Denver Vacation Information

[pcrum]

Hi:

We had a refund for a cancelled trip in March and had to book something or lose the credit with the airline. We decided on Denver for the end of September. We will be traveling from Orlando. If the COVID situation becomes worse, we will cancel and rebook for 2021. I'm looking for recommendations of things to do for a long weekend. Not sure if we should stay downtown and rely on public transport or rent a car and stay on the outskirts. We do want to take one day and go out on a hike. What else is there to see and do in Denver? We are not skiers, so are not looking for ski related activities. My daughter is gluten free, so brewery tours are also out. Thank you.

 

[crazycatstacy]

You have to eat at D Bar in Denver- it is by 16th Street. It is AMAZING. I typically am in Denver only to shop and eat so not sure what else there is to do.

 

[TarotFox]

Please keep a close eye on wherever it is that you plan on hiking. Our mountain communities are isolated and have fewer medical resources but lots of tourism, epsecially from places like Texas and Arizona that are being hit hard right now. There is a lot of tension and anxiety in our mountains right now.

 

[Cherbear013]

Please keep a close eye on wherever it is that you plan on hiking. Our mountain communities are isolated and have fewer medical resources but lots of tourism, epsecially from places like Texas and Arizona that are being hit hard right now. There is a lot of tension and anxiety in our mountains right now.

Yup. Our roads leading into town are backed up for miles.

 

[bearzabout]

We loved our tours of the capital building and Denver mint. There are great museums in town if they are open and off the beaten track attractions like a tour of the Hammond candy factory.

The Denver Railroad Museum was amazing. For outdoor attractions, the Denver Botanical Gardens and Denver Zoos are excellent. The Red Rocks amphitheater is a sight to behold.

Their Metro train system, while expensive, worked great for us.

New Mexico now has a mandatory 14 day quarantine for those traveling from other states and other states could adopt the same rules.

Everything could be different now because of the virus. If you don’t go this year, definately get there sometime in the future.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Eat at snooze for breakfast, worth the wait!
Stay away from the squirrels.. im just kidding .. have fun Denver is normally really cool just not sure during the pandemic.
We rented a car, we went to mt Evans for the view.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

We are planning on going the first week of December, but we are skiers and heading to the slopes. I hope you are able to go as that would be a good sign for our trip actually being able to happen.

We don't spend much time in Denver so I cannot help in that area, but I can tell that in some ski areas the gondolas may be operating. You can go to the top of the mountain for a breath taking view.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We are planning on going the first week of December, but we are skiers and heading to the slopes. I hope you are able to go as that would be a good sign for our trip actually being able to happen.

We don't spend much time in Denver so I cannot help in that area, but I can tell that in some ski areas the gondolas may be operating. You can go to the top of the mountain for a breath taking view.

We are not skiers but love winter park.. the kids like to go tubing.
The op is going right before snow season from what I hear a lot of mountain bikers go there in the summer/fall . you can still go to some ski areas ride the gondolas photographers do it all the time.
The public transportation is really good in Colorado. They have buses going everywhere we just never take them cause we have a car.

 

[choover2576]

Two years ago we also had some Southwest credits to "burn" and decided to visit Denver with our then 8yo and 10yo boys. Not somewhere that was on our bucket list, but think back fondly of that trip.

I'm not a fan of driving on vacation, so we used public transportation, tour bus and taxi and it worked out well for us.

I would recommend staying downtown. It is very walkable and we felt safe. We stayed at
Residence Inn by Marriott Denver City Center on Champa and got a good rate through Last Minute Travel.

The hotel had a nice free hot breakfast and happy hour that we visited everyday.

We took a taxi to Elich Gardens so I could get my theme park fix. The kids had fun. I'm getting a little too old for roller coasters though. I'd say it is similar to a Six Flags.

We took a motor coach tour through Viator. We had a picture stop of the Rocky Mountains and visited the Buffalo Bill Museum. There could have been another stop in there, I can't remember now. We all liked the tour.

We also went to a Rockies game. I don't think they will have any games, but they might have a tour if you are a baseball family.

I'm a sucker for touristy places. We went to the "first" restaurant in Denver called the Buckhorn Exchange: http://www.buckhorn.com/ Food was ok, kids liked the taxidermy decor

I hope that you have a great vacation!

 

[wendow]

SO...my dh and I decided to visit Denver for a fun, long weekend 20 years ago. We moved out 5 mos later lol! Best and most amazing decision ever. This continues to be one of the fastest growing states for a reason. The natives would hate me for telling you...btw, I was born and bred in TX...but CO is simply amazing!!! The beauty of this state is something you could explore forever and never see all of. The climate is one that, while everyone thinks you are snowed in for the winter months, in reality, you are out playing in. People are friendly. Lots to do. Healthy lifestyle.

You are coming to visit end of Sept? No skiing anywhere in the state. Please do not limit your visit to Denver. Head into the mountains. The fall foliage may be starting to change and would be visible once you get into the mountains. Denver has a great Science museum and cool zoo or you can go to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in CO Springs (90 mins south of Denver). Head up to Estes Park to have lunch and do some hiking (90 mins NW of Denver). Vail is stunning late Sept (2 hrs west of Denver).

If you choose to stay downtown, depending on the situation with covid, there could be lots to do - 16th street mall downtown is full of cool restaurants and hangouts. All our sports teams play downtown so there are Rockies games & Broncos games in the fall. Plenty of shopping. I prefer to get out of the city but if you don't, there is plenty to do and keep you occupied for a weekend.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

I’m a native Coloradoan so I have a few ideas for ya! The Molly Brown house museum is a cool little history stop. Tons of city life things to do- 16th Street Mall, museum, zoo, etc. Casa Bonita is a neat (old and not the best food but so fun) well-known Colorado stop- indoor waterfall with divers, caves, etc. Cider is the new ‘brewery’ seems so there’s plenty of cool cider breweries to see- my cousin is gluten free so we often check those out. Agree with the others that you have to see the mountains. Easiest one to get to is Lookout Mountain with the Buffalo Bill museum. Golden is cool too- Coors is there and an awesome train museum.

Keep in mind that our governor has been extremely proactive about our rising cases lately- not sure what that will look like in September but definitely read up on it. State mask mandate, no alcohol sales after 10pm, bars closed, etc.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Please keep a close eye on wherever it is that you plan on hiking. Our mountain communities are isolated and have fewer medical resources but lots of tourism, epsecially from places like Texas and Arizona that are being hit hard right now. There is a lot of tension and anxiety in our mountains right now.

I second this. Very strained resources in our mountain towns and many (like Estes!) have a large elderly population.

 

[mikehn]

Red Rocks amphitheater was very cool back in the day. Obviously no more concerts

 

[Deb & Bill]

There have been some protests and "rioting" recently, so keep a watch on that situation as well.

 

[Shellsbutt]

My husband and I just got back from our first trip to Colorado about 3 weeks ago. It was last minute because our original plans overseas were cancelled due to covid. Honestly, Denver was very disappointing to me and I'm a huge Denver Broncos fan, lol. I have never seen so many homeless in one place and I've been to San Francisco many times. There were tent cities in several parks, especially around the State Capitol. Its a beautiful building that right now is covered in graffiti and just looks depressing. Alot of the downtown shops are boarded up due to the protests. We stayed at the Capitol Hill Mansion Bed and Breakfast, which I would recommend though. Great location for walking around, which we did a lot of. The Molly Brown Museum was interesting and Denver Botanical gardens were beautiful. If you can- get up into the mountains and explore other areas. Colorado Springs is only an hour and half away, we loved Garden of the Gods and the Cheyenne mountain Zoo.