I need to goto Boulder, likely by way of DEN (though COS isn't terribly out the way), either over a weekend in June, over a week at the end of June, or randomly doing both as I feel like it.

Long story short: Sig-other, grad school, shakespeare festival, i travel a lot for this relationship.

Anywho, What's it like?

How are the roads? Congestion? I have my own voice-prompt GPS and it travels well, so if i'm renting a car any suggestions? Am I better off with something rugged for the wilderness?

Am I really far off-base thinking it looks like rugged wilderness compared to Tampa, Florida?

Hotels: What's good? What's not? I was looking a the Hyatt Place.. but i dunno. I can't seem to find much actually in Boulder.

What exactly is in Boulder? During the day i'd be exploring or hanging at the hotel by myself - need entertainment. What are some nice non-clubby/bar things for couples to do in the evenings?

Any amazing food? Must-sees? Any particular reason it's called Boulder? Does it have boulders...?

Oh, and DEN airport itself, good? Bad? Horrific? Anything in particular i should be aware of?

Thanks in advance

I go to school in Boulder (Go Buffs!), but since I don't live down there, I'm not by any means an expert on the town. But here are some ideas:

You said you are going in June, so the weather should be nice and warm -- as a result you can check out these places:

Things to Do:

- The Hill (shops, restaurants, etc on "The Hill" near CU)

- 29th Street Mall -- a shopping district, they have the Purple Martini there you can check out at night, its a lounge/bar type place

- Pearl Street Mall, again more shops, some boutique and some of your regular known stores -- they often have random performers, fire throwers, etc throughout the day/evening

- Boulder Creek - you can go tubing down the creek, popular summer activity in Boulder.

- Hiking-- there are lots of trails to hike around Boulder, you can hike the Flatiron mountains.

- CU/University of Colorado has different museums and like you mentioned, the Shakespeare festival going on


Places to eat at:

Just in general, some of these are chain restaurants, but I love em anyway

-Illegal Petes (fast food, like Qdoba)
-Chipotle (fast food, like Qdoba, but better)
-8 Island Hawaiian Grill (semi fast food)
-Boulder Tea House (expensive)
-Cheesecake Factory
-Redfish Brewhouse (seafood/steak)


As for hotel, there is the Millennium hotel in Boulder. Or you can try to find a place in Louisville/Superior which is about 10 mins from Boulder, or in Broomfield which is about 15 mins from Boulder.

And if you get real bored in the day/night... a drive to Downtown Denver isn't that far away!

Don't know if this helps, let me know if you need anything else...

Boulder has dealt with growth much better than most - due to far-sighted citizens who taxed themselves to buy a greenbelt long ago.

It sits at the base of the Rocky Mt. foothills with the Front Range peaks a nice drive away. That includes actual wilderness.

To the East are the plains. The Airport sits well outside Denver. You cab drive the freeway routes - including what used to be the Boulder Turnpike before the bonds were paid off. It became free - how often does that happen. Else, you can work your way around to miss Denver, but urban sprawl is marching outward at a rapid pace.

I go there once in a while on business and used to like the rustic motels at the mouth of Boulder Canyon. You sound like that isn't right for you.

I would encourage you to take a least a short hike in the mountains, but maybe you're better suited for the over built by gambling towns of Blackhawk/Central City.

Factory tours - take your pick. Celestial Seasonings in Boulder or Coors in Golden.

As to driving - be sure to yield to bicycles and pedestrians - they actually have them in Boulder!

Boulder is known as "The Peoples Republic of Boulder" or "Sixteen Square Miles Surrounded by Reality. All jokes aside, it's a really neat town. As far as getting to Colorado and getting to Boulder. I'd recommend coming into DEN instead of COS - you'll tack on at least an hour drive time each direction via the Springs. DEN is a pretty good, clean airport located just north east of Denver and about 45-60 odd minutes from Boulder with no traffic.
A lot of people do commute from Boulder and Denver and vice versa during the week. So the morning and evening rush hours can add a significant amount of drive time.
As others have mentioned, the Pearl street mall is a fun place and shop and Hippy watch. Lots of great restaurants in the general area. If you're into beer, there's Boulder Brewing Company, Avery, Southern Sun, Readstone Meadery in Boulder, and Oskar Blues, Left Hand, and New Belgium within an hours drive.
I'd suggest going up to Rocky Mountain National Park for a day if you have time.

Husker, you forgot that Odell's brewery is also in Fort Collins. Sorry, I'm a 90 Schilling drinker. There's also a Bud brewery there but I really don't consider that beer (more like severely watered down alcohol with a hint of artificial beer flavoring). I can't add much else that hasn't been said already.

Good call flyingcat! There are just so many great breweries in Colorado, it's easy to forget a couple here and there.

Thanks for all the advic so far!

Any particularly posh or interesting places to stay? I guess i'm hoping for a little more then just a room if i have to spend any amount of time in it. I can do tourist-y, sometimes those are fun

Are there any great museums in the boulder/denver area i should check out?

The St. Julien Hotel in downtown Boulder is very chic (compared to the rest of Boulder at least) and probably the nicest hotel in town with fine dining, a great fireplace in the lobby with an active evening scene and comfortable, new (but small) rooms with beautiful bathrooms. We were there for a week in February. It's an easy walk to Pearl Street and all the restaurants and shops.

KNRG - What are your interests? How much free time will you have? That will help determine some of the suggestions.

I also like this hotel a lot.
If you want a boring, total cookie cutter establishment for under $200 a night, there is always the good old Courtyard by Marriott.
I do recall there is an excellent restaurant for steaks as well, but cannot remember the name? Any suggestions from others?
I like Boulder a lot actually: nice town with nice people and good food.

For an older, historic, rather upscale hotel you might consider the Boulderado. If you enjoy Mexican food and/or margaritas, try Rio Grande--it's a Colorado chain and pretty good.

I'll have mostly the days to myself while the sig-o works at the shakespeare festival. At night we'll be free to do stuff together. I'm pretty much free all day every day, the sig-o will be working. I have the full week at the end of June to spend there if i want to. It will really just depend on the costs for hotel, rental car, flights, etc.

As for interests, i'm pretty open but i dont like bars/clubs or anything of that sort. More of a scenic/tourist site gawker, foodie, art museum, show person.

Come to think of it, some of my favorite parts of past travels have been museums and the restaurants inside them - that probably says a good lot about me. Spent time in Chicago and London and i only recall stuff like the Tate Modern and the Art Institute and the food at them both.

I think i can do outdoorsy too.. like tromping around caves and cliffs has proven to be fun in the past.

I dont really know what to expect in Boulder though.

If you have the time, take a drive up to Estes Park and explore the Stanley Hotel. It was built originally as a private resort by the inventor of the Stanley Steamer and is now a hotel with lots of stories about being haunted. Even if you don't buy the ghost stories, it's a fun place to explore and Estes Park is spectacular - gateway to Rocky Mt Natl Park.

KNRG,

First, there are a number of prior threads on Boulder and surrounding areas, so let me encourage you to search if you have not already (yes, I know the search is not what it used to be). If "Boulder" produces too many hits, try "Pearl" or "Flatiron." I know these threads exist because I've commented in a number of them. There is a lot of good information in them which may not be repeated in this thread.

Second, museums in Boulder will probably take part of a day, if you include Western Art and the race car museum (both near Celestial Seasonings); I think the race car museum has very limited hours. NCAR is worth a visit. The railroad museum east of Golden is good for an hour or so unless you're really into RRs. The motherlode of museums, etc. in the area is in Denver. Denver Museum of Nature and Science is pretty good, including a planetarium (CU also has a planetarium, but offerings may be sporadic). Nearby to Sci. & Nature is Denver Botanic Gardens, also worthwhile. Denver also has several art museums; the one with the most PR lately is the Denver Art Museum (aka DAM), in part due to the vertigo some people experience. I have not been to the Wings over the Rockies/Air and Space Museum. There are others as well.

Golden Gate and El Dorado Canyon State Parks are nearby and have a variety of trails for different skill levels. If you mentioned it, I didn't see what elevation you are coming from; if from a coast, you may want to spend a day or two in Boulder (about 5,300') before heading up to the mountains (Golden Gate SP is around 9,000' and Estes Park, mentioned above, is about 8,500', IIRC). Note: when driving around in the mountains, have some small bills with you, as some of the cities and state parks require daily fees for parking at trail heads, overlooks, etc.

On hotels, Boulderado which zdave mentioned is very close to Pearl Street. Boulder also has a full service Marriott, across the street from a newish open air mall, but a pretty good hike from the Pearl Street Mall. Outside of Boulder, when I stayed there several years ago before moving here, the Renaissance at Flatirons was a great hotel, and often had pretty good deals. It is between Boulder and Denver and a free shuttle ride away from the largest mall area north of Denver.

If I were you, I'd save Pearl St. Mall for a warm evening with your S.O. Most shops seems to stay open until 8 or 9 (a few later).

The area in or near Boulder has many good rock climbing areas. Also, there seem to be a lot of geocaching caches in the area. There are many walking, hiking, and biking trails in the area (and shops around which rent bikes). There is some tubing (riding an intertube in a stream) in Boulder depending on water levels, but whitewater rafting is as close as Idaho Springs (there is a thread discussing operators in I. S.). Also, some gold panning near I. S.

I hope those thoughts help. And I really encourage you to go back through similar threads in this forum. I think you will find enough to stay busy for a week. (And apologies if I repeated a comment someone elso posted.)

Thanks for all the advice!

I spent a day (literally) in Boulder moving the friend in to do his job and then flew out of Denver. I got a decent lay of the land that way. He's right next to the university and like 5mins from Pearl street at the place they have him.

I spent a good lot of time trying to find a decent hotel and everything is booked for atleast one or two of the days of the week i want to be there at the end of the month. All kinds of local events.

I eventually gave up on Boulder-proper and i'm sort of nearby (it didn't seem like a far drive and the maps say 20mins) at the Westin Westminster.

I figure if i have his car while he's at work i'll be okay.

Anyone been to this hotel? Like it, hate it?

I'm thinking about adding a few days to the trip so we can watch Wall-E together the day it opens in theaters. Silly, but i tend to be a slightly silly person.