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Travel guide
Denver
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to June and September to October
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Welcome
Denver, in a few days
Colorado's capital stands exactly one mile above sea level, at the foot of a wall of 4,000-metre peaks that closes off the horizon to the west. Between a 1914 railway station handed back to the city, brick warehouses covered in murals and a red sandstone amphitheatre carved into the mountain, it can be explored in three days before serving as a gateway to the Rockies.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 3 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 1 thing
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Union Station and LoDo free · 2 to 3 hDenver's 1914 Beaux-Arts station, reopened in 2014 as a public lounge with bars and a hotel, surrounded by LoDo's converted brick warehouses, Victorian Larimer Square and Coors Field.
- Afternoon · RiNo free · 2 to 3 hA former district of foundries and railway warehouses along the South Platte, now covered in ever-changing murals and packed with craft breweries, artists' studios and the Denver Central Market.
- Late afternoon · Colorado State Capitol free · about 1 hThe 1890s Capitol, its dome covered with gold given by Colorado miners and its walls lined with rare rose onyx, marks the mile-high altitude on its western steps.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Courtyard Denver Downtown ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€170 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Denver Art Museum · half a dayGio Ponti's glass-tiled fortress and Daniel Libeskind's sharp-edged titanium wing hold one of the country's richest collections of Native American art and art of the American West.
- Late afternoon · Denver Botanic Gardens · about 2 hTen hectares showing what grows at altitude and in a dry climate, from Rocky Mountain alpine plants to Central Asian steppes, a Japanese garden and a 1960s tropical conservatory.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Courtyard Denver Downtown ↗€170 a night
D3
Day 3
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Denver Museum of Nature & Science · half a dayOn the edge of City Park, Colorado dinosaur skeletons including a stegosaurus, wildlife dioramas painted between the 1930s and 1950s, a planetarium and a fine view of the Rockies.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Courtyard Denver Downtown ↗€170 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Golden · half a dayA small gold-rush town in the foothills, home to the Coors brewery since 1873, with its welcome arch over the main street and Buffalo Bill's grave on Lookout Mountain.
- Late afternoon · Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre free · about 2 hA 9,525-seat amphitheatre carved between two red sandstone monoliths in the 1930s, where the Beatles and U2 played, open to all outside concert days with a trail among the rocks.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €175 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to June and September to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/denver
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.