Very much a nature person! Can't wait to see the mountains, hike, kayak/rafting, etc. Maybe a Broncos game! Being from PEI, I am use to beaches, flat land & then snow for 8 months!
It will be a welcome adventure!
I love pubs and beer so anything with that involved is guaranteed to be a hit! Big foodie so any suggestions of restaurants to eat at would be appreciated. I'm honestly not sure what else is a must see/do but I'll be planning things over the next few months. Not a history buff by any means so lets just say no to museums
How is the driving there? relatively painless? Any suggestions are very much welcomed! Even if anybody just has general info they'd like to share that would make the trip a little easier!! Thanks again
Alright buddy. First and foremost the best aspects of Colorado are outside of Denver. That isn't to say that Denver doesn't have things to do, but it's pretty much a drinking town with a wild-west feeling. However, that wild-west has sort of been lost due to all the transplants moving here. There are million pubs and bars in the Denver area so you can definitely bar hop as much as you like - Sodo 151 is a Czech hockey bar so cheque that place out. LoDo is the area where everyone goes in Denver, it has higher-end food, bars, and a lot of things to do in that nature. Also South Broadway around the Denver area is where more and more people are going. They transformed the neighbor around there from something in the 1960's into a more hip and groovy area. Union Station in LoDo has a lot of top restaurants in and around the area (you can take the train - light rail - from DIA to Union Station). Denver's Botanic Garden is quite amazing and during the winter seasons go all out and hang lights. Denver's zoo is also fantastic and do special events during winter. Buckhorn Exchange is one of the definitions of Colorado, so try this place out. It's right outside one of light rail's stations, so it's easy to access without a rental car. Check out all the stops along light rail if you choose not to rent a car, it's the local rail service which goes along the entire Denver Metro area.
If you've ever been to Western and Central Canada, expect a lot of that type of driving. It takes pretty much an average of thirty minutes to go anywhere here. Colorado winters are not that wet or icy, but are extremely dry and can get very cold along the front range. You definitely will not be kayaking or rafting if you plan on coming in November since the mountains are a whole different story (where majority of these activities occur). A lot of scenic mountain roads are closed from November to May due to the impossible snow pact that comes with these storms and colder temperatures. I-70 can also be a mega bitch to try and drive due to all the people going to the ski resort along the weekend.
My recommendation would be to head up to Pagosa Springs or Glenwood Springs and get a nice day or two of mineral hot-springs. Pagosa is five hours from Denver, but is way less touristy, while Glenwood is 3 hours from Denver but is along I-70 which can be jammed as I mentioned before. Glenwood is more touristy, but have a million things to do besides hot-springs. It was voted one of the best mountain towns in Colorado for everything except skiing. Keystone is another place I've really enjoyed at both ends of the season. Keystone is two hours from Denver, is notably a skiing resort, but has a lake which people skate on and play hockey during the winter. Black Hawk is about forty minutes from Denver and is a gambling town, but Cripple Creek is better since the city gives you gambling with an awesome wild-west feel.
I really like Breckenridge as a city which turns into a ski resort during the winter, but it's getting too hipster/smug in the past couple of years. I still have it as a recommendation, still a very cool chill town to walk through and enjoy. The hidden gem of Colorado is Ouray which is 6 to 7 hours from Denver and is called Switzerland of America. The true mountain towns are Telluride and Silverton, but are very far away and almost double to triple in size during the winter months.
Also use trip advisor a lot, don't do it for restaurants per se since it sucks, but I've noticed that a lot of things I liked/experienced tended to be at the higher end of the website. Boulder is pretty close to Denver and is a college town that has a very beautiful main street, but the absolute smugness of the place is unbearable for me. It's filled with smug rich people SUVs', Eco-friendly cars, and coffee shops galore where people with big breads and plaid shirts wearing beanie hats make organic drinks for you. I much prefer you to head to Fort Collins for that fun college town experience, however doesn't have a lot of beautiful scenery. Colorado Springs on the other hand is a very beautiful place where there are many things to do as well (Cheyenne Zoo is very much a hidden gem), but is more of a military city that is quite far from Denver.
As Abusement Park mentioned, Garden of the Gods is something along the ring roads of the Denver-Metro area. It's very, very touristy, but is also a beautiful place so I am not going to say don't go to it or anything like that. I would easily recommend Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, but I have no effin' clue how these places are in the winter since I've never been.
@ASmileyFace @Landeslog Are two other who can absolutely help you for your trip!
