I was in Denver and the surround Colorado area for 3 weeks of training at my new job with Up with People. During my time I got to experience a lot of what Denver has to offer.
Besides Target and Whole Foods at every corner (aka heaven), Denver has a lot of unique restaurants, boutiques, breweries, and other attractions that will appeal to anyone's interests. I personally became inspired by the mountain culture to purchase Patagonia dresses and Tevas. As you read on, you will see that this is primarily a food based list, but what is a good city without good food?
Even though I am in southern Georgia right now (home of biscuits and gravy) the Denver Biscuit Company has some of the best biscuit sandwiches ever.
I got a biscuit with fried chicken, gravy, bacon and cheddar (it should be called the artery clogger) but it was amazing! The other reason why I love this place is because you can serve yourself coffee while you are waiting to be seated.
Even though the wait is long, the food comes pretty quickly once you order. I highly suggest coming for brunch if you come to the Denver area. I have had some authentic southern food being in Statesboro, and these biscuits come pretty close to the real deal.
Sweet Cow has some of the best ice cream I have ever had. You can tell that it is good because there is always a line going out the door. If you ever had Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter, Sweet Cow makes a cookie butter ice-cream that is just amazing. They also have their very own ice-cream truck.
I am not a vegan, but Native foods has really good vegan food that is even meat-eater approved. I tried their ranch “chicken” sandwich and it was delicious. All of their food is completely vegan, and healthy, even though it doesn’t taste like it. They also have a variety of flavored iced tea and lemonades.
The vegan bacon cheeseburger tasted nothing like a cheeseburger, but it was still good.
If you like Chipotle (or even if you don’t) you have to check out Pizzeria Locale. Their pizza is made fresh, right in front of you, and you get to watch it cook in under 15 minutes.
This restaurant is the pizza spin-off created by the same owners as Chipotle. It is equally delicious.
After a stressful day at work, the Denver Cat Company is a great place to relax. What is better than drinking coffee, and having kittens come up to you? The cafe allows you to play with kittens that roam freely while you sit and enjoy your drink, and they even have a program that lets customers adopt.
Colorado is not complete without a trip to the mountains and I was lucky enough to go to a few different mountain towns. When being in high altitude it is important to drink tons of water. On one of my visits into the mountains I got very sick from dehydration. Always hydrate, and bring snacks!
One of my favorite places we visited is Breckenridge. If you like beer, you might be familiar with Breckenridge brewery. They have breweries around the Denver area, but the original is in the town of Breckenridge where you can get really delicious bar food and try a bunch of craft beers. I got the grapefruit saison and it was delicious. The best part about this trip was getting to spend it with a bunch of international people and loudly playing “20 questions” over lunch.
After eating, you can walk around and see all of the cute boutiques and skiing and hiking specialty stores. The town is very quaint and great for a relaxing day of walking around. If you enjoy going to bigger stores, you can also go to the Silverthorne outlets which are super close by, and have a bunch
of great deals.
If you are looking for a hike, I would recommend going to Chautauqua Park in Boulder and climbing the first-second Flatiron trail.
It is about a mile hike, so it isn’t too bad for beginners (like myself) but you definitely feel the burn on your legs. However, it is totally worth the view at the top.
A place that may be better than Denver is Boulder. I absolutely love Boulder for all of the health food stores, trendy restaurants and boutiques, and beautiful mountain views.
One of my favorite breakfast places we went to was Snooze in Boulder, where you can try all different flavors of eggs Benedict. I got one with loxs, and one with tortillas and barbocoa. So tasty! Plus, how great is this hash brown presentation?
One of the coolest things I got to do was go to my first Major League Soccer game at Dick's Sporting Goods park to see the Colorado Rapids play. We went on the 4th of July, and at the end of the game you get to sit on the field and watch the biggest fire work show in Colorado.
We all styled our matching tie dye Old Navy tee's differently as you can see ;) It was so fun going with such a big group of people from all different countries.
What are some of your places in the Denver area? Let me know in the comments below!
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