Options for getting from DEN to downtown and back
 

Will be arriving in DEN on a Friday in September ~10:45am. Staying downtown. Have a return flight on Monday @ 2:15pm

May not want to rent a car. Can anyone recommend good shuttle/shared ride/other options?

SuperShuttle serves downtown hotles for $19 each way from DIA. It usually takes about 45 minutes from airport to hotel.

No question, SkyRide hands down. Route AF:

http://www.rtd-denver.com/skyRide/

I paid 6$ one way last Monday, DEN airport to downtown. There is a stop at the light rail station just east of downtown (30th or something, forget the exact location). Free transfer from the RTD bus to light rail, can get you just about anywhere that you need. I think the next stop is the Denver bus center or something like that.

I asked to be dropped at 20th and California (between stops downtown), just before they make a right hand turn near Broadway, driver said no problem. I then had a 1 block walk to Hertz local edition, rent car at 1/2 the price of airport pickup. Priceless.

Make sure you have exact change for the SkyRide bus, they have an information desk inside the DEN west main terminal, but they don't sell tickets there. You have to pay cash on the bus, into a small cash receptacle machine, and the driver won't have change. Just carry fives and ones for RTD payment and you'll be fine. It might take a little bit longer than SuperShuttle (due to the few extra remote parking lot stops before downtown), but the comfort of a full-sized motorcoach over SS vans, plus the obvious cost savings, is a winner.

The correct price on this would actually be $8. $6 is only supposed to get you as far as Stapleton. There's some confusion with the drivers sometimes so it wouldn't surprise me if you only paid $6. Once I got on free with a pass that was only supposed to be worth $2.75

The light rail station is at 30th/Downing but if you are planning on transferring to the light rail, stay on the AF bus until the Market street station, come upstairs, and catch the free Mall Ride towards 16th/California as the service is much more frequent from there.

Just got back from a weekend in Denver. I was originally going to rent a car, not that I really needed it, but it would have been way less than a taxi, and I would have had it handy if I wanted it. Then I saw that the hotel downtown was charging $25/night for parking--cancelled that car right away! Ended up taking the SuperShuttle ($19 o/w as indicated above)...might have been able to do the SkyRide, but it didn't look like my hotel was near the route (didn't catch the bit about transferring to the light rail until reading this now) and I didn't want to drag my luggage along for however far.

And never would have wanted the car at all--would have been *way* more of a hassle, even if it had been free.

I echo the SkyRide option, if there is a stop near where you are going.

I did the same thing in June! Got off at the Denver Bus Center and walked right down the street to the Hertz location.

Are you talking about just a one-way ticket? Because I recall buying a roundtrip ticket at the counter in the terminal and feeding the first one to the fare machine when I boarded, and the second one when I returned a few days later.

Maybe it was just the laziness of the counter agent that day, or my lack of assertiveness or knowledge of the skyride program. The counter agent that day (a few weeks ago) told me that all tickets are sold on the bus, so paid cash on the bus. For that trip, I was taking SkyRide one way only, since my Hertz pickup from downtown quoted the same price for airport return as it would have been to drop back at Welton (while still being way less overall than Hertz pickup at the airport). Such a deal. I'm going well into the front range, so gotta have a car.

I usually have time to spare upon arrival, to save money with a downtown pickup, but usually time starved getting back to DEN to catch my return flight (aren't we all).

And zdave is right, the $6 one way was probably an error, as I do remember paying $8 to downtown in the past. But hey, who am I to argue.

It is round-trip only from the counter. You can also use a credit card to buy a round-trip ticket at the counter.

I have an upcoming trip for which I'll need to get two people from DEN-downtown, but public transport is not a viable option (same for Super Shuttle, etc.). Can anyone give suggestions as to taxi vs. car service? Suggestions for a good car service would be appreciated if that's the way to go.

I assume you mean a private (not shared) ride, even if it is through one of the shuttle companies? Some do offer private service, e.g. you can check Super Shuttle's service online. I can also give you the number of the guy I've used for the past couple of years. You can specify private service, though that is what he usually does anyway. (Disclaimer: he is a neighbor so there is a personal connection.) Taxis are readily available in the taxi lane outside (they may have to wait a few minutes if they come in at an odd time) and will cost about $50-70 to go downtown. What is your budget for transport?

Before I moved here, from my visits for either work and pleasure I found that having a rental car was almost always considerably less expensive than using taxis, shuttles, etc. Though being downtown, your cost of parking may offset any other benefit. As you probably know, Denver is pretty spread out with speedy public transport in only certain corridors; thus, if you're not confined to one of these or a very limited and walkable area, I encourage you to think about a rental car, if feasible.

To your specific question, I've only used SuperShuttle (of those still in business). If you choose one of those shuttle services, they will provide you with a door number to meet them. If you're not familiar with the terminal, even numbers are on one side, odd numbers on the other. So door 510 is far away from 511. The airport's website has a number of vendors listed. http://www.flydenver.com/gt/index.asp

Yes, can't do a shared ride this trip, will have one person with me. I'd like to keep it under $80, I had already read that cabs would be on the order of $50-55 plus tip, I didn't know how big the spread is between a cab an car service for a trip downtown--if it would be over $80, I'll go with the cab.

It looks like super Shuttle's ExecuCar Sedan would be about $75 to downtown. I've used private cars for home, not downtown, but I suspect most private services to that area will run $50-$80. You can get a huge list from the link in a previous post. (The guy I use is Aurora Airport Shuttle/Limousine, at 303-332-3302. You can tell him his lady neighbor with the little dog referred you. :D I've also used A Alltime Limo (on the DIA page) in the past, and they were professional.)

I was just in Denver - I originally had been planning to do the Super Shuttle, but I arrived really late (around 11pm) and the Super Shuttle people wanted me to wait another 20 mins for a van. As it turns out, the cabs have a flat rate to downtown, so it was $47 plus tip and it took only about 25 mins to get to my hotel (almost as long as it took for me to get from my gate to outside the terminal where you get cabs - jeez, is that a hike!). The extra $$ was worth the time I'd have spent being cranky and tired doing more waiting.

If things go as planned, I'm scheduled to get in to DEN at 11:46pm. What are my options to go downtown Denver? I was gonna go with SuperShuttle or Go, but not sure if they operate late at night. Any advice? Thanks!