City sites in Denver/Boulder area?
 

I'm looking for some must-sees in the Denver or Boulder area. We're on a 3+ week camping trip that centers almost entirely around nature and hiking. My 16 yr old daughter is more of a city girl so we thought we'd spend a few nights in a nice hotel and seeing things that spark her interest. We all love unusual ethnic and street food. She loves art, giraffes, astronomy, museums in general, funky little artisan shops. I don't know. Throw it out there. What must we see?

Go to the Denver Art Museum--and the Natural History.
Pearl Street (in Denver) has a lot of fun little shops and I particularly like Five Green Boxes which has two locations on the street. There are good restaurants along also--Indian.

The Monaco by Kimpton is a perfect hotel for you! Great location and super staff and service!

In addition to the Denver Art Museum, the Denver zoo (next to the Museum of Nature and Science in City Park) is nice, and has some new exhibits. Denver has two planetariums with shows, and Boulder also has one on the CU campus.
In Boulder (actually 15 minutes away in the former town of Gunbarrel), people like the Celestial Seasonings factory tour, and 1 minute away from that is the fun Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art (free, and a very nice outdoor sculpture garden). The Dushanbe Teahouse in Boulder is also a nice place to have bite.
Depending on exactly when you're here, check out the schedule for the Delta Aquarids and Perseids meteor showers.

If you visit the Denver Art Museum on a Tuesday or Thursday around lunch time you can stop by Civic Center Eats at Civic Center Park. A wide variety of food trucks and music.

If she enjoys reading make a stop at The Tattered Cover bookstore in LoDo.

I used to recommend the Dushanbe Teahouse but the last time I went the food and service were horrible. It is definitely worth a look but I probably wouldn't order anything more than a pot of tea.

Just visited the Denver Art Museum a couple of weeks ago - there is a very nice exhibit on post-Impressionist art. If you daughter is like most young girls, she will really like it.

Thanks, guys. I've been running your suggestions past her. The art museum and planetarium ideas hit the spot. Gotta check out that bookstore, too. If you think of anything else, we're all ears. Appreciated.

The Tattered Cover on Colfax has a nice restaurant--Silvi's Kitchen--salads, sandwiches, pizza, fresh juices etc. http://www.silviskitchen.com/

Here are some other websites you might find helpful
Denver Art Museum http://www.denverartmuseum.org/
Santa Fe Arts District-lots of galleries, restaurants, shops etc--close to downtown Denver http://www.artdistrictonsantafe.com/
shopping in the Highlands District--also close to downtown--http://highlanddenver.com/where-to-shop-in-the-highlands-with-map/
Planetarium at Museum of Nature and Science in City Park http://www.dmns.org/planetarium/curr...stem-adventure
Denver Zoo http://www.denverzoo.org/

If you're going to be in Colorado Springs--the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has lots of giraffes http://www.cmzoo.org/

Under the category of "museums in general", here are some smaller ones that include a historical aspect.

Right next to the art museum is the Byers-Evens House:
http://www.historycolorado.org/museu...s-house-museum

William Byers founded Denver's first newspaper, <i>The Rocky Mountain News</i> in 1859. He also guided famed Hudson River school artist Albert Bierstadt on an expedition through the mountains that resulted in some iconic paintings, and he was with John Wesley Powell for the first known ascent of Longs Peak.

The nearby <i>Titanic</i> survivor Molly Brown's house is another grand old Denver mansion:
http://www.mollybrown.org/

Both require a guided tour. My wife and I thought they were both excellent.

If she has any interest in this subject, then the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden is fun, though it's tucked out in the middle of relative nowhere:
http://coloradorailroadmuseum.org/

Have a great trip.

This is another fun and quirky museum- http://www.kirklandmuseum.org

Yes, I had forgotten that one DebitNM, excellent suggestion. Unless there is a particular interest in trains, I'd go to the Kirkland over the railroad museum.

How about Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison, just west of Denver? "150 million year old dinosaur bones are encased in sandstone at eye level and visitors are encouraged to touch, feel, and experience these remnants from Late Jurassic floodplains and stream channels!... 100 million year old dinosaur tracks sit atop layers of sand and mudstone, the pads of the toes and patterns of migration seen in over 300 footprints and 37 trackways."
http://www.dinoridge.org/stufftodo.html
Also, while in Boulder, the NCAR building (designed by I.M. Pei) has a terrific visitors' area with exhibits, and easy access to some really nice hiking trails.

Someone mentioned the food trucks in Civic Center on Tue and Thu which is across the street from the Denver Art Museum (or DAM). Here's a link to the food truck info:
http://www.civiccenterconservancy.or...s-2014_74.html

I work downtown across the street and my family loves coming down at least once a summer to have lunch with me at the food trucks.

Let me add: Red Rocks Park, The US Mint, and there are a number of great parks in the area such as Roxborough.

If you want to visit the mint (see my trip report), then you need to make a reservation ahead of time.

If you want to see bears and large cats , then check out the Wild Animal Sanctuary in nearby Hudson/Keenesburg. I also wrote a trip report on it.

You didn't mention colo springs, but you did mention Giraffes. The Colo springs zoo has a viewing platform that places patrons at basically the same height as the giraffes, allowing you to really see them up close and feed them.