Colorado is a beautiful place to visit during any time of year and fall is our favorite season here! For those traveling to our wedding, we hope you’re able to do some exploring while you’re in town. If you’re able to get to the mountains it should be a great time to see the aspens.

Below are some of our favorite places and things to do in both the Denver area and beyond.

Denver area

Red Rocks-probably one of the most amazing outdoor concert venues in the country that provides great views of the Front Range. While a concert is the best way to experience Red Rocks, there are also great hikes to see the amphitheater and red sandstone formations.

Denver Botanic Gardens-a serene escape from the city featuring flora from around the world

Denver Art Museum-https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en

Denver Museum of Nature & Science-https://www.dmns.org/

Wings over the Rockies Air & Space Museum-https://wingsmuseum.org

Molly Brown House-the home of a Titanic survivor, https://mollybrown.org/

Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art-https://www.kirklandmuseum.org/

Rino-hip arts district with colorful street art, trendy restaurants and shops. The stretch of Larimer between 25th and 32nd St is great! Another fun way to see the street art is to go on a grafatti tour…https://www.denvergraffititour.com/

Boulder-a city at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains about 30 min from downtown Denver. Head to the flatirons for an outdoor adventure or for a walk down Pearl St filled with coffee shops, shops and restaurants. https://www.bouldercoloradousa.com/

Golden-a former gold rush town about 20 min west of downtown Denver. Nowadays it’s a quaint small mountain town with lots of local charm. Don’t miss a tour of the local Coors Brewery! https://www.visitgolden.com/

Mountain Towns (within 90 min from Denver)

Frisco-laidback mountain town with shopping and restaurants that is close to outdoor activities. Stop into Bread & Salt for a tasty pre-hike breakfast or Prosit for a delicious sausage and beer.

Breckenridge-great mountain town (about 15 min from Frisco) with an endless amount of fall activities with hiking, mountain biking, fly fishing or leaf peeping. https://gobreck.com/trip-ideas/top-10-best-of-breck/top-things-to-do-in-breckenridge

Rocky Mountain National Park-one of the most beautiful national parks in the country and worth a visit! About 90 min from Denver. You’ll need to get a timed entry to enter the park in the fall. Details about timed entry and things to do in the park can be found here. A drive on Trail Ridge Road is beautiful! It takes you to 12K ft. and the highest continuous paved road in the United States.

https://www.nps.gov/romo/index.htm

Hikes

Royal Arch Trail in Boulder

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/royal-arch-trail?sh=qhroxs

Golden Gate Canyon-beautiful in the fall with the chances of a moose spotting being pretty good. Lots of different trails with Racoon Trail being a favorite. Weekends get really busy in the fall so you’ll want to get to the trailhead by 6:30 or 7:00 or after noon if you’re not an early bird.

https://alltrails.com/parks/us/colorado/golden-gate-canyon-state-park

Chautauqua and Bluebell Trail Loop

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/chautauqua-and-bluebell-trail-loop?sh=qhroxs&utm_medium=trail_share&utm_source=alltrails_virality

Mountain Peaks and Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs is about 75 min south of Denver and home to Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak (inspiration to “America the Beautiful”. If you aren’t sure about hiking up Pikes Peak, take the world’s highest cog railroad instead. https://www.cograilway.com

Also in the area is the Manitou Incline, a local challenge climbing 2K ft. and 2744 steps in just under a mile. https://manitousprings.org/where-to-play/manitou-incline/

Restaurants

Alma Fonda Fina

The Ginger Pig

Ash ‘Kara

Super Mega Bien

Parisi

Hop Alley

Leven Deli

Bonfire Burritos

Rise & Shine Biscuits

Bakeries & Coffee

GetRights

Bakery Four

Wooden Spoon

Olive & Finch

Steam Coffee Bar

Stylus & Crate

Hello Darling

Little Owl

Cafe 13

Breweries/Bars

Cerebral

Outer Range

Death & Co.

Spirits Wines Provisions

Noble Wine Bar

Vin Rouge Wine Bar

The Broken Cage