I will be in Denver this July. My journey will actually start and end in Denver but also travel through Wyoming and Montana. Since I will be there, I would like to take advantage of the free time in Denver (probably 2 full days). I travel on a very light budget, however, and I am not very picky about hotels since I spend very little time in them. I will use Priceline but I am hoping you have some advice on the neighborhoods.

As I said, I do not need the BEST neighborhood, just one that is relatively safe and would let me get into the city or out to some good sights/activities fairly easily. The only activity I know I would like to do for sure is to see a Rockies game... the rest is up in the air.

So, here are the neighborhoods for Priceline's bidding. If any should be avoided, please let me know. If any stand out out as top locations for a short visit, that helps too. I will have a car.

Denver neighborhoods:
-Aurora
-Cherry Creek
-Denver Airport
-Denver Southwest - Lakewood
-Denver West
-Downtown Denver
-Littleton
-Northeast Denver
-Northglenn - Thornton
-Stapleton
-Tech Center North
-Tech Center South
-Westminster-Broomfield

PS- I can also build in stays in Sheridan, Casper, or Cheyenne, too... so if you have any tips on those spots that is great! As always, thanks for the help!

As a non-native, who has been to Denver many times, and expects to move there next year, I recommend downtown or Cherry Creek.

If you check on places like HOtwire or Travelocity you can see some hotels, etc. Our kids live in GreenwoodVillage (Littleton)--basically Tech Center South. On week-ends you can get phenomenal deals on hotels, some with kitchens. The train is right there to take into town. I looked for a hotel room one time when I thought we might need to stay away from their house. There are lots of hotels because of tons business travellers. It certainly isn't center city but could be very cheap. Are you driving?

To be more complete. You don't want the airport--too far. I would stay downtown, Cherry Creek (both will be pricey, even on PL--at least not low priced),Littleton, and the Tech Center area. I'm not sure what they mean by "north" but I'm pretty sure there is only one Tech Center. it is around Arapahoe/Orchard/Belleview. Not too far to Park Meadows, the shopping area on steroids!!

Thanks!
I am not driving TO Denver but I will have a rental car there. I am actually flying into Denver, driving north to Sheridan, WY, and then eventually returning to Denver. It will be quite a journey!

I will get a few nights of calm in Denver, though, so finding an acceptable neighborhood was big. This is very helpful.

I wouldn't choose Aurora, because it is huge and you could end up anywhere quite far from Denver proper. Denver Airport is in the middle of nowhere.

I agree with choosing Cherry Creek or Downtown. Even Stapleton, because there are good hotels there, and probably free parking. I think you'd pay for parking in CC or downtown, but I'm not sure about that.

Good luck! I hope you enjoy Denver.
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Aurora: too big and too far east; iffy neighborhoods in areas.

Cherry Creek: OK, but expensive

Denver Airport: WAY too far east.

Denver SW-Lakewood: safe, but probably not the easiest to get back into town or on your way to Wyoming.

Denver west: safe, relatively easy to get back into town, but it's not on the way to Wyoming.

Downtown Denver: Realtively safe & convenient.

Littleton: too far south & west.

Northeast Denver: iffy neighborhoods in places.

Northglenn-Thornton: safe, easy to get back downtown. good place to launch up to Wyoming.

Stapleton: relatively safe, not too far east, relatively easy to get back downtown.

Tech Center Anywhere: too far south.

Westminster/Broomfield: safe, easy to get back downtown. Best spot from which to launch up to Boulder or Estes Park. Better than anyplace other than Northglenn-Thornton to stary heading up to Wyoming.

I'd suggest sticking with:
Downtown Denver, or Northglenn-Thornton,

with honorable mentions to Cherry Creek (if you can find a place cheap enough), Westminster/Broomfield, and Denver West.

Thanks again for all this help!

One other little question... how much time should it take to drive from Coors Field to the Airport?

I was thinking of going to the day game on July 23rd and just going to the airport from there. I doubt I would stay for the whole game... most likely leave after about 2 hours. I was planning on allowing an hour to get from the stadium to the airport... please let me know if that is being too generous or too risky. Thanks!

If you leave before the game traffic begins, and there are no other big events in downtown that day, one hour should be good. That would be a generous drive time to the airport, but not including returning a rental car, parking, etc.

I'm always OCD about catching planes, so I'd allow even more time, just to accommodate worst case scenarios. I hate running to catch a plane! Enjoy Denver and your trip through Wyoming and Montana. It's gorgeous.
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I live in downtown Denver (Capitol Hill area) and love it! Because you only have 2 days to explore, I recommend staying in the downtown Denver/LoDo area. It's pedestrian-friendly, which is good because parking can be difficult and isn't free. You can walk (or use the free 16th Street Mall shuttle) to shops, restaurants, museums, theatres, breweries, etc. Plus, it's the closest to where the Rockies play. You can drive to the Cherry Creek area (about 5 miles away) for upscale shopping and restaurants. All the other neighborhoods are far and would require driving.

Yes if you can stay downtown, stay downtown. The comfort Inn is pretty moderate

www.denvercomfortinn.com

My 2nd choice would be the Stapleton area

I have put people in coming to the University Hospital at http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...-denver-hotel/

They give them a great rate

Shandy,

I live in Thornton and the drive to Coors Field is not bad at all, especially mid-day. Cheyenne Wyo is about 90 minutes from here and while you're in the area Cheyenne Frontier Days is going on http://www.cfdrodeo.com . As usual, there'll be big music acts as well as rodeo. And as someone mentioned above, Estes Park and Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park are beautiful sights and remember your camera.

So, nutshell advice: if you want to avoid traffic and the rush of the city, and have a base of operations for travel North, stay somewhere like Thornton/Northglenn. If you want to experience Denver, downtown is the place to pick!

Have a great time in the mile-high city!

I'm just going to make one more pitch for the Tech Center since the OP says budget is important. You can stay cheap (probably under $40/night) have free parking and take the light rail downtown in less time than you can drive it. Comfort Inn is a nice facility but parking is $15 per night or was when we stayed there.
for your car rental I look on Hotwire first to get the amount of taxes and airport surcharge. Then bid on PL, knowing what will be added.

We found hotels in Tech Center very affordable. If you have a car, everything is convenient (we got to the Art Museum, Botanical Gardens, baseball stadium area and around town with no difficulty whatsoever). Park Meadows may be a shopping center on steroids, but we really enjoyed our meal at Brio Tuscan Grille there.

I agree the Tech Center idea, I regularly stay there on the weekends and have gotten the Hyatt or Marriott for $35 a night.

I disagree with the Thornton/Northglenn suggestion.

And as far the Tech center being too far, I make the drive ( non-rush hour) from Hampden to past downtown (38th and Tennyson in Northwest Denver, which is about 10 minutes from downtown) in 20 minutes.

Susan

OK, I'll try one more time. Leaving for the airport from the Rockies game is dead easy--get on I25 to I70 to Pena BLVD. It is a matter of a couple of turns.

I hope you have had a good trip.,