Having already visited many of my favourite American cities like Chicago, New York and San Francisco, it was high time (pun intended) to discover a new city; Denver. The thought of being back in nature, hiking through the Rocky Mountains, was particularly alluring as well. Lucky for me, I had friends living in nearby Fort Collins and would be meeting up with them.

A Weekend in Denver, Colorado

Arriving at the Denver airport, on a warm, sunny day, I smiled with satisfaction as I shed my spring jacket in favour of the mild T-shirt weather. It was the hottest day I’ve experienced that year. Waiting for my shuttle bus into the city, I spied the mountains in the distance. “My love!” I thought. “We’ll be reunited again soon.”

Having done a semester of university in Calgary, I missed those mountains and always wanted to see them again.

I then checked into my way cool Airbnb apartment, a renovated loft space which used to be a church and later on a Mexican restaurant. The owners, Danny and Christy, spent about 10 years turning their home into this work of art, a place which begs to be photographed. They also have exceptional taste in music – note, The Doors and Death Cab for Cutie on vinyl.

As always, I sought out the weird and offbeat, finding these two modern art pieces in downtown Denver. The first piece is a horse on a chair, found just outside the Denver Public Library. Then the other weird and offbeat modern art piece: a giant broom, complete with dust pan and trash.

Since I was there, and obviously admission to the library was free (and I love free stuff), I walked through the library for a while. I particularly liked the outdoor bookshelf in front of the building. The interior of the library is also pretty snazzy.

Next, I strolled across the street to the Denver Art Museum and decided to get cultured for the evening and take in the museum’s current exhibit, Modern Masters. Stuffy museums usually bore me to tears but I was delighted to see work from Jackson Pollock, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, and even (OMG) Salvador Dali. Since touring Dali’s former house in Cadaques, Spain, years ago, I’ve been a bit obsessed with the mad artist. As it was the last Friday of the month, there was a Final Friday event with special presentations, music, free food and an affordably priced cash bar.

It was during this event that we watched the sun begin to set over Denver.

As there was still some light left outside, I wandered a bit more, checking out the state’s capital building. This shot took some effort (like lying in wet grass) to perfect.

The next day, I headed to Fort Collins, a town about an hour outside of Denver. Yes, the Rocky Mountains and I would be together at last. I spent a good part of the day hiking around different parts of Horsetooth Reservoir. The coolest part of my entire weekend was that day in Fort Collins. I met up with friends from Berlin. So of course, as we hiked, we also drank beer as any good (or wannabe) German would do.

Three of the above Instagram photos were taken by my friend Luci, who makes tons of great one minute videos about Berlin and her other homes of Brooklyn and Fort Collins. I also made a new friend that day. A canine one! Meet Luci’s dog Whisky, pretty much the cutest and coolest dog ever. It was absolutely refreshing to get away from the city and enjoy time outdoors in this beautiful setting. Therapeutic and exactly what I needed!

Post hiking, the beer drinking continued well into the night. Hung over, I returned to Denver the next day and spent most of Sunday sleeping! A wasted day perhaps, but I couldn’t have had a better weekend. On Monday, I returned home to Toronto but not before taking in the state of Colorado from above!

Good to Know

1) For lighter dinner fare, try Hapa Sushi  in LoDo. I had vegetarian gyoza, avocado rolls and a salad. Not cheap, but delicious and worth the price.

2) For good wings and local beer (Colorado has an abundance of craft breweries), try Trailhead Tavern in Fort Collins. It’s also cheap.

3) The Denver airport is far outside the city limits. You can take a bus downtown for about $11 US one way or a shuttle (try Super Shuttle) that will run about $25 US one way. Meanwhile, taxis will cost upwards of $50 US for one way. Both shuttles and taxis will drop you off directly at your location.

4) It wasn’t easy to get to Fort Collins without a car. I took a bus from downtown to the airport and then caught a shuttle to a drop-off station in Fort Collins where my friends picked me up.

5) Denver does public transit right! There’s a free shuttle which runs up and down the 16th Street Mall and gets you around the downtown core pretty easily.  

6) Need somewhere to stay in Denver. Find a place with booking.com.

Booking.com

7) If you want to make your stay in Denver better, go on a guided tour.

8) If you love travelling through the US and Canada as much as I do, read my other blog posts:

• Benmiller Inn and Spa, A Getaway from Toronto – Looking to escape Toronto? Then make your way to Benmiller Inn and Spa in Goderich to enjoy their spa, high end restaurant, and more.
• New York City Street Art On The Lower East Side – Check out this collection of photos highlighting some of the most iconic pieces of New York City street art.
• The Abandoned Abundant Life Christian Church In Detroit – A snapshot in time – view historical photos of the Abundant Life Christian Church in Detroit, Michigan from June 2013.

*Disclosure – This post contains some affiliate links. If you book a tour or hotel, I’ll earn a tiny commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support.