Colorado Vacation in July
 

My family and I are planning a trip Colorado in Mid-July from Florida. We have 2 children ages 12 and 8. The current plan is to spend 4 days in Denver and 3 days in Colorado Springs. While in Denver we plan to do the touristy things like visiting the State Capital, African American West Museum, Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum (my husband’s into these), Six Flags (for the children), etc.

1. Can someone recommend a side trip? Boulder, Breckenridge, etc??
2. Anything good or bad about Casa Bonita?
3. Any unique suggestions for Denver?

On the way to Colorado Springs, we plan to stop in Canon City and do the Royal Gorge Railway ride. In Colorado Springs, we’re visiting Garden of the Gods, Manitou Cliff Dwellings, driving Pike’s Peak highway, going horseback riding, etc. One of the nights we plan to eat at The Flying W Ranch.

4. Any other suggestions I can look into?
Also, my husband is into motorcycling and plans to rent a bike for a day of riding.

5. Any scenic routes suitable for motorcycles near Colorado Springs?
6. Any general comments about anything we have planned?

Is Casa Bonita the mexican restaurant near Denver?

You've got some good stuff so far! Here's a few more suggestions:
-You might try to catch a Rockies game, if any of you are baseball fans - they're fun!
- The Art Museum is very cool.
- I may be in the minority, but Casa Bonita is fun (the food is ooky) and the kids love it - cliff divers, game rooms, hokey acts, a 'cave'.
- I like taking out of town meat-eaters to the Buckhorn Exchange - lots of game (great if your kids are adventurous) - a similar alternative is The Fort (near Morrison)
- See who might be in concert at Red Rocks amphitheatre while you're here - even if there's no shows that might appeal, it's an amazing natural amphitheatre.
- If you are hikers, Boulder is a nice side trip - take a hike up in Chatauqua Park and have lunch up there, or go down to the Pearl Street Mall for lunch. Or you can rent bikes at the Pearl Street Mall and take a short ride up Boulder Canyon along the bike path.

Don't know what your plans are to get to Colorado Springs, but Canon City is definitely not on the way there. It's several hours beyond - just something to consider - the Royal Gorge is cool, but Canon City itself is not worth a stop.

There are many scenic roads for motorcycles in the mountains near Colorado Springs - and I've taken them - but unfortunately, I can't think of them now!

1. Boulder would be a great side trip. You can shop on Pearl St., visit Chautauqua Park, hike up the flatirons if you want to. There's the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House which is fabulous. The Celestials Seasonings Factory is on the outskirts of town. You can take a free tour there. That's what I can think of off the top of my head.
2. Funny. Did your kids see Casa Bonita on South Park? My step-brother-in-law visited for the first time last year and it was on his list of must-sees - he saw it on South Park. Your kids will love it, but the food is horrible. And it's not in that interesting of an area.
3. For Denver, you didn't mention the Denver Zoo, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Mint. There is a water park North of Denver called Highland Hills Water World which your kids would also love. Check out the Tattered Cover book store. Again... just off the top of my head.

Don't forget the Cave of the Winds while you're in CS.

PS - you could also make a nice day trip out of Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Yes, Casa Bonita is a fun family restaurant in Denver with a waterfall and cliff divers. see www.casabonitadenver.com. The food is like Mexican cafeteria food but we still love to go there.

Thanks all for your responses.
- Your thoughts of Casa Bonita are appreciated. I guess if we end up there, I will know what to expect about the food.
- We like baseball and usually take in a game in whatever city we're visiting during the summer, if they have a team. Unfortunately, though, the Rockies will be out town while we're there. I do plan to schedule a tour of Coors Park.
- I don't plan to do anything in Canon City other than the Royal Gorge ride. So it is ok if the city itself is not worth the trip.

One more questions, how steep is the bike path along Boulder Canyon? We were surprised in Seattle last summer with our bike ride on Bainbridge Island. We're not used to steep inclines (being from Florida) and since I am the principle vacation planner, I almost had a mutiny on my hands!!!

The bike path up Boulder Canyon isn't steep at all - it's a pretty gradual slope - the part going up the canyon is about 3 miles (maybe?) and the path going the other direction follows Boulder Creek all the way through the city. Not overly scenic, but a nice way to get the lay of the town and a little exercise. I think the part through the canyon is lovely, and I'm pretty sure there will be no mutinous thoughts among your crew!

My family loved Casa Bonita (ages 12,14,18,18). The food is average but they will always remember it. I went when I was 12 and just had to take my kids there, it is soooo campy!

The Gorge is pretty but all the literature made the park sound like a cool amusement park, it is not. The park is kinda' lame. My kids were disappointed. They did like Six Flags, make sure and bring a swimsuit as the water park is in the same place.

If your kids are thrill seekers, take the time to go white water rafting. There are a lot of rafting companies around the gorge area. See the gorge for a half an hour and then go rafting for a half day trip. Also a quick thrilling helicopter ride down into the gorge is great. A little pricey but very cool!

I also suggest a half day rafting trip from Canon City. A lot of fun!

Personally, I'm not a fan of either Canon City or the Royal Gorge. It's pretty expensive to get into and basically an expansion bridge over a canyon. Not my thing but others may disagree. The state prison is there also. Rafting would be fun. Out of CC are small roads west into the mountains that could be turned into an interesting round trip into Denver. I think you can eventually circle around to I-70.

I find Colorado Springs more interesting. The Cave of the Winds is fun. If you are really adventurous, they have special red lantern tours into remote parts of the cave. Be warned that it's not a Carlsbad Cavern. There are some great free activities in CS. The Olympic Training Center gives tours. You can just show up for tickets. You can also get into the Air Force Academy grounds. How much you can see will be dependent upon the terror alert level for the week. North of CS on I-25 is a big factory outlet mall. We like to stop at the food court and give each of our kids $5 for food and let them pick it out. The Garden of the Gods is a great picnic spot. It could be very hot and parking can be difficult.

It's always hard to say what July will be like. The weather can be unbearably hot or cool and rainy. In south Denver, there is a place called Fat City. It's one of those indoor amusement places with games, skating and kid things. If you have a day when you can't be outside, your kids would have fun there. There are usually coupons on their website.

Six Flags, like any amusement park can be very expensive and crowded. It's a generic Six Flags park. We like the water park at Water World better. It's also off I-25 in north Denver. It's a big well-maintained park. They will also allow you to bring in your own food and that can save you BIG bucks. The park usually has discount coupons on soda cans. A few miles north on I-25 is a place called Boondoggles. It's got a mini-golf course, cars and games. It's a good place for kids.

Boulder is gorgeous and worth the trip. In south Boulder, you can go to the NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) building. Located just under the Flatirons, it's got a wonderful view. I think you can tour the facility and there are great hiking trails around it. Lunch on the Pearl Street Mall is always interesting. I second the teahouse. On certain days, the excellent farmers market is just outside of it. North of Boulder is the Celestial Seasonings Tea plant. It's always a fun tour. The machines are shutdown on weekends if you like to see the actual process. Practically next door is the Leaning Tree Museum of Western Art. This company makes greeting cards. It's fine collection of orginal artwork is on display. Last summer, they opened a new sculpture garden full of bronzes. These are all free. I think there is also a small car museum close by.

As a warning, I couldn't venture high into the mountains until you've been in Colorado a day or 2. When you come from sea level, the altitude can really get you. Bring plenty of sunblock and drink lots of water.

Thanks for all of the new information. You all have given me more to consider for our trip.

Now, my question is about hotels. My two choices for hotels in Denver are the Renaissance Denver Hotel and the Doubletree Hotel Denver. We would like to be near downtown.

In Colorado Springs, I have selected the Wyndham Colorado Springs Hotel.

We are not interested in the budget hotels but don't want to break the bank either -- so we are somewhere in the middle!!

Can anyone give me opinions on my choices? Are they nice hotels? Any other ideas?

The Renaissance is a very nice hotel. We've stayed there several times when in town for my daughter's dance competitions. BUT, the only reason we stayed there was the close proximity to the competition. Both hotels you mentioned are across the street from the 'old' Denver airport that's no longer in use. The area is experiencing a kind of renaissance, with restaurants, shopping and housing but it's not an area that I'd stay in on vacation.

Have you checked out downtown hotels? I would think you could get some pretty good summer rates. The Embassy Suites hotel is nice and good for families. We also like the downtown Marriott, Hotel Monaco and the Westin (the kids loved the goldfish that was loaned to us while we were at Hotel Monaco :-) ). We haven't stayed there but I've heard great things about the downtown Hampton Inn. The nice thing about staying downtown is that you can walk to restaurants galore, do some shopping on the pedestrian-only mall and even walk to a Rockies baseball game. It would really enhance your vacation experience, in my opinion.

As for Casa Bonita, go if you must but either eat elsewhere before or after.

I'll write more later--I have a teenager hanging over my shoulder right now insisting that she needs the computer for homework. I'm guessing MSN is more like it but oh well!

Back again...

Another poster mentioned Water World in north Denver. Definitely worth a day!! A year or so ago it was listed on the Travel Channel's 10 best U.S. water parks. It's a lot of fun.

Boulder is great--one of my all time favorite towns. We live a couple hours away and Flatiron Crossing (south of Boulder a few miles) is our favorite mall area in the Denver metro area. For a superior family hotel (at a reasonable $130 or so a night on the weekends), try the Omni Interlocken (directly across from Flatiron Crossing). It's almost a resort hotel, which is amazing, considering how close it is to Denver (you can drive to downtown Denver in under a half hour, traffic willing). Great golf course, fabulous pool area, wonderful new spa...

Your trip sounds wonderful and the activities you mentioned will keep you hopping. Happy travels!

Travelingtedrows,
Thanks for the info on Boulder. We have a store and go to the International New Age Tradeshow in Denver every June. We are going to Boulder for a day to meet with our rep at Leanin' Tree and I want to try hitting some of the places you mentioned.

Does New Belguim Brewery do tours too? Hee hee, Fat Tire Ale, yum!

The Wyndham in Colorado Springs is a fine choice - I like the Doubletree there as well, and if you want something different, there's a wonderful B&B very convenient to everything called the Hearthstone Inn.

My kids loved Casa Bonita. Several years ago, we were driving back from Beaver Creek to the Denver airport when hubby stopped for gasoline and asked the attendant for restaurant suggestions (kids were having a mutiny in the back seat because they were "starving".). The guy gave us directions to CB. My kids still talk about that place, and wish we had one in Atlanta.

After all these years I finally went to Casa Bonita about a year or so ago and I really could have done without it. I think smaller kids would find it more exciting than older ones and the food isn't just average. It was the worst cafeteria style mexican food I've ever had and it was packed so there was a ridiculously long line to wait in. The place is pretty old so It's not the cleanest. I just think it's highly overrated for what it is.

Some other ideas are the Denver Zoo which has had some nice new additions to it in the last year and the Nature and Science museum is right next to it. In Colorado Springs the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has the best Giraffe exhibit where you are at eye level with them, you can touch them and feed them.

Yale gives you some wonderful suggestions. Personally, I would rather spend a day at Water World rather than Six Flags. Six Flags is just a generic park with thrill rides. Since you are from Florida, I'm assuming you have been to some of the great theme parks and Six Flags would be a let down.

Boulder or Breckenridge are both good side trips. As previously recommended the Celestial Seasonings tour is fun, especially if your kids like machinery. Also, they will never forget the mint room. Breckenridge has the Alpine Slide, which your kids would love.

Casa Bonita is horrible. I know many people like it, but I find it dirty and not well maintained. If your kids want an arcade, you would be better off going to ESPN Zone or Dave & Busters. For dinner I would recommend the Wynkoop Brewery. Great beer for the adults and yummy root beer for the kids. The food is also good.

Another idea for the Pikes Peak area is the Cog Train. We really enjoyed the scenery during the ride to the summit. Just be prepared for any type of weather at the top. We went in July and had rain, snow, thunder and lightning at the summit.

I forgot to add - if you are interested in the Denver Mint you can make reservations (which are necessary) up to three months in advance. You can do a google search for their website.