Denver in 3 Days: A First-Timer's Guide to Breweries, Red Rocks, and Surviving the Mile-High Altitude

Start at Union Station with coffee from Pigtrain Coffee or breakfast at Mercantile Dining & Provision. The Great Hall is gorgeous and worth wandering. Walk through LoDo along Larimer Square, the city's oldest block, now lined with independent restaurants and string lights overhead.

Larimer Street between 25th and 38th is the main mural corridor. New murals go up regularly, especially after the annual Crush Walls street art festival in September. The Source Hotel & Market Hall has food stalls, a rooftop brewery, and a bookshop in a converted 1880s iron foundry.

Start at Ratio Beerworks (lively patio, solid IPAs), walk to Epic Brewing (strong Belgian-style options), then finish at Bierstadt Lagerhaus (German-style lagers brewed to Reinheitsgebot standards, the slow-pour pilsner takes 10 minutes and is worth every second). This is walking distance, all within RiNo.

Linger occupies a former mortuary and has a rooftop with views of the downtown skyline. The menu is global street food done well. Alternatively, Work & Class does Southern and Latin comfort food with excellent mezcal cocktails. Both neighborhoods fill up by 7:30pm on weekends, so reserve ahead.

The park opens at 6:30am for hiking and fitness. The Trading Post Trail (1.4 miles) loops through the red sandstone formations and is easy enough for anyone. If there is no concert scheduled, you can walk through the amphitheatre itself, run the stairs, and take in the views for free. The acoustics are something you feel in your chest.

Golden is 15 minutes from Red Rocks and worth a stop. The downtown strip along Washington Avenue has creek-side patios and a small-town feel backed by Table Mountain. Woody's Wood-Fired Pizza or the Buffalo Rose for food. Clear Creek runs through town and people kayak and tube it in summer.

The world's largest single-site brewery. The tour is short but includes tastings, and the setting in Golden with the Rockies behind the building is genuinely scenic. Reserve online in advance, especially on weekends. If you are more into craft, skip Coors and drive 5 minutes to Cannonball Creek Brewing in Golden.

Check the Red Rocks schedule before your trip and buy tickets early for popular shows. Bring layers because temperatures drop 15-20 degrees after sunset at altitude. The sound is extraordinary at any seat, but rows 20-40 are the sweet spot for both acoustics and views. Take the shuttle if possible; post-show rideshare waits are brutal.

The building itself (Daniel Libeskind's angular design) is as much a draw as the collection. The Western American Art and Indigenous Arts of North America galleries are the standouts and are hard to find at this level in other cities. The free first Saturday is worth planning around if your dates align.

South Broadway (SoBo) has the city's best concentration of vintage shops, record stores, and casual restaurants. Wax Trax Records is a Denver institution for vinyl. Beatrice & Woodsley is a restaurant built inside what looks like an aspen forest. For cheap and excellent, Sputnik serves diner food with a punk attitude.

Cap Hill is Denver's most eclectic neighborhood. Colfax Avenue is the main drag: famously gritty, lined with dive bars, taco shops, and the Bluebird Theater (one of the best mid-size music venues in the West). Grab a drink at Williams & Graham, a speakeasy hidden behind a bookshelf in a fake bookstore front.

LoHi (Lower Highlands) is the neighborhood everyone who lives in Denver recommends for dinner. Root Down does farm-to-table in a converted gas station. Lola for coastal Mexican with strong margaritas. Both have patio seating with mountain views on clear evenings.