Denver locals - what should my wife and I do over a long weekend?

[DanR]

I'm looking for tips from locals. My wife and I will be in Denver in early June (Friday-Monday). I'm speaking in Monday and turning my business trip into some time away from the kids. We're staying at the Marriott City Center.

Should we rent a car? If so, at the airport or off airport?
What should we do? What are the must dos for tourists?
We love to go out to eat - fine dining, casual, local dishes, whatever.
Planning on hitting the Falling Rock - love craft beer. Should we head out and hit the breweries?
Hiking? How far would we have to go for some beautiful hikes? Moderate hike of a few miles would be up our alley.
If we just hang out downtown and don't explore - what do we do?

TIA

 

[MickiSue]

Not a local, but been there several times on business. Denver is definitely a car city, not so much a mass transit one. (Think home. Mass transit is available, but not optimized.)

Plus, with a car, you can take a half day trip up to Boulder, or just drive west and see more of the mountains close up.

 

[sage626700]

Definitely a car city. To me there are three things about Denver that make the city what it is, Beer, Food, and Mountains. Definitely hit up some breweries, Breckenridge Craft, Wynkoop, and Strange Brew are a few of my favs. Hit up Euclid Hall, or Vesta Dipping Grill in LODO. If your into cool places, craft cocktails and psudo street food and ice cream, hit up Williams and Grahams speakeasy and then wander of to Linger for some upscale takes on street food, then hit up Little Man Icecream for desert. I think this area is refered to as HILO (Denver Neighborhoods have the dumbest names). Not sure where you're from but if your a city boy, it might be worth it to take an evening trip up to Evergreen, and hit the Little Bear for some pubgrub, some beers, and live music. This is a dingy little dive bar but really worth a trip.

If you like whisky, lets be serious who doesn't like whisky, hit up Pints Pub, they have the largest selection of single malts in the US. Also hit up Stranahans distillery for the tour, well worth it.


Hiking is really a question of personal fitness and what you want to do. I'd hit up google to find the hiking trips. If you're in decent shape try the Mount Beirstadt hike. It's not an easy hike but its not too tough and you can then let everyone know that you've scaled a 14,000er. Not alot of people can say that.

 

[elweb]

All the above are great tips. If you are into music you may want to see if there is anybody worth seeing at Red Rocks, a large but great venue.

 

[kristian]

While I don't love the Bus (RTD) and I don't actually love the B-cycle program. I feel like if you just have a couple of days to putter around and you wish to see Downtown Denver and Boulder, you really couldn't do much better than to take advantage of those two programs and forget about a car. Really, DIA-Denver-Boulder via RTD is easier, cheaper and more convenient than other options. Both D and B are great for walkable brewery tours, eateries, etc.

If, however, you want to get into larger mountains than you can walk to from Boulder or want to check out Red Rocks, get a car.

 

[ninjasurfer99]

Right next to falling rock taphouse is an old retro arcade bar called 1up bar. Seriously strong cocktails for very cheap - most of the games are still 25-50 cents too and they've got a great patio area with some free games to play like Giant Jenga. There's also a speakeasy (thepieshop) that is worth it if you're into that kind of thing. I agree with @kristian above on the rest. Red Rocks is probably worth it if you've never done the mountains and aren't super geared up for a serious hike. They also have these new shops popping up everywhere. They'll have different names but there's more of these shops then starbucks in Colorado now. That'll "elevate" any experience

 

[Maria Sangria]

I still think Denver is more of a car town. Public transportation is spotty to where it connects you to.

A concert at Red Rocks is one of my favorites, if there's anyone playing that week that you'd like to see. You can also go up during the day to "run the bleachers" or hike around.

Many many places to hike, bike and walk. As mentioned before, it depends on how far out you want to go or what kind of shape you're in. If you've never been here before, be sure to drink plenty of water. All day long. People get dehydrated easily and some people feel sick. You will feel more easily winded if you're hiking around.

A ride up to Boulder, Estes and Rocky Mountain National Park is nice. The Fat Tire Brewery is great if you're into beer. Lots and lots of microbrews, pubs and tours everywhere (Breckenridge, Boulder, Fat Tire, AB, etc.). Lots of local wineries around. One of my favorites is Bonacquisti on Winery Row. I know the owner and they're great people there. They do bands on Friday nights and are starting to do more events during the week. If you've got a car, Breckenridge and Vail are nice towns to visit during the summer too. Or Garden of the Gods down towards Colorado Springs. White water rafting is always fun too. Should be some nice running water in June. You'll have to check closer in because that all depends on the snow melt. I you're a game eater (buffalo, elk, quail, alligator), you can stop into the Buckhorn Exchange. It's the oldest restaurant in Denver. Maybe catch a Rockies game at Coors Field. Do they suck this year? Not sure.

So much to list. It just depends what your likes are. Something athletic, foodie, beer or wine, cultural?

 

[ninjasurfer99]

Hey @DanR, I hope this thread is helpful. Getting too many great suggestions can be a problem sometimes I wanted to up vote the idea of getting a car to maximize your time. With a car Make a day trip out of going to red rocks and driving mount Evans. It's the highest paid road in North America. Friday Id spend the day in the Denver area when you arrive and spend the day checking out the Denver area. If you wanted to reach a little further, Colorado Springs is awesome. Do garden of the gods, walk the town of Manitou Springs and if you like a good zoo the Cheyenne mountain zoo is one of my all time favorites. If you and your wife are animal lovers, let me know. One of my best friends runs the aquatic center there and does some pretty special stuff for my friends when they visit. Send me a message if this interests you and I'll try and set you guys up with her. She may have you feed hippos and let you go in the penguin tank!

Also brunch on Sunday - try Rialtos cafe for the best "make your own" Bloody Mary/ mimosa bar!