WHERE TO STAY
Denver has a bunch of different places to stay, but I would definitely recommend looking into airbnbs first – especially ones in the mountains!! There are plenty of homes + cabins that would make the perfect place to stay while traveling — it all depends where you want to be — in the city or in the mountains 🙂 I’ve linked a few different places to stay for for you guys to choose from!
- Airbnbs – I am totally in love with this treehouse escape by Red Rocks & Morrison! And these Bearcreek cabins in Evergreen, CO are gorgeous!! Book through this link –> AIRBNB40 <– to receive $40 off!
- Hilton Denver City Center – If you’re more of a hotel person or just wanting to be downtown Denver, this is a great hotel to be at! It’s super close to tons of restaurants, shopping, etc! All within walking distance, too.
WHERE TO GET YOUR COFFEE FIX!
Colorado has the cuuuutest little stops for coffee!!! We really didn’t grab coffee in downtown Denver, because we were itching to get out to the mountains. So, I researched a few different places to grab coffee in the foothills!
Tomari’s was seriously the cutest coffee shop I’ve ever been to. It’s right at the bottom of a mountain and just has the cutest feel to it! They also have super high quality coffee 🙂 I got the machiatto – which is just 2 shots of espresso & a little milk, so so good!! I didn’t want a ton to drink right before we went hiking, so it was perfect.
We stopped at Ziggi’s twice actually & it’s super yummy! There is one right on the way to & from CO in Hudson, CO! I think there are several throughout Denver though!! I got the iced caramel latte both time 🙂
- Tomari’s (Morrison, CO) {Iced Machiatto}
- Ziggi’s Coffee (Hudson, CO) {Iced Caramel Latte w/ extra shot}
WHAT TO EAT
We honestly didn’t eat out a ton since we weren’t there for more than a couple of days! But the places that we did choose to eat did not disappoint! The first restaurant we went to was the 5280 Burger Bar in downtown Denver and you HAVE to get the fried pickles if you go! They were the best fried pickles I’ve seriously ever had. I also got the strawberry salad and toasted marshmallow icecream at the icecream shop connected to the burger bar! Nathan got a super spicy burger – he always likes to do the ‘hot food’ challenges lol — no thanks!!
The next day we ate at the Rooftop Tavern in Morrison, CO and it was so fun! It’s literally on a rooftop! We got a Hawaiian pizza, cheesy garlic bread, and chicken quesadilla – we were reallllly healthy this day! lol! Everything was good!!
This same day we went to the CUTEST little crepe truck in Evergreen! If you are in this area, the Oh Crepe Truck is a MUST!! I would go before 1 in the afternoon because they sell out of ingredients really quickly! Here we had the ‘Lovesick’ crepe that was made with strawberries, whipped cream, and dark chocolate….it was so yummy!
- 5280 Burger Bar (Downtown Denver {Fried Pickles, Strawberry Salad, Marshmallow Icecream}
- Rooftop Tavern (Morrison, CO) {Hawaiian Pizza & Cheesy Garlic Bread}
- Oh Crepe Truck (Evergreen, CO) { ‘Lovesick’ Strawberry Cream Crepe }
ACTIVITIES + WHAT TO DO
I’m sure there are far more things to do than I will put on the list, but I’m only going to list the things that we actually did!!
The first night we walked the streets of downtown Denver, which was fun, but we were really ready to get to the mountains in the morning!! We are definitely more ‘outdoorsy’ people than city people!
After waking up and heading into the mountains, we grabbed a cup of coffee & headed to Mount Falcon Park – this is a park that has a trail that leads up to an old historic castle! It was so beautiful & a very easy hike.
We then went to Morrison to eat lunch & it’s such a cute little town! It’s definitely worth exploring before heading to Red Rocks 🙂 I would say this was my favorite stop of our trip! There are tons of trails and you can actually go up into the amphitheater, which is beautiful. If you go all the way up to the top, you’ll find a museum with all of the history of the amphitheater & there is a restaurant!! We were kind of kicking ourselves for not knowing this, because it’s only open until 2:30PM! Keep that in mind when you’re up there 🙂
After exploring Red Rocks, we went to downtown Evergreen, about 20 minutes away, and had our crepe while exploring all of the cute shops around the town!! Definitely somewhere you could spend a couple of hours exploring.
If you’re in the area in the summertime, there is a little town called ‘Tinytown’ that’s the world’s largest tiny town – literally!
We stayed in Golden that night before Nathan’s race and went to the outlet mall there, which actually turned out to be the biggest mall we had ever been to!! Lol there is literally anything and everything for you to shop for – it’s even connected to a Target!
The main reason we were really in Colorado was because of Nathan’s race 🙂 it was honestly so fun to be there around locals!! They made the event super enjoyable and something we would love to do all over again!
- Explore Downtown Denver restaurants, shopping, events, etc.
- Visit & hike around Red Rocks (trails, restaurant, amphitheater)
- Hike around Mount Falcon Park
- Walk around historic downtown Evergreen & hike
- Visit Tinytown (right by Tomari’s coffee shop)
- Shop around the Golden, CO outlet malls (HUGE mall!!)
- Sign up for a 5K or 10K 😉
Hope this helps you on your next adventure!!
