What should I do during my three days in Denver?

Right up my alley :) I was born and raised there. What do you like to do?

Oh, yeah! Um, I would like to check out a museum (I can carve out an afternoon, maybe), have a nice dinner, maybe do some shopping. My hotel is on 19th. That’s right in the middle of things, no?

The Denver Museum of Natural History is always good. There’s the Botanical Gardens, the art museum. and if you’re looking for a good dinner the 16th street mall is always a good bet.

Just say LoDo.

Then grab a cab and do the Coors (free) tour.

@FGS, thanks so much! The Botanical Gardens sound excellent. Especially at this time of year. I’ll look it up.

What kind of food do you like?
If you’re into museums, there’s the “new” art museum (the architecture is better than the art, IMHO) and there’s also the new modern art museum.
Denver also has some great bike trails and lots of places to rent bikes.
Where’s your hotel? 19th and what?

@Likeradar, I love Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indian. Okay, I really love most ethnic foods. I’d like to try a few different places, too, since I’ll be there for a while.

I’m not sure about my hotel. I left the info in my office. I’m terribly unorganized, here.

I’d love to rent bikes or go hiking, but I think the colleague accompanying me isn’t so much into the physical activities….great idea, though.

You can always head up to Red Rocks and see the amphitheater and the dinosaur tracks and other fossils

Mostly available at night? It limits a lot, because the zoo and the museums are world class. See if there are night hours available? The shopping at the Pavillions might be enjoyable, if you like that sort of thing. The Comdey Works in Larimer Square is well known for delightful entertainment. You will probably have to hire a cab to get to the best places, unless you have transport available at your lodging.

@FGS without a car, Red Rocks would be pretty difficult.
@yarnlady Pavillions are decent shopping, but if you really want a taste of Denver, try taking a cab to south Pearl St and have dinner at Sushi Den while you’re there (make a reservation.)

Great restaurants you can look up to see what style/price/etc- suits you- Parallel 17, BD’s Mongolian BBQ (might be a chain?), Hapa Sushi, Sushi Den, Bistro Vendome, the Rio Grande (kick ass margaritas, ok food).
Pick up a Westword while you’re here to see the goings-on around town. Check out the Fillmore, Paramount, Bluebird, Gothic,and Ogden to see if any good shows are going on if you like live music.

@all, thanks so much! I’m looking forward to this! Except for the snow showers, ugh.

@Likeradar She must check out Casa Bonita…just for the pure goofiness of it

@FGS Totally! The food is awful, the drinks are weak, but the place is pure, unsaturated craptasticness.

and bummer the weather is gonna suck.

If you are an adventurous eater, Denver has some very good restaurants that serve buffalo and game. Buckhorn Exchange should be accessible without a car. Another interesting place is The Fort but that is not right in town.

@Marina, ha! I’m actually from Montana, so I’ve eaten buffalo and game pretty regularly. (Ex boyfriend was a hunter, so I ate game too regularly. :)

Oh, it’s online- http://www.westword.com/ There’s even a calendar. What kind of stuff do you like to do?

@Likeradar, thanks for the great link. Live music would be awesome: indie, rock, or folk. I’m sure I’ll find plenty to choose from. :)

It’s suppose to snow here soon. Maybe you could enjoy that with us : )

Where will you be staying? If you’re out by University of Denver, check out Jerusalem Cafe. This might be my favorite restaurant ever.

If you’re downtown, be sure to visit the Wynkoop Brewery. The good people of Denver like the place so much, they elected the founder mayor.

If you have the chance to take the B bus up to Boulder, it’s absolutely worth the trip to go hang out downtown, and hike around Chatauqua.

@willbrawn, that’s what I saw online! Yikes! I guess I’ll be bringing my winter coat.

@Mamradpivo: great answer, there is a lot to enjoy there.

I’d go back to the observatory about an hour and a half away; recall there is a road that takes you up to about 14,000 feet to an observatory-awesome views.

I just moved here. Just check out downtown. 16th Street. The museums, Coyote Ugly. Check out Coors Field and the Brewerys, yumm.

Sorry, about no vehicles, I guess the observatory is out of the question, and Coors Field is out of the question, then I would get a good meal from a restaurant that appealed to me.

Get together with a bunch of other attendees, and choose what the group will do, based on their many choices.

@Garebo Coors is in walking or cheap cab distance of pretty much anywhere that could be considered Downtown. Most of the really cool things to see if you don’t live around here (Red Rocks, Garden of the Gods, hiking Horsetooth…) are sadly too far.

Go to the REI downtown and test-ride a bike through Confluence Park. They have an outdoor mountain bike track and they’ll let you ride along the river, which is cooler than it sounds. If it’s not cold, you can kayak in Confluence too.

If you’d like a quite place to chill during your stay check out The Tattered Book Cover.
They have 2 locations in the Denver area.

*quiet

Get drunk and ride around on the lightrail. Way too much fun if you ask me.

@chelseababyy so that’s what you do in your free time.

@willbrawn You know it :D

Just wanted to tell you guys: I’m in Denver and loving it. (Especially now that “Blizzard 2009” has passed. We flew in on Thursday and it was horrible; there was only one runway open in Denver.)

Anyway, what an exciting city! I wish I had more time, here.

@juniper Thanks for the update! What have you been doing?

@juniper ~ cool! please say hello to the Rockies for me!
hope you’re taking lots of pictures :)