Highlights of Downtown Denver, CO
(You can find this neat mural in Downtown RiNO)
It’s time to talk about Denver, the greatest city in the worl—okay, okay nowhere is as great as our hometown of course (shout out Peoria — love you!) but if we lived anywhere else, we’ve both agreed, Denver is our soul city. We didn’t even get close to experiencing all Denver has to offer, but we’re here to report back with some really rockin’ spots that you should definitely add to your itinerary when you go.
Death and Co.
First of all, let’s talk about our whole reason for going to Denver in the first place — it was to visit Death and Co, the famous cocktail bar and that trailblazed the modern cocktail movement. We’ve held their book in high esteem for a while and thought it was about time we visited one of their locations in person. They did not disappoint! We even had such a great time with our server, she gave us two daquiris on the house at the end of the night. These cocktails are creative, innovative, and we guarantee there will be ingredients on the menu you’ve never heard of before in your life (unless you’re a cocktail super-genius, and in that case, gold star!)
Denver Milk Market
We actually just stumbled upon this sweet little corner of the city when we were visiting Deviation Distilling (they have really really good gin). We walked out to find an alley full of neat murals and lots of neat little shops and restaurants packed into a cafeteria-style lobby called The Milk Market! We didn’t spend nearly enough time here, but it was absolutely packed with people. There were lots of spots for cool photo ops and plenty to eat and imbibe. Highly recommend this little corner of the city!
Larimer Square
Larimer Square is Denver’s historic district —a little blog spot right in the middle of downtown— with dozens of revived shops and restaurants to visit. They have cozy little restaurants that have been in business 20+ to designer shoe shops and sports gear stores. Enjoy an outdoor breakfast or lunch here in the summer among the foliage and decades of history. This is a must-see when you’re in town!
The Museum of Illusions
As you’re well aware, we’re travel instagrammers — meaning we’re suckers for a great shot for the ‘gram. Naturally we had to check out this museum in downtown for a couple neat photos and a new experience. We really enjoyed this place. We will say it was much smaller than expected, and to that end, a lot more expensive than we felt it was worth at the end of it, but its great for anyone who loves puzzles, optical illusions, or needs a new profile pic. If you’ve got extra cash at the end of your trip, definitely give this place a try!
River North Arts District
This area was easily the highlight of our trip — we loved it so much we went back the second night. This bustling street is absolutely the bar scene you want when you travel. Each little restaurant, bar or distillery has its own vibe, most have live music or shows on weekends, and the city closes off the whole block so you don’t have to worry about traffic when you’re crossing the street. This is where the young people of Denver gather, and there is no shortage of food, shops, interesting cocktails, or things to do here!
Denver Botanic Gardens
Lastly, let’s talk about Denver Botanic Gardens. We’re always down for a relaxing morning at a place like this, and we were shocked at how big these gardens ended up being! We spent hours here and didn’t even see everything. There’s even a little restaurant nestled right in the middle of place you can stop for a small snack or some lunch. Our favorite parts were the lily pads, the natural prairie, and the bonsai garden!