Hard to say without knowing your interests, but I’ve found denver.org helpful in the past. Westword.com is the “local scene” weekly.

@kevbo awesome.. thanks! :)

the Tattered Cover Book Store in lower downtown.

I also highly recommend spending at least one afternoon strolling through Boulder and the many shops.

@mcbealer It sucks since it moved. Now it’s just a place where you can go when you aren’t feeling that the world sucks enough.

I don’t know if you’re interested most in museum/tourist things (that the locals haven’t seen), outdoor stuff, or local stuff, but here are some things:

-Le Central. It’s at 8th and Lincoln in Capitol Hill. French food, but without french prices. They’re known for their $10 mussels that they have every day, as well as their deserts (I recommend the creme brule or the chocolate mousse – they’re both the best I’ve ever had). If you’re going on a Friday or Saturday I’d make reservations a day before. http://www.lecentral.com/

-The Denver Center of Preforming Arts is good for if you want to take in a show. The Buell has all the Broadway shows, but the acting troupe in the Ricketson/Space/Stage/Jones theatres is seriously phenomenal.

-Go up to the moutains for a day. Vail is really nice and great for tourists (it’s about a 2 hour drive from Denver) and Winter Park has the alpine slide and the giant hay maze http://www.winterpark-info.com/index.aspx?sectionDirectory=members&memberID=1449 Or stay up there for a couple days.

-Boulder does have the Pearl Street Mall. It’s awesome (note, we made medical marijuana really big here last year and there are now dispensaries EVERYWHERE, so there’s a really good chance you’ll get high from second-hand pot smoke. The cops will join you, not arrest you.)

-Casa Bonita (yes, it really exists. And yes, it’s exactly like it is in South Park.)

-Cherry Creek North has some great botique shopping

-Denver Botanic Gardens http://www.botanicgardens.org/

- The US Mint http://www.usmint.gov/

rocky mountain state park…..in estes…rent a car. Mountains.

i love Boulder

Alamosa and the Sand Dunes, The Royal Gorge bridge, Estes Park where the Stanley hotel is, Glenwood Springs the Glenwood caverns and hot spring, Golden the Coors Factory, Boulder and the Celestial Seasonings Factory

If you’re in a car anyway, and you like outdoorsy stuff go to The Garden of the Gods.

Gorgeous rock formations, great location. It’s closer to Colorado Springs but still not that far.

And in CS there’s also the Air Force Academy if you dig architecture or military stuff.

I second Rocky Mountain National Park. Do the Bear Lake Trail it is easy and gorgeous and will give you all the flavor of the Mountains in an easy to hike trail. If you are a flatlander, save the mountain trip to the end of your visit to allow your body to acclimate to the altitudes.

I would also head over to the Garden of the Gods south of Denver or over to Red Rock to see that amphitheater. Central XCity and Blackhawk are neat old mining towns….a bit touristy now and gambling towns too but interesting none the less.

I second Rocky Mountain National Park. Love sky pond :)

Find out where Wolf Creek Canyon is. I don’t recall but it’s so gorgeous (like Cuchara) you can hardly believe your eyes. Go trout fishing up the Big Thompson Canyon and walk barefoot in the freezing creeks. This brings back such happy memories. No trip to Colorado is complete without seeing Estes Park. You can hop a ride at the Narrow Gauge railroad – how do u spell gauge? When you come to an area where you can rent a cabin, do so.
Rent a small cabin that has a wood burning cookstove-they used to supply the wood, pots and pans, etc-be prepared to be starving! Sit outside and smell the pine trees blowing in the breeze, relax with a blanket wrapped around you. Living there I think was my awakening to the glories of Nature. AFTER you do some or all these things, THEN you can go to a mall. A mall?? Who thinks of malls in Colorado?

All phenomenal suggestions… thanks everyone :)

Where all will you be in Colorado? Just in the Denver area? If so then someone already suggested the Tattered Cover book store but definitely go there, it’s really cool. And FOR SURE make time to go to Casa Bonita, it’s the most badass Mexican restaurant ever and it’s even been on South Park, lol. The food is subpar but the experience is why you go, not the food. I don’t spend a lot of time in Denver because everything I need is right here in Boulder. There are always a million good shows going on in both places if you’re into music. Definitely at least spend a day or two in Boulder though. It’s really beautiful and it’s right up against the mountains unlike Denver. Literally if you drive 2 minutes west out of Boulder you are in the mountains. It’s breathtaking.

I also suggest Estes Park which is right outside Rocky Mountain NP and both are breathtaking. Hell, the drive there is breathtaking as well. Really you can’t go wrong in Colorado, just don’t head too far east or it turns into Kansas and it’s boooooring.

Oh! Yeah! The Sand Dunes! And if you’re in the southwest corner, STOP IN TELLURIDE, PLEASE, IT’S THE MOST GORGEOUS CUTEST TOWN EVER

@deni we will be spending one week in Denver (my relatives live downtown) and then one week “traveling down the west side of the state”... whatever that means exactly, I’m not sure. lol. I think the second week of our trip is sort of preplanned for us. :)

Coyote Ugly in Downtown Denver :)

Buckhorn Exchange, Denver’s oldest steakhouse.

Add another vote for Rocky Mountain National Park. I used to live near it, and would go almost once a week. It’s an amazing place to camp, view wildlife, and do some photography. It’s my #1 recommendation for must see things in Colorado.

Added :) Thanks again everyone, these were great suggestions.

oh i have to add in—you must eat at a breakfast place called Lucile’s. It’s a “Creole Cafe”...there is one in Denver and one in Boulder. Maybe one somewhere else too. The one in Denver has killer bloody mary’s and the foot is UNREAL. best biscuits in the world.

@deni that sounds fantastic, I am really looking forward to eating out while we’re on vacation. We don’t have much variety here… it’s predominantly Italian eateries. Not that it’s bad, but, it will be nice to be able to mix it up when dining out.

Also, apparently the relative I’m staying with lives about a block away from Tattered Cover, so that one is definitely in. Also, we are going to be spending some time in Boulder… all in all this has been an extremely helpful group of answers. I just can’t say thanks enough to everyone!