First Trip To Denver!! (Colorado Springs: car rental, renting, insurance)

[suzco]

If he really wants to snowboard, you could plan to go to Eldora, just west of Boulder, and perhaps spend that evening in Boulder. It's actually doable by public transportation, but probably annoyingly time consuming that way.

[ChibaCat]

https://www.visitgolden.com/places-t...SAAEgLcDvD_BwE


https://pikespeaktour.com/

[MissTerri]

Originally Posted by DillmanTx

Dave,

Thank you!! This is why I asked things like this - I have no idea!! LoL. If we're planning to stay in the downtown area, is there a place close by that we can get a rental car? Just for the day? We won't need it for our whole stay, just for the Saturday trip. I guess that is something we should book in advance? To be honest, I've never gotten a rental car before ~ lol .. this is stressing me out!!

I would play it by ear. If it’s snowing, you might not want to make the trip to Colorado Springs.

The Denver Museum of Nature of Science has a really nice view of Denver and the mountains.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Dillman, you are making this hard for us There may be a big snowstorm that weekend, and there may be clear skies and sun. With neither of you being comfortable driving in snow, you may need to have a Plan A and a Plan B.

Plan A, take the light rail to your downtown hotel. Hang out downtown or LoDo or RiNo. You can go to www.denver.org and find out more about the area and what events are happening. Saturday, if the weather is nice, rent a car and drive down to Colorado Springs. Visit Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak (let someone else do the driving on Pikes Peak). Don't drive to Colorado Springs if snow and cold are in the forecast as I-25 can have some very bad areas. Sunday, drive to Eldora for your husband's skiing. Monday, hang out around Denver. You might check to see if you can return the car to the airport location.

Plan B if the weather is bad. Saturday, take the bus to Boulder and hang out around Pearl Street Mall. Sunday, Uber or Lyft around Denver and Golden area.

BTW, the major ski areas are located west of Denver on I-70. Colorado Springs is south of Denver on I-25.

[alloo66]

A good resource. https://www.colorado.com/

[DillmanTx]

You guys are all awesome! Yall have NO idea how much I appreciate your help!!

I'm really hoping we get a clear sky with no major snow storm that we're able to go into Colorado Springs .. I'd love for my husband to do the pikes peak adventure! If it's clear enough on Saturday while we're there .. that will be our plan. * fingers crossed *

We booked our hotel last night .. we booked the one that claims to have a mountain view, I sure hope they are right!! lol ...

[iSudo]

Originally Posted by DillmanTx

I'm really hoping we get a clear sky with no major snow storm that we're able to go into Colorado Springs

If you're here for a few days, this should not be an issue. Even if we get a "major snow storm" one of the days you're here, it's extremely rare that it carries over more than a day. In fact, don't be surprised if, after a snow storm on one day, it's sunny, clear blue skies, and 50+ degrees the following day.

[Moonwalkr]

Originally Posted by suzco

If he really wants to snowboard, you could plan to go to Eldora, just west of Boulder, and perhaps spend that evening in Boulder. It's actually doable by public transportation, but probably annoyingly time consuming that way.

I second this, so you get to cross Boulder off your list too. You can actually drop him off at the bus depot at Boulder which will take him up to Eldora, and you can relax at a hotel or walk around Pearl St.

[Chloe333]

Originally Posted by DillmanTx

iHowever, I'm not exactly sure where we're staying, but I do believe it will be in the downtown area! I've found some pretty good priced hotels that looks super nice!

Try and stay at the Westin right on the 16th Street Mall. You will love this location right in the center of it all! It's mostly a business hotel and can have discounted rates on weekends. We stayed one Thanksgiving and it was only $100 a night for a patio suite. Beautiful lobby with nice bar, The Palm restaurant, lobby areas overlook the ice skating rink. Ask if any of the rooms with the large sprawling balconies with patio chairs and tables are available. You can walk out onto this massively huge patio right off of your room and sit out drinking your spiked hot chocolate or egg nog surrounded by all the beautiful city lights. Walk down the hallway from your room and take a dip in the heated indoor outdoor pool. Patio is going to be very chilly so bundle up!

Remind your spouse to start doing his lunges, sit ups, squats now so he can walk the next day after snowboarding! You'd hate for him to be so sore, stiff, and achy for the rest of the trip!

Here is a live music brunch option for that Saturday morning/noon. I've always enjoyed Ophelia's. https://www.opheliasdenver.com/e/bru...x-79061159055/

PS..I highly recommend having a few cocktails around sunset or evening at Peak's Lounge at the Hyatt. Very nice ambiance and views!

[NinjaHitsAWall]

Ooh I remember my first. I would say you're worrying a bit too much but I am also biased towards cold weather haha. Just a small disclaimer, I am a somewhat recent transplant (~1.5y), a bit of a loner and live in Aurora, so I can't answer all your questions related to downtown and the more touristy stuff. lol.

Originally Posted by DillmanTx

We've decided to stay in Downtown Denver for the convenience since we won't have a vehicle with us. I'm curious, is the possibility there of being able to see any kind of mountain view from the downtown area? I suspect it won't be the best, but even a little is better than none right?!

To my knowledge, it would be best to venture a bit out of downtown, as you don't have to go too far out to get much better views. The area around Glendale, Cherry Creek and south of that into University have great views. (My first time in Denver was in a hotel around Glendale/Cherry Creek and just by chance we ended up in a room with excellent mountain views.. I realized I was spoiled after staying in a different hotel in Stapleton that was facing east towards basically a strip mall!

Also, the suburbs directly west of downtown have some pretty nice views. Sloan's Lake is supposed to be good, so is Roxbourough Park in Littleton (I haven't been to these personally; I spend most of my time either in the metro area or pretty far away from it).

I've read online about a train you can take from the Denver Airport to the downtown area - so I think we should have that part covered .. lol .. hopefully!

That would be the University of Colorado A Line. Goes between the airport and Union Station. It is heavier than the usual light rail, and I think the fare is like $9-10 (last I checked). I'm a student at Anschutz so it's free for me and I stopped paying attention to the fares haha, but one of my friends actually takes that to the airport all the time.

For actually getting around downtown, there are some other light rail lines out of Union Station, and the mallride (shuttle bus) which is free.

I would really like to take him into Colorado Springs .. I read somewhere there is a bus you can take?? Do you guys think that's better than renting a car for the day? We're from TX so driving conditions could be way out of our norm - lol. I also saw they have a Pikes Peak Tour you can take for roughly 70.00 per person, for 4 hours - would you guys say that's worth it or is there another option? It looks like there used to be a train you could take, but it's currently closed.

I don't know much about the bus situation, but would suggest a rental car and considering the other stuff you want to do (and your hesitation about winter driving), an AWD/4WD rental. If you want to go to Springs, I would recommend Garden of the Gods or one of the nearby state parks, only because it is much less than $70. But it depends what you want to do and how much actual tourist stuff you are going for. On Saturday, there is a hockey game in Springs (DU @Colo College, they are rival teams), it is probably easier to find tickets to that than the one at DU on the 13th.

My husband would LOVE to snowboard - does anyone know if there is an option for being able to do that? Just for a little while? I have zero interest in skiing or snowboarding - neither were my cup of tea ~ lol. I'm actually an avid cruiser so taking a trip like this is totally throwing me off! I'm used to getting on a ship and not having to worry about much of anything!! LoL

Is he a complete "never-ever" beginner? I am still learning, and Loveland is going to have $30 day passes starting this Friday to Loveland Valley, their beginner/learning area. I did this in undergrad and assumed it was just a college deal, only discovered the other day that it wasn't, so very excited
It's called the Lift7. https://skiloveland.com/lift-tickets/

As far as avoiding weekend traffic, there are some night options. Loveland avoids a lot of the bottleneck that happens near the Eisenhower tunnel, Winter Park also bypasses a lot of the worst of the I70 commute. Last year, I usually went on Sunday mornings and got dinner or something in Frisco before heading back, to avoid the Sunday eastbound fiasco.

I think you might be able to go tubing or something if you aren't interested in skiing/riding. I haven't looked into Loveland or Winter Park, but I had a pass to Copper last year (where I took lessons), and they had (cheaper) tickets for tubing.

I'm still kinda new to this stuff, so others may have better suggestions regarding the snowboarding.

Also, is there any 'must do's' you guys would recommend while we're in Denver? I know we're only going to be there for a short time, so we're fully prepared for a busy trip!! lol ..

Again, depends what you're into. There's some great dining downtown. Wynkoop is a good brewery option but can get crowded at night on weekends (try the Rocky Mtn Oyster stout if you're the YOLO type). I never get sick of Mexican food...

It looks like there are a lot of holiday-related events in and around Denver that weekend, family events, plays, live music, etc. Fillmore Auditorium and Ogden theater are near downtown, might be something going on there. The Owl Saloon is more low-key (not downtown) and usually has some kind of free, live music event on weekends. They are known for having good tater tots. (I only mention them because it's more my scene.)

I think there's some Christmas light shows or something going on near Red Rocks and in Federal Heights too.

If you're here by noon-4pm on the 13th, there is free admission to Four Mile Historic Park

Most visitors have as a must-do on their list, to stand on the 13th step of the Capitol building and say they were exactly a mile high.