Denver in 48 hours

So Denver in 48 hours?! No problem!

My mom & my sister grabbed a direct flight Thursday night & got in around 11:30 pm. It was a super short weekend but we crammed it all in & I think we did a lot! Denver was a great city to explore in 48 hours!

AGENDA

Friday

The Shinning Grounds (The Stanley Hotel)

Estes Park

Rocky Mountain National Park

Downtown Denver

16th Street Mall

Larimer Square

Little Man Ice Cream

Saturday

Shopping at The ARC

Red Rocks Park

Lookout Mountain

The ARC (again!)

Casa Bonita

Driving around town

Friday

We left around 9 am from Denver & headed on our way to Estes Park! On our way up we happened to see The Stanley Hotel from the movie The Shinning. I’ve heard that there is a possible $10-$15 charge to see the grounds of the hotel. Somehow there was no charge when we went… score! (but just be prepared)

After the hotel, we went to downtown Estes Park. The town was super cute with lots of souvenir shops. We grabbed lunch at the local pizza shop.

Rocky Mountain National Park! So many great places to pull off, park, take some pictures & enjoy nature. (TIP: buy your pass online to reserve a spot & save time at entry)

After the park, we took a drive down through Allen’s park to get back to Denver and man! The views were so pretty!

We went straight from the park to downtown Denver. We drove around, saw the capital & Rockies Stadium. (We really wanted to watch a baseball game but due to COVID-19 we couldn’t. So I highly recommend it if you have time! Or a Broncos game!)

We parked our car near 16th Street Mall. There was lots of shopping to do! Larimer square was just a block away so we walked over.

After shopping—Little Man Ice Cream! So good! I recommend salted Oreo! :)

Saturday

Y’all, I can’t recommend shopping at The ARC enough! On Saturdays they have 50% off most of their tags! I scored so much I ran out of room in my luggage, oops. If you love to thrift, check out The ARC!

Red Rocks Park! There are so many different hiking trails, short and long. Great views from anywhere!

Lookout Mountain provides a great mountain background without hiking. There is a parking lot that is just a few feet to the lookout.

Casa Bonita. A true Denver iconic. Swimmers diving, cool atmosphere & endless sopapilla.

My mom & dad met in Denver & lived in the city for 8 years. Before they had kids they moved back to Michigan so I never got to see their old stomping grounds. But we carved out some time, drove around & saw my parents old work & apartments. No matter what city I’m in I love driving through neighborhoods and seeing cool houses!

TIP: We didn’t eat out a lot, we normally just packed snacks to save time. If we had more time I would’ve tried these places.

- Snooze Eatery

- Linger

- Maria Empanada

- Pizzeria Locale

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy Denver as much as I did!