Denver peeps
 

The wife and I are considering a trip to your fair city in late August for a concert at Red Rocks and some sightseeing. What should we see and do? Where should we stay?

I wouldn't go there without taking a crap in the investco stadium parking lot

If you want help, we can give it to you, but you need to provide some details:

Budget? Mtns or City? Interests? Age? Kids? Length of stay? Flying/Driving? Fat or Fit? First visit to CO, if not where did you go and did you enjoy it?

Don't want to be to prickly, but if you would like GOOD suggestions you should probably list this in your OP.

Budget, not looking to break the bank, but I'm not Guru either.

Mtns or City - City....we aren't into skiing or hiking. We do like scenery though, so we would probably want to do part of a day seeing nature.

We enjoy art, food, and music.

Age - mid 30s. Kid free trip.

Coming in Thursday morning, leaving Sunday.

First visit in many many years.

They still have Casa Bonita's in Denver?

Go to Estes Park 30 miles up in the mountains from Denver.

The entire park will be open then and it's just beautiful there.

You can stay at the Holiday Inn if you want real cheap then drive around.

Or get a cabin.

we must have a different map, mine says it's 70 miles and 90 minutes

I missed this, but bop me a PM if I forget about this. I'll try and respond this evening.

As a preview, I'm going to suggest you consider staying downtown if you can fit it in the budget, visiting the art museum and some of the other cultural attractions, and making one drive up into the mountains (because it's criminal if you don't).

Also, who are you seeing at Red Rocks?

FUN.

First order of business, visit a physician. Re: back pain ongoing for years.

stay as close as you can to the 16th street mall if youre staying downtown. maybe drive up to boulder for half a day. go walk around pearl street and then go up to Chautauqua park and walk around under the flat irons. Estes park is a good option if u want to make the hour + drive up there. Late August/fall time is the best time to be up there.

This is a pretty good suggestion.

There's some good stuff to do in Denver, but it's typical city stuff. We have a good theater company if you want to see a show. We have an art museum and a Colorado history museum and a symphony and a ballet, and you can walk to all of it if you stay downtown. (Brown Palace if you want a luxury experience, and maybe the Curtis if you want something more mod. Be aware that downtown is expensive, but it's really the only place you should stay as a tourist.)

If you want more of a Colorado experience, you could maybe spend a day or two in downtown Denver, but then beat it to the mountains and stay in Vail or Breckenridge or Frisco. Get a rental car that's got power, because you have to get over the pass at 11,000 feet. But that's really the stuff you want to do. I'm also a fan of going to Manitou Springs (south, no mountain driving) and taking the train to the top of Pike's Peak.

can someone point me to a map or explain what defines "downtown"?