I love to travel, but, like, what else is new?!
And this year, we chose Denver, Colorado!!
My husband had visited once before, but I had never been and had no idea what to expect. Now that I’m home looking back on my vacation, it’s safe to say that Denver was an absolute blast and I cannot wait to return! Our trip was packed with loads of walking, shopping, and eating, but looking back on our trip, these are the five places I would recommend to anyone making the trip!
- Denver Botanic Gardens
I’m listing the Denver Botanic Gardens as #1 on my list because it was a collective favorite among each person in our group AND it was a short Uber ride from our Airbnb.
There happened to be a wedding at the gardens which took up two sections; however, even with some of the sections closed off, we were still there for HOURS just walking around and taking photos. We went closer to sunset which made the flowers and atmosphere look amazing!
This is one location I will recommend to my parents because I can picture them staying the entire day. If you love gardens with different types of flowers and sceneries, then I cannot recommend the Denver Botanic Gardens enough!! Just look at these photos!!
2. Golden Gate Canyon State Park (Raccoon Trail)
I highly debated making this my #1 choice of things to do in Denver, but it was an hour drive outside of the city and may not be an easy drive for some. But if you can make the trip out to Golden Gate Canyon State Park and hike the Raccoon Trail, then you totally should!!
We got SO lucky choosing our weekend to visit. Not only was the weather a cool 79°F, but the aspen trees were also changing into a beautiful gold making our hike absolutely breathtaking!! This was a popular hike with many groups out on the trail, but it makes total sense considering it was a moderate, 4.4-mile hike with views that could make you shed one single tear – it’s THAT gorgeous.
I think we all enjoyed the hike because we took our time, drank SO MUCH water, and stopped whenever we needed to. Honestly, just listen to your body. When you’re tired, take a break. Even if you don’t want to drink more water just drink it and make sure to fuel your body with foods that will fill you up and give you energy. Our group went to the local grocery store to get the makings of a sandwich and cliff bars. Once we were heading down the mountain, we stopped at a bench to make our sandwiches and it was a great hike with no one in our group fainting or getting hurt.
I’m sure my hiking tips sound like a mom going overboard, but I promise you I’m not. That change in altitude is real and can give you a splitting headache if you don’t fuel your body with the nutrients it needs.
To convince you to hike Raccoon Trail here are our photos from the hike!!
3. Scooters & Looking at Denver Homes
This may seem silly at first, but riding around on scooters looking at the front yards of Denver homes was really enjoyable. Riding around on scooters was around the same price as an Uber, but you get to see more of what the city really has to offer and it’s WAY MORE FUN!
Living in Florida, we have HOA’s that control what our homes look like, which means we really can’t have anything in our front yards and our homes are described as “cookie-cutter” (AKA boring!) & that’s that one thing I noticed while scooting around town; Denver homes have such character!
Each home is different and most have cute little gardens in their front yards so they can live a more sustainable lifestyle. I’m seriously obsessed with this about Denver and I probably looked crazy taking photos of people’s homes, but come on!
4. Union Station
Everyone in Denver suggested we visit Union Station, the former train station turned restaurant hub. We ended up eating at Next Door: American Eatery which was AMAZING! This place had great food and a nice outdoor seating area that I fell in love with (it was also nice and cool out). I really enjoyed this seating area because we had great views of the fountain park-thing that kids can run through and play in. Although I loved spending time at Union Station, we didn’t spend as much time as we could have, so I’ll leave the review for you 😉
5. Green Russell
After dinner, it was time to grab some adult beverages and we had a wonderful drinking experience at a speakeasy nearby called Green Russell.
I’m not a huge fan of drinking alcohol, but this speakeasy was different because it had one thing on its menu that’s truly customizable: The Bartender’s Choice. This also ended up being the drink our whole table ordered except one person because he wanted to sip on a classic Old Fashioned.
The Bartender’s Choice is basically you talking to your bartender (they walk up to your table) about your taste preferences. The first and really only thing you need to decide is the alcoholic base of your drink.
For example, I told our amazingly talented bartender that I don’t like drinking or the taste of alcohol. I continued to tell our bartender that I also prefer sweet and fruity drinks so he couldn’t go wrong there. He took those small details about my taste likings and created such a delicious drink!
My drink had a vodka base (of course) with Elderberry and lavender with a spritz of water to give the very top of the drink a glassy look. & the crazy thing is, I actually loved the drink! I loved it so much I actually finished the whole thing. Usually, I’ll take a few sips and be done, but I downed it!!
Every single person in our group loved their drinks and this speakeasy was such a great end to the evening out with friends. But fair warning, the drinks are around $15 and may not be in everyone’s budget. There are other speakeasies throughout Denver (we didn’t visit them though so I don’t know their prices), but this was the one closest to the Next Door restaurant.
& those were the five highlights from our birthday trip to Denver, CO!
We spent three full days there and I can’t wait to return. I love the mountains, nature, city, and the character of it all. I believe Denver has a variety of activities to satisfy anyone because of its both city and nature.
Have you been to Denver before? What was your favorite thing to do while visiting?
A Simple Wildflower 
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