Going To Denver On Vacation Need Tips

[Pelican123]

Hello all,

Am going to Denver from Miami FL in a few weeks for a week vacation with my girlfriend.

Our flights fare was extra cheap ($138 Round trip) and we have split lodging through AirBnb which came out to $350 for the entire week, so about $175 each.

So our flight & lodging are taken care of already.

Now for food & cool things to do.....

Any general travel tips from mustachians to keep my costs as low as possible? We have been saving a lot recently and don't want to mess up all our hard work on this trip. But we also obviously want to have a good time and unwind from the day to day grind.

1) We are both huge craft beer enthusiasts, so we will checking out some of the breweries. If you have some to recommend, please do so, the only one I can think of off the top of my head without doing much research yet is Great Divide. This will be a big part of our trip to enjoy a lot of cool beer we can't get over here in Miami & perhaps go on a few brewery tours.

2) We will need to eat. How can I save here? Any locals got any great budget restaurants? I'd like to indulge in 1 or 2 amazing local MUST restaurants (will pay a little extra for this luxury) but for the majority of the trip, cheap bites & delicious holes in the wall to keep us fueled would be appreciated.

3) We are from Miami, FL and obviously don't get snow / cold weather. We would like to possibly do some skiing or other snow / winter related activities. What can I do and wht are the secrets to saving money on these?

4) Anything else for a young 20-25 yr old couple to do for fun in Denver? I'm all ears

Thank you for reading this and I appreciate your help Mustachians!

[SMCx3]

If you have not visited Colorado before and you are coming from Miami, take a few of the dollars you want to spend on beer and dump them into your gas tank.  When you lay eyes on the mountains behind Denver's skyline, you will want to get out and explore. No need to travel far to find another world from what you are use to in South Florida. Just look at my avatar for a quick taste of The Rockies.

So many cool places in Denver, but get out and enjoy the mountains!

Enjoy!

[GizmoTX]

If you decide to try skiing, do yourself a favor & do lessons. You'll have a lot more fun & will be far less likely to hurt yourself. Skiing is expensive, but do not skip lessons.

[SomeDaySoon]

Remember coming from sea level to drink plenty of water, start as soon as you land.

Depending on where you are in Denver, the Vine St. Pub has good food and beer and not that pricey. Bring cash though.  They don't take cc. Tons of microbrews with great beer so visit as many as you can. Can't really go wrong. Breckenridge brewery across from Coors field, try their Avalanche beer. Pretty popular here.

There are some pedal tours that go to some breweries. I would look at Groupon for Denver and see if they are offering any deals.

Red rocks in Golden is cool and free.

But remember drink plenty of water.

[kudy]

Let me know if you want to come up and try all the great beer in Fort Collins!

[Spondulix]

My siblings favorites (in Boulder) are Southern Sun, Sanitas, and Boulder Beer. Celestial Seasonings has their tea factory outside Boulder, and the tour is great. In Fort Collins, New Belgium is a must see cause it's free samples! (It's closed Mondays). It's not far from Old Town, which is a great area to walk around, nice restaurants, etc. Skiing can be really expensive, but you might be able to get a gondola ticket or lift ticket that just lets you go up and down (and hang out at the dining on the slope). That's a fun way of getting a sense (and getting around the snow) for cheaper. Traffic can be really bad going up I-70, though, so a mountain trip is best done overnight, IMO. It's definitely worth doing, if you can. Look into Estes Park if you want to experience the mountains without the ski crowd. The YMCA there is great for activities (If you're looking to stay in the mountains on a budget that's a good option). The Stanley Hotel is fun to check out, too (it was the inspiration for the Shining)

There's lots of cheap Mexican and Tex-Mex food in CO. I'd check Yelp for those.

[Red Beard]

My recommendations for breweries in Denver (outside of the larger places) are:

Epic - This is a must. 25 beers, a number of different styles including barrel aged and sours. Probably my favorite place to go.
Station 26 -  Small but delicious and a unique atmosphere (an old firehouse)
Fiction Brewery - Relatively new but doing some great things
Black Sky - Beer and Pizza

In the Pizza vein, the restaurant Hops and Pie is delicious and usually has something on tap you can't find anywhere else. Recently Dino Smores and Abraxas.

[crazy jane]

Get advanced tickets if you want to do the New Belgium brewery. Skip touring Coors. Eat at Tag. I had the kangaroo last time I was there.

[GeneralJinjur]

The Denver Mint tour is pretty interesting and it's free. You have to get tickets ahead of time online. I like driving up to Boulder and wandering around Chautauqua Park, too.

Ditto to the water recommendation.  Also, carry lip balm.  You will want it.

[greaper007]

Throw a rock and you'll hit a brewery in Denver.   My little suburb has 3, and they're all really good.     Ditto for all the towns surrounding us.    I can't figure out how these places make money.

[oldtoyota]

Eat at Liang's Food Truck on the pedestrian mall, if you can.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/liangs-thai-food-denver?start=40

The contemporary art museum is not great, but the rooftop garden and the view is spectacular.
http://mcadenver.org/index.php

Tattered Cover Bookstore

Hotel: The Magnolia (when you are a guest, you get your choice of wine, milk and cookies offered in the afternoons).

Denver Institute of Art

[oldtoyota]

One of the times I visited CO, I was also coming from FL. The altitude will take getting used to since you are coming from 100 feet above sea level and going to the mile-high city. If you go further into the mountains, be sure to drink a lot of water and give yourself a day to acclimate before hiking a lot or skiing.

Also--get to Boulder if you can. Lots of great hiking up there. Don't take the toll highway to it if you can figure out how to avoid it.

The weather station at the foot of the mountains in Boulder is pretty cool--gorgeous architectural design, too. I think this is it:

http://www.boulder.noaa.gov/about