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Anyone here in or familiar with Denver and the surrounding area? Going on a trip and have zero idea what to do as a non-tourist...
Ok, so the "Going on a trip and have zero idea what to do as a non-tourist..." isn't entirely true like it was in my post about NYC last year, but everyone was extremely helpful and threw out suggestions I wouldn't have even thought about looking for. So here I am again to bug you wonderful people for Tildes Travel Guide 2: Electric Denver Boogaloo
Same as before, staying for a week, I do have a rental car this time (trying to decide between the comfort of a Lexus or sportiness of an Alfa Romeo, damn car guy indecisiveness) so transport is less of an issue, anything that you'd suggest to see/do?
cracks knuckles
Okay a little late to the party, but I'm a local local so hopefully I can give you some decent recommendations in the Denver and surrounding area!
Food
Boulder(ish) Area
Denver/Aurora
Places to Go
Overall, there's all kinds of cool trails and bike paths and open spaces in Denver and surrounding cities that you can check out. The AllTrails app is really good for scoping those out, especially if you want to know incline and length. Not to totally shit on Denver, but the eats in the Downtown proper are okay, lots of expensive places that are mostly just expensive lol. It's the surrounding areas that have the good food.
The aquarium is okay, the Denver Art Museum is decent, and there's a lot of places north of Denver who say they're in Denver when they're actually Northglenn/Thornton/Broomfield. Louisville is pronounced how it's spelled, and the only people who will fight you on the pronunciation of Beuna Vista is usually people from Beuna Vista /shrug emoji. Lots of people pronounce mountain without a hard 'T'. If you want to visit mountain towns, really any of the popular ones will do because they're all pretty gorgeous.
edit: lots of formatting edits, idk what I'm doing lol
double edit: thank you for the exemplary!! I've lived in Colorado my whole life so I like to think I can give pretty qualified advice lol.
I love you too, eve.
Happy to help 😉 I gotta make sure the good CO is repped well.
Well, you can go to the Rocky Mountains if you have the time.
Denver has some nice bike roads and there’s rentable bikes and scooters. Had a fun time on those.
For something offbeat, there’s Meow Wolf. https://meowwolf.com/visit/denver I’m not even sure how to describe it. It’s like an IRL adult swim sketch? They basically crafted a surrealist, future/cyberpunk/lovecraftian world for you to walk around in? It was unique, anyway.
We'll be going through the mountains regularly as we look at land to build our little kinda-sorta-commune.
Had forgotten about Meow Wolf, there's one in Texas, but it's inside the hellscape that is Grapevine mall, so I refuse to go. Checking it out in Denver is a good idea though, thanks!
And Rocky Mountain National Park is not far either
This is a great time to go to RMNP. The weather is usually pretty nice, but timed entry permits don't start until May 26th, so you can go without much planning. Once timed entry starts it will be pretty difficult to get into the Bear Lake part of the park.
I've been there twice on work, so didn't get a comprehensive tour of the city, but enjoyed it nonetheless.
aside from that if I was able to go back with a car, I'd check out Boulder, the Red Rock amphitheatre, and drive around in to the rockies (might take a few hours though, I know getting to the good ski hills takes 1.5 to 2 hours).
Denver has great weather (very dry, not overly hot, not cold at all outside of winter (aside from the dead of the night)), and interesting history due to being a frontier town. There has to be a bunch of cool historical stuff around to see, especially with a car.
So, I've never been and have virtually zero useful suggestions. But if you're a fan of South Park, Casa Bonita, the subject of an episode, is supposed to reopen this month, supposedly within days now. The creators of South Park chose to feature the restaurant because they had fond memories of going there as children.
I myself am really curious about this magical place.
I am well aware of Casa Bonita (even though I've only ever watched about half a dozen episodes of South Park total) along with the SP creators buying and bringing it back to life. That said, it'll probably wait for us to move to the area in a couple of years (part of our trip is going around and seeing where we'd like to buy some land outside the cities themselves to build a house and move in the next 18-24 months) as I'm sure Casa Bonita is going to be packed right at the grand re-opening.
I wanted to follow this back up with the NYT article on Casa Bonita's reopening (gift link)
I used to live in Boulder for a short time. It’s a pretty nice spot for a visit. Pearl St. has all the kitschy shops and restaurants. Also worth taking a hike on the Flatirons if you have the time.
Definitely be aware that downtown Denver is even worse than most US cities for car congestion. The local public transit, RTD, is very accessible though, and the stations outside downtown all have decent parking lots. In that area, I can recommend "Celtic on Market" as an excellent dive pub. Cozy seating, great service, cheap drinks, really fun vibe despite the associations that their betting room might bring up. There's also a little third wave coffee shop called Little Owl. Fantastic stuff. Plenty of local breweries with good distribution to bars, little art museums, virtual driving ranges if that's your thing. My favorite place downtown is a jazz club called Dazzle, who have an incredibly talented house band, a great rotating menu of unique cocktails, and, based on hearsay, some decent food.
It's not an amazing city for dining, but if you've never experienced New Mexican food, if you look around a bit, you can find a decent facsimile without leaving the metro area. I'd definitely recommend taking advantage of the surrounding nature with some hiking, many of the trails are both scenic and no more strenuous than an urban stroll, but there are ones of all kinds of difficulty in the area.
Driving up to Boulder is a great idea, and if you're interested in modern pocketknives as tools or art, the Spyderco factory is in Golden, which also has a lot of beautiful nature surrounding it.
Frankly, I don't think Denver is a terribly exciting city for tourism. People love living there, I love spending time there, but it's very much the crossroads of America, and it feels that way. Excitement isn't the only ruler, though, so if you keep in mind that it's a frontier city, with the culture that comes with that territory, it can be a fantastic place to enjoy yourself.
Just be wary of the altitude, if you're coming from somewhere closer to sea level. Nobody believes just how much altitude sickness can ruin your day if you aren't prepared for it, so stay extra hydrated, be prepared to have some extra or a little less coffee or tea than usual, and if you partake, know that while cannabis might ease the headache and general sense of breathlessness, it can also drop BP, so be prepared to just sleep the high away.
I’m actually in Denver right now (last day here is tomorrow). Ask me any questions if you’ve got them.
Estes Park is absolutely beautiful. Rocky Mountain National Park is amazing. There’s a train in Georgetown (1.5 hours from Denver) that is a 1 hour round trip. Fun family activity.
If I was to plan a trip now I’d stay in a suburb of Denver. Maybe Littleton?
For a semi expensive restaurant with good food, cool location and building I recommend The Fort. I have been there twice they got really good monstrous buffalo ribs.