Spending the day in Denver

[MiRider]

Going CHI - DEN in April and will be spending the day only.

It's a 12 hour layover (approx. 7:30am - 7:30pm) and, besides shopping and eating, I'd like to do something a bit more interesting.

TIA

 

[yarrow]

the denver art museum is one of the best we have been to. it would be first on my list. the state capitol building is fun and free. be sure to see the 5280 foot marker on the front steps. you can go up into the dome on a tour. wise to reserve in advance but whenever we have been there open spots for walk ups were available. you can tour the mint but definitely must reserve in advance. go to the us mint website if you are interested

 

[Bob Dylan]

:hi: Hopefully Spring will have Sprung and Winter will be over! If you like Baseball, Coors Field is right next to the Temporary Amtrak Station and even if the Rockies arent playing they have tours of the Stadium that are fun! (not sure what they charge now???) As was said, the Capitol Building is fun! Be sure and visit the Historic Brown Hotel also, worth a free look! The Temporary Amtrak Station is across the Street from the Platform and Tracks (Watch out for Traffic!Dangerous Drivers in the Mile High City! ), but it is a Full Service Station with Checked Baggage,Clean Restrooms Friendly Agents and Vending Machines! ^_^

There are lots of Cafes and Resturants around the Area, it has become Very Trendy with Lofts/Condos,Clubs and Pubs etc. Remember Denver is a Mile High so Adult Beverages Pack More Punch! :giggle:

 

[the_traveler]

When I was in DEN a few years ago for the daytime layover, I took a Grey Line tour of the area! I saw many areas that I would not otherwise have seen or known about (including many outside the city - like Buffalo Bill's grave site - I think he invented Buffalo Wings

), and they brought me back to the station with plenty of time to spare!

 

[guest]

I concur with the Yarrow post. The Denver Art Museum is fantastic, with a collection of art of the west that you will see nowhere else! The building is also stunning architecturally. And it's only two blocks from the State Capitol, another beautiful building where the tours (whether dome or non-dome) give you a great sense of the area's history and culture. And the Capitol is free!

The mint is not worth the hassle of the horrific security procedures, which make airport TSA requirements seem like child's play. Skip it and walk around the area south of Union Station where the ballpark and lots or renovated turn-of-the-century buildings are located. There's also a great bookshop, the Tattered Cover, in that area and well worth some time browsing!

As for the Traveler, me suspects he was "Buffaloed" while in Denver! :giggle: :unsure:

 

[MiRider]

Thanks guys!

Sounds like I'll have a good time.

It looks like public transportation is good too and that I'll be able to get around easily.

Jim, thanks for the station info.

I'll need to check my bag or put it in a locker so I can be hands free for my day of fun.

The 'trendy' LoDo area sounds like it's right up my alley.

Yarrow and *guest*, I'm going to put the DAM and the Capitol on my list, but I'm definitely not going through any security for a tour of the mint.

Traveler, I like the idea of the tour. I checked it out and it looks like there's a 3 hour one.

I'd love to hear anything else anyone has to add

 

[Golden grrl]

The Denver Art Museum is fantastic, with a collection of art of the west that you will see nowhere else! The building is also stunning architecturally. And it's only two blocks from the State Capitol, another beautiful building where the tours (whether dome or non-dome) give you a great sense of the area's history and culture. And the Capitol is free!

And right next to the Art Museum is the Denver Public Library (10 West Fourteenth Avenue Parkway Denver, CO 80204), with its Western History Collection of books, manuscripts, maps, and artifacts, including a railroad collection. You can see a hint of the photographs in the collection, but more is available at the Library on the 5th floor - and that is all offered at the great price of FREE. Back on a visit in the 1980s, I found a Union Pacific traveler's and settler's guide to the route between Chicago and Cheyenne, Wyoming, published about 1869.

When I lived in the area, it was easy for me to combine walking and the free 16th Street Mall bus to get from both the old Union Station and the new temporary Amtrak station on one end, to the Civic Center Station [bus] on the other end of the Mall. From the bus station, it is a pretty walk through Civic Center Park to the Museum, Capitol, and Library buildings.

HOWEVER, you need to remember that at the mile-high elevation, you won't have quite so much oxygen to breath, so you'll get tired sooner than you normally do. And you'll tire sooner than a resident, who is acclimated, would. You may get a headache if you overexert. Plan your day accordingly.

And you need to remember that the air is dry, so you will need to hydrate by drinking a lot of fluids during your day in the city. Alcoholic drinks dry you out, and can make you much more tipsy than you expect at lower eleveations. Despite that, most Denverites would recommend Wynkoop's, which is on a corner [1634 18th Street ] near the old Union Station, as a pleasant watering hole. Wynkoop's is Denver's oldest brew pub, founded about 1988 by the current governor of Colorado and his partners.

Watch weather forecasts carefully. In April, you might enjoy 70+ sunshine; snow and strong wind is equally possible. On sunny days (most days), the daytime temperature can vary 40 degrees from the overnight temperature.

 

[Texan Eagle]

I don't know if this would interest "normal" people (it did interest me since I am an aviation buff), and also how easy or difficult it is to reach there, but if you have the time and interest, Denver International Airport has beautiful architecture, compared to drab monotonous structures other cities' airports are, and I believe it is possible to go past the check-in counters into the huge concourse with gigantic canopies that has eateries etc even if you do not have an airline ticket since the security checkpoint is halfway inside the concourse. This is the concourse area I am talking about-

(Photo "stolen" from Google Image search. Originally belongs to visitingdc.com)

 

[lthanlon]

For a cheap tour of the city, just climb on one of the light rail lines, go to the end of the line and then come back. I know a couple terminate at Union Station, though you should check and see if station stops have been moved due to construction. Others intersect the 16th Street Mall.

There's a free shuttle up and down the 16th Street Mall, which you can board within a couple blocks of the old Union Station. The shuttle's eastern terminus is a few minutes' walk from the Civic Center, State Capitol and Denver Art Museum.

Keep in mind that these areas tend to attract homeless people, bums, idle teens and hustlers. They're all mostly harmless, but keep your wits about you and don't buy any of their well-rehearsed stories about needing X amount of money for a bus ticket home.

The Colorado Railroad Museum, located west of town at 17155 W. 44th Ave. in Golden, is a fun place to visit. The No. 17 RTD Jeffco bus goes past it. Getting out there would be a nice tour. Looks like you'd start downtown on either the No. 38 or No. 44 westbound bus, then transfer to the No. 17 at the Wheat Ridge Walmart parking lot.

Here's a photo I took at the railroad museum:

You can plan the trip on the RTD website. The key issue would be timing, since these buses might not run all that frequently.

 

[Golden grrl]

The Colorado Railroad Museum, located west of town at 17155 W. 44th Ave. in Golden, is a fun place to visit. The No. 17 RTD Jeffco bus goes past it. Getting out there would be a nice tour. Looks like you'd start downtown on either the No. 38 or No. 44 westbound bus, then transfer to the No. 17 at the Wheat Ridge Walmart parking lot.

Take it from someone who has riden those 17, 38, and 44 buses frequently in Golden [note my name] - you have to allot at least an hour and a half for the trip. They are local buses and have circuitous routes with lots of stops. On the 17, one of the stops is at the Jeffco Courthouse [aka "the Taj Mahal"] and county jail. It is normal to have recently released individuals on the bus, people with not one but two electronic leg collars to track them. There also are frequent delays that mean that you miss the connections, and sometimes have to wait 90 minutes for the next bus.

If you want to check out the Denver airport, as another response suggested, your cheapest way is to use the RTD AF bus, which you can get at the Market Street Station on the 16th street mall. It is an hour ride to the airport, since they put it in Kansas when they got rid of the old Stapleton Airport in town. You have to either have an AF ticket, or else have the exact fare -it was $10 last year from downtown to the airport, but I think there was a fare increase in January to $11. It might be a bit cheaper if you buy a roundtrip ticket downstairs at the Market Street Station. You also need to get a schedule and keep track of departures from the airport back to town - at some times of day, the AF runs only once an hour.

A cab ride from downtown to the airport would run somewhere north of $70.

 

[railiner]

The Colorado Railroad Museum, located west of town at 17155 W. 44th Ave. in Golden, is a fun place to visit. The No. 17 RTD Jeffco bus goes past it. Getting out there would be a nice tour. Looks like you'd start downtown on either the No. 38 or No. 44 westbound bus, then transfer to the No. 17 at the Wheat Ridge Walmart parking lot.

Take it from someone who has riden those 17, 38, and 44 buses frequently in Golden [note my name] - you have to allot at least an hour and a half for the trip. They are local buses and have circuitous routes with lots of stops. On the 17, one of the stops is at the Jeffco Courthouse [aka "the Taj Mahal"] and county jail. It is normal to have recently released individuals on the bus, people with not one but two electronic leg collars to track them. There also are frequent delays that mean that you miss the connections, and sometimes have to wait 90 minutes for the next bus.

If you want to check out the Denver airport, as another response suggested, your cheapest way is to use the RTD AF bus, which you can get at the Market Street Station on the 16th street mall. It is an hour ride to the airport, since they put it in Kansas when they got rid of the old Stapleton Airport in town. You have to either have an AF ticket, or else have the exact fare -it was $10 last year from downtown to the airport, but I think there was a fare increase in January to $11. It might be a bit cheaper if you buy a roundtrip ticket downstairs at the Market Street Station. You also need to get a schedule and keep track of departures from the airport back to town - at some times of day, the AF runs only once an hour.

A cab ride from downtown to the airport would run somewhere north of $70.

Not worth the time or expense, IMHO to go to DIA, unless you are catching a flight...

I would recommend the Colorado Railroad Museum. It's been a long time since I was there, and I was pleasantly surprised to see from the linked photo above that they acquired what was probably the most photographed Diesel-electric locomotive in the world, D&RGW No. 5771, late of the Rio Grande Zephyr....

 

[PaulM]

For a cheap tour of the city, just climb on one of the light rail lines, go to the end of the line and then come back. I know a couple terminate at Union Station, though you should check and see if station stops have been moved due to construction. Others intersect the 16th Street Mall.

There's a free shuttle up and down the 16th Street Mall, which you can board within a couple blocks of the old Union Station. The shuttle's eastern terminus is a few minutes' walk from the Civic Center, State Capitol and Denver Art Museum.

Keep in mind that these areas tend to attract homeless people, bums, idle teens and hustlers. They're all mostly harmless, but keep your wits about you and don't buy any of their well-rehearsed stories about needing X amount of money for a bus ticket home.

The Union Station light rail terminus is about 4 blocks from the temporary station. It's easily walkable as long as you don't have a lot of luggage - nice wide sidewalks. It's best to get google map directions before trying it. The only problem with the light rail is that a lot of the most interesting things about Denver are close to the station. All 3 LR lines take you to the more boring parts of the metro area.

The closest Mall Shuttle stop is at the light rail station.

Unless you are the type of person who finds Amtrak coach passengers scary, I wouldn't worry. The area in question is very popular with regular people.

I doubt it would interest many, but with a whole day I would rent a bike and explore Denver's fantastic trail system. If you watch carefully as you approach the station and then make the backup move, you will cross over the Platte River Trail at least twice.

 

[lthanlon]

If you're an aviation enthusiast or conspiracy theorist, Denver International Airport might be of interest, but unless you're a ticketed passenger you won't be able to see much of it.

 

[MiRider]

Cool.... more great info and ideas

GG - thanks for those important tips, I didn't realize that the elevation could affect someone to that extent.

I'll probably avoid taking the #17, I'm not fond of men that wear obvious *jewelry*

Thanks for all of the other awesome info too.

TS - that pic is gorgeous and the info is appreciated but I probably won't take time out of my train vacation to visit an airport

lthanlon - I like the idea of riding the LR, I really enjoy DART when I'm in Dallas.

I'm planning on checking out the 16th street mall... sounds like a interesting diversion.

Yeah, street people are not something I'm looking forward to but, hey, I'm a native Chicagoan (in the city Chicagoan) so I still have my street chops.

CUS doesn't bother me at all and it's pretty bad around there.

Railiner - The CRM sounds like a good idea too.

PaulM - I always use Google street view when I'm visiting a new place and actually *walk* the route just to get an idea of what's in store.

Amtrak coach passengers scary? I AM an Amtrak coach passenger

The area sounds good to me - I found a walking tour itinerary and, you're right, most of the interesting sights are in the Union Station area.

 

[the_traveler]

Traveler, I like the idea of the tour. I checked it out and it looks like there's a 3 hour one.

Just be sure Gilligan and the Skipper are not aboard, and the van or bus is not "the Minnow"!

 

[Golden grrl]

The area sounds good to me - I found a walking tour itinerary and, you're right, most of the interesting sights are in the Union Station area.

I love the downtown Denver area, and could easily spend a day in the 16th Street Mall/Civic Center area. Compared with Chicago, you may be surprised by how small the Denver downtown is. Still, you won't go wrong if you decide to remain in the Mall area.

One other possible suggestion, if you like Public Transit and the mountains. There is a stop for the B regional RTD buses at 21st and Wewatta, practically outside the door of the temporary Amtrak station.

The B regionals' cost is $5 [exact change needed] each way, and the upgraded bus has comfy seats more like a Greyhound long distance bus. Lots of mountain views on the trip, which takes a bit under an hour along the DenverBoulder turnpike, and you end up in Boulder(!) The bus terminates at the Boulder transit center at 14th Street and Walnut in Boulder. From there, if you want to connect to the local bus system, you can ride all around that town- see http://www.bouldercolorado.gov for bus and other transit options there.

There really nothing quite like Boulder, you could spend hours touring there. Lots of unusual architecture. Museums, too. And University of Colorado at Boulder. Great coffee and brewpubs, too.

 

[Golden grrl]

I doubt it would interest many, but with a whole day I would rent a bike and explore Denver's fantastic trail system. If you watch carefully as you approach the station and then make the backup move, you will cross over the Platte River Trail at least twice.

Some biking caveats. I'm writing this for future reference, not really for the Original Poster.

Many visitors don't realize that riding a bike [or skateboard] is not allowed on the 16th Street mall. I've seen Mall Cops issue tickets many days when I've been on the free Mall trolley. If you have a bike, you can easily divert one block and ride legally.

As in many cities, RTD buses do have bike racks; only a couple of bikes can be accomodated on each bus. You can borrow a street bike at 19th and Wynkoop near the light rail station. See http://denver.bcycle.com/ for info.

The Platte River Trail is scenic in spots, but very busy in the downtown area. If you are unfamiliar with the path, and gazing at the sights, you are likely to get run over by the professional bikers. Since we always were on a tandem mountain bike, we needed lots of room for turns (it's like driving a truck-"this vehicle makes wide turns"), so we preferred less traveled paths. One of my favorite ones was the Ralston trail, which follows Ralston Creek (where the first gold nugget was found, ultimately leading to the Pike's Peak Gold Rush) and passes through Arvada's city parks and neighborhoods. It's one of the less hilly trails, a significant factor for those not yet acclimated to elevation. You can read more at http://arvada.org/ar...reation/trails/

Many locals would suggest the Clear Creek trail, with a stop in Golden at one of the coffee shops, a regular outing for local bicyclists. However, I do not recommend the scenic Clear Creek trail towards Golden - the climb would be impossible for someone coming from a lower elevation - but the coast down from Golden is lots of fun, if you like speed. With our tandem, we could pass the cars on the nearby highway, if we chose to ignore the posted speed limits. Check your brakes before attempting that downhill screamer - deer and other wildlife are not unusual sights on the trail.

No matter where you ride around Denver, be sure to carry at least one water bottle. You WILL need the hydration.

 

[AG1]

Denver Zoo

 

[Opiatephoto]

If you'd really like to get the low down on LoDo (Lower downtown) I'd take this afternoon/evening walking tour It's given my a local history professor and involves appetizers at some of the coolest bars in town, including the Cruise Room. It gives the history of Denver when it was the wild west, hits locations of opium dens and brothels, shows a speakeasy's location in the Oxford Hotel, and has numerous interesting stories about the corruption of politics in Denver (hit: not much has changed).

I'd also second the Zoo for a nice day.

 

[Golden grrl]

Denver Zoo

Great recommendation, I've always loved the bird house at the Zoo. Using Public Transit, you can ride a #32 or #20 bus there. #32 can be faster; in my opinion, you get to see more interesting buildings via the more direct (but with more frequent stops) #20 bus. The #20 bus usually has fewer riders; either can be standing room only in downtown area during commute hours.

Another interesting place to spend a whole day is also available by public transit. I love the Denver Museum of Nature and History, at 2001 Colorado Boulevard at Cheesman Park. The park itself is beautiful in the spring. Using a #6 or #10 bus, it will take about a half-hour to ride there. They've been involved in excavating the Snow Mastodons and have a new publication about the project coming out in March, I think. The mastodons were found frozen in the sediments by an alert construction worker digging for the Zeigler reservoir extension in the High Country at Snowmass Village; researchers had to work quickly to excavate all that they could before winter and the new construction season the next spring. They found over 5,000 fossils of Ice-Age animals. Read a long story about the Snowmass Mastodon find .

 

[MiRider]

Thanks GG, RRR, and Ophoto - so much to think about!

The Boulder option sounds great but I think I'll stay in town this trip (my first) and, if all goes well, come back and stay overnight some time and do a lot more.

I want to pack in as much as possible and get a good grasp on the Denver vibe - this is going to be a fun day.

Anyone want to chime in on favorite restaurants, especially those worth making a destination?

Traveler... thanks for the giggle.

I wish we had a *like* option for posts.

You guys have been awesome, thanks again!

 

[railiner]

If you're an aviation enthusiast or conspiracy theorist, Denver International Airport might be of interest, but unless you're a ticketed passenger you won't be able to see much of it.

The old Stapleton International Airport at Denver was much better for aviation enthusiasts. I don't know how many hours I spent along Havana Street watching the parade of airliners landing on 26 Left and 26 Right, scanner talking all the way. Or dinner at the 94th Aero Squadron with its runway side views....

Those were the days.......

 

[PaulM]

The Boulder option sounds great but I think I'll stay in town this trip...

What! Skip Boulder - 25 square miles surrounded by reality?

 

[ABDeh88]

You're welcome to come visit The Wildlife Experience (.org) in Parker where I work. I can get you in for free. It's about 2 miles east of the E Line light rail's Lincoln Station. I also have a few one-way light rail passes.

As for the other things mentioned, they're all great ideas.