Planning Your Time

An easy way to organize the first day of a visit to Denver is to start at one end of the pedestrian-friendly downtown and work your way to the other using the free 16th Street Mall shuttle. The Central Platte Valley neighborhood (a short walk across Millennium Bridge), LoDo, and RiNo sit at one end, with Larimer Square on the way toward Capitol Hill at the other. Along the way, a few blocks' walk from the Mall can take you to attractions such as the Denver Art Museum, the History Colorado Center, and the U.S. Mint.

A car or bus ride is necessary to visit City Park or Cherry Creek, but once there, these areas also are easily navigated on foot and can offer a second day's worth of attractions, including the Denver Zoo, Denver Botanic Gardens, and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science at City Park, and the plethora of shopping and restaurants of Cherry Creek North.