So just booked a trip to Denver in December for my girlfriend and me. We get in around 8pm on the 26th and leave early afternoon on the 31st. We were gonna go to Gatlinburg but decided we'd rather see real mountains and snow.

The Denver Museum is pretty cool,
This place https://www.facebook.com/BuckhornExchange/ used to have great food. Haven't been there in years though. A drive to Golden and tour Coors.
Drive west on I70 to get to the snow.

Are you interested in getting out of town? Whether skiing or not, the ‘real mountains’ are not far away. You could even go in the one of the hot springs up in the hills, something different.


http://www.colorado.com/articl...-springs-quick-guide

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Originally posted by farman:
The Denver Museum is pretty cool,
This place https://www.facebook.com/BuckhornExchange/ used to have great food. Haven't been there in years though. A drive to Golden and tour Coors.
Drive west on I70 to get to the snow.

Skip Coors. Hit the Spyderco outlet in Golden. Get a frosty or two (or a growler to go) at Golden City Brewery (foot of hill of Colorodo School of Mines). Drive west on Rt 6 out of Golden to hit I-70 for beautiful sights / canyons. Visit an old gold mine, if that is interesting. Ski at Loveland (above the Eisenhower Tunnel) or better yet, turn off on Rt 6 at Loveland, and take it up over the Continental Divide and take in the sights. Ski at Arapahoe Basin. Loveland and Arapahoe are the closest to Denver, and probably the least trendy, as neither has on-slope condos. Go to Keystone if you want that. Rent your ski gear on-line at Christy Sports, no need to drag it through the airports. Get a place for the night on airbnb or similar in Keystone. Eat breakfast at the Haywood Cafe in Keystone. Do not miss the bacon Bloody Mary.

There's always Leadville but that's only a couple of hour visit and maybe not all that interesting in the winter.

There were some suggestions is this thread:

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...100036034#6100036034

The last time I was in that area, I got tired of skiing and just drove around exploring the mountains and took my time taking photographs. The place is interesting and beautiful.

If you do end up going to Coors, it's more for the tour than the beer. Unless if you like Coors products, lol. The tour is very informative and pretty neat to see such a large operation. It can be busy and isn't also going every day so plan ahead. Bob's Atomic Burgers across the street is quite good. Try the onion pedals if you like onions rings. Denver is home to a lot of great breweries if you like beer. Kind of depends on the type of beer you like but some googling can give you ideas.

Good ideas on getting up to US6 by Loveland/A-basin. That's an easy, beautiful drive. Skiing is closest there too, as mentioned. Winter Park is a nice area to check out and only 1.5 hrs from Denver. You can also take I70 to Breckenridge and you can then take (9 I believe) back over to US285 and come back to Denver via Kenosha Pass. Be careful if you go to certain mountain destinations, as some passes may be closed.

A trip down to the Springs to see Garden of the Gods and the area might be worth it. Beautiful sights to be seen, and quite unique. We have a impressive geological history here and if you like earth sciences/dinos/fossils. There's some incredible things near Denver, and also we have the Florissant Fossil Beds West of Colorado Springs.

We've really gotten a nice dining scene to develop in Denver metro. I live in Littleton and we have a great selection of local places nearby. I'm not into chains. Depending on what you like I might be able to make some suggestions, though I don't get into downtown all the often.

If you do stop off by Keystone, there's a few places I like too. The Hayward Café is ok. I personally like the Mountain Lyon Café in Silverthorne better. The Dillon Dam brewery has decent food for a brewery and often has live music. We try to stop in there when we're in the area. The beer is decent. Not my favorite brewery but by mountain dining standards it's pretty solid.

Vail is also a great spot with lots of nice things in close proximity. We spent a week there this summer and had a blast. You can walk around the base area and have lots to do if you don't end up skiing or get tired. Vail is also lower elevation than some of the other resorts.

Butterfly museum if it’s still there… Remarkable

I'd skip Vail, unless you have a very fat wallet. If you want to drive further up into the mountains, I'd head up to Steamboat Springs, after you checkout the Silverthorne area near Keystone. You'll see lots more of Colorado that way. Or, drive to Glenwood Springs and enjoy the pool and hot-springs there. Have a great time!

Assume you’ll have a rental car, if you want to see snow and mountains; people forget that Denver used to be called “The Queen City of the Plains.” Looks like your trip spans the week days and doesn’t include a weekend, so you might be OK driving west on I-70. Personally, I’d drive out U.S. Hwy 285. I think it’s a prettier drive, traffic is always less, and it goes to some nice towns. Breakfast in Bailey, maybe lunch just off 285 in Buena Vista—stay the night there. The Collegiate Peaks follow the Arkansas River Valley in this area; several 14ers. Not as pricey as a ski town, yet moneyed-up enough to have some nice places to stay and eat. More like Colorado used to be. It’s changing fast too though.

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Or, drive to Glenwood Springs and enjoy the pool and hot-springs there. Have a great time!

This is what I would do if I had one day.

I say take the cog railroad up to Pikes Peak, or drive if the weather is okay. When I was there we drove to Arches National Park in Utah, but it is pretty out of the way.

Get an early start and set aside a day for Rocky Mountain National Park.

If your gf is into it, afternoon tea at the Brown Palace in downtown Denver might be fun. The Brown Palace is a grand old hotel and should still be decorated for Christmas.