, etc. You can take light rail to Golden and the Coors brewery, to see the old town.
If you are a fan of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, there are several Denver places that have been featured and a few are downtown. One of my favorites is Sam’s No.3, which is right by the theater district. Oh, there is the theater district downtown too, with a variety of shows and concerts.
Coors Field and all the restaurants near it.
I went on a group hike with a guide in the Red Rocks. (There were only 3 of us.) It was a fun trip: great scenery and a good workout. It was a few years ago and I was tagging along with my H who was going to a conference in Denver. The hotel concierge made the arrangements. We stayed at the Hotel Teatro (sp?) The Denver Botanic Gardens were beautiful. I would definitely go if you are a plant enthusiast.
Great suggestions, I’m getting excited.
I remember touring the mint in DC as a child. I think I will try and set up a tour.
Group hike in the Red Rocks sounds exactly like something I want to do.
It looks like the US Mint tours have tickets available at 7 am for that day on a first come basis. It sounds fun but I probably won’t want to get up and do that.
We are arriving on Monday morning and leaving Friday evening. H will be at a conference and I don’t know what he will be able/want to do so it will mostly be me.
I went to New Orleans a couple of years ago and had a blast. It was great to be able to do what I want/ eat where I want. I ate at the best places and it was so good. H is a picky eater/doesn’t want to charge the company too much (don’t ask me why because no one else pays attention to saving a huge company money while at a conference but I don’t argue anymore).
Since you’re going to be in Denver several days, here’s an all-day treat to consider: take the train (Amtrak) from Denver to Winter Park… a ski resort near the town of Fraser, about 70 miles from Denver. It’s a beautiful 2 1/2 hour ride through the mountains… really great scenery and you go through some ridiculous number of tunnels (over a dozen?) In Winter Park you can check out the areas at the ski resort and Fraser (there’s a free shuttle) and hikes along/near the ski resort. If you mountain bike, you can rent one in Denver and bring it on the train with you, or just rent in Winter Park. The train leaves the downtown Union Station in the morning and returns to the city in the evening.
It would be a real outdoorsy Colorado adventure.
https://www.amtrak.com/find-train-bus-stations-train-routes
http://www.playwinterpark.com/hiking
http://www.wpgov.com/DocumentCenter/View/646
Another option: take a day trip tour to Rocky Mountain National Park
https://www.viator.com/tours/Denver/Rocky-Mountain-National-Park-Day-Trip-from-Denver/d4837-6384ROCKYCOACH
Note that Amtrak goes into Fraser, not Winter Park. You’d have to get to the town of WP (about 5 miles) or the ski area (another 2 miles). Are you sure the free shuttle goes to Fraser? There is bike rental place in Fraser. It would be fun, but it would take a little work to get to the ski area from the Amtrak station in Fraser.
(Ski Train goes into the ski area, but it only runs some Saturdays in the in winter)
@twoinanddone @deb922 Yes, the free shuttle goes to/through Fraser, you can pick it up by the Safeway, just down from the Fraser train station. (It’s all on the map I linked.)
The Safeway is a hike from the train station. It is a good idea, just not as easy as jumping on a shuttle from the train station. I love Winter Park, used to own a home there (up the hill from the Safeway). Another idea for hiking or doing activities is the YMCA camp, which is up the highway, away from WP.