We visited Denver in May 2016 during Big Trip #1. Read about our second visit in 2018 during Big Trip #2, and third in 2020 during Big Trip #3.

We have intentionally skipped big cities on this trip, but we made an exception to see some friends in Denver, and had a blast. I love Denver, can see myself living there. It is full of neighborhoods with distinct character, with parks sprinkled everywhere around town, and it’s big enough to have lots going on but small enough to feel manageable (except for the big-city traffic). And, obviously, the mountains are right there.

We actually stayed in the Airstream while in the city, in order to keep an eye on it, as we weren’t sure if anyone would try to mess with it or try to tow it. Boondocking works on a street as well as in the woods–we had the solar panels for power, and filled the fresh water tank before leaving Buena Vista. We parked on a quiet side street near our friends’ house and nobody seemed to mind (we kept the curtains drawn and tried not to advertise that we were living there)–and we thought it was hilarious each time we saw it sitting there. So that was fun.

A couple days later, we returned for a night to pick up a delayed shipment we’d had sent to our friends’ place, but to avoid driving extra miles with the Airstream as we backtracked, we left it overnight north of the city in a campground storage area for $10. Great deal!

I won’t share our entire itinerary, but here are some of the things we enjoyed during our two visits to Denver. I would recommend any of the food and drink below, and you can read J’s Denver beer thoughts here.

Really good dinner outside at Tag, served with top-notch people-watching on hipster Larimer Square

A drink at a super-chic speakeasy, Green Russel, which doesn’t advertise its location, and is fronted by a fake pie shop

Late-night box of 900 donuts at Voodoo Donuts

Breakfast at Four Friends Kitchen

Attempted visit to Red Rocks—they were closing it for an event as we walked up

Beer at Station 26 Brewing Co. and tasty pizza from the visiting food truck of the day

Beer at Crooked Stave Artisans in the Source artisan food market, where we watched the Kentucky Derby

Rainy-day Indian delivery from Little India

Breakfast at Olive and Finch

Lunch and a beer at a brewery in Boulder, on the way back to Denver (we also strolled Boulder’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall, and much prefer Charlottesville’s longer, less chainy Downtown Mall)

More beer at Cerebral Brewing Co

Excellent Ethiopian feast at Nile

Recovery and refueling breakfast at the fun, funky, retro Snooze