Travel: Six Must-Do’s in Denver

It wouldn’t be summer without a little summer vacation right? We took a little vacation to Denver and I’m sharing a few of my must-do’s from the trip!

Hello Loves! First things first, we’re back in action as Corporate in Color! The name change has been so well received and we couldn’t be happier about it! We took a little break from posting while we were working on the switch so my vacation recap got delayed, but I’m finally able to share it with you all today.

When I told people I was taking Madison on vacation to Denver I got the question “what’s there?” at least a hundred times. To be honest, I was looking for someplace fun and affordable to get away to for a few days and one of my best friends recommended it, citing all the family-friendly activities. It’s a place I’d never been before but I was open to trying an atypical vacation and I’m so glad I did! Denver is a beautiful city and is a great combination of city life and the great outdoors. Madison had the time of her life and we even got to experience being in the mountains for the first time together.

If you’re looking for a fun family vacation that won’t break the bank, here’s why I recommend Denver and some of my must-do’s while there.

Must Do: Get a CityPASS

While researching activities and how much everything would cost, I ran across the CityPASS on Google. The CityPASS is a great way to see as many local attractions as you can while saving money. There’s a list of museums, the zoo, aquarium, etc. to choose from and you can purchase a pass to see either 3, 4 or 5 of those attractions. I chose a 3 attraction pass for the zoo, aquarium and botanic gardens for our trip. It was easy to enter the attractions with just a scan of our mobile tickets and I saved about $60 by bundling.

Must Do: Denver Zoo

I like going to zoos in different cities. Each zoo is different and offers a different experience for seeing the animals. The Denver Zoo is now among my favorites (the San Diego Zoo is my #1!) as we saw so many unique animals and exhibits. The grounds are huge and there’s a train you can take around the entire place for a few dollars. They also had zoologists around near different animals to give more information real-time and answer questions. I thought this was great for Madison since she’s more engaged with conversation than me just reading a placard to her.

Must Do: Elitch Gardens

If Disneyland had a little sister, it’d be Elitch Gardens. This theme park is right in the middle of downtown and it’s HUGE! There’s also a full size water park on the grounds so we were able to get spend time at both. What I liked about Elitch Gardens the most is how many rides they had for Madison’s age group. The theme park boasted a mini park with roller coasters, games and thrill rides younger kids can enjoy. Madison was even tall enough to get on all the rides by herself (which she did). The water park also had a section dedicated to kid size water slides and pools that I liked much better than any park we’ve visited here. We spent an entire day at the park and admission was $40 per person when we purchased online–well worth the money in my opinion!

Must Do: Stay Downtown

We opted out of renting a car so staying downtown was the best choice for us. There are a ton of great hotel options downtown that are affordable too. Downtown hotels are of course close to restaurants and shopping but many of the attractions were either within walking distance or a short uber away!

Must Do: Botanic Gardens

The Denver Botanic Gardens are so beautiful! We saw so many beautiful plants and flowers there. It was very scenic and tranquil, with a few indoor learning centers throughout. For the kids there was a children’s garden where they could get some hands on experience with bugs and flowers. There was also a stream where they could have water play; we saw a ton of families up there hanging out to beat the heat.

Must Do: Red Rocks Amphitheater

You guys! I struggle to fin words for how beautiful this place is! My coworker recommended we go here along with a few other places and she didn’t steer us wrong. The crazy part is, we almost didn’t make it since all of our days had been packed with activities. One of our uber drivers said we HAD to see it before we left so we made time early Saturday morning. I think early morning or evening is the best time of day to go in the summer. It gets really hot in Denver and the air is dry so that sun is no joke! Red Rocks is a hybrid between a concert venue and overall scenic outdoor attraction. There are hiking trails around the theater and beautiful views of the mountains everywhere! Even if you aren’t a fan of outdoor activities, you’d be blown away visiting this place.

I hope you all enjoyed this round up of must-dos in Denver! It’s a beautiful city and we’d absolutely visit again!

Until next time,

-XO Maya