Visiting Colorado soon? Here’s a guide to 4 days in Colorado, with time spent in Denver, Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Colorado Springs! Looking for some of the best things to do in Colorado? Keep on reading!
We visited Colorado for the first time together during the summer of 2017 and had a super fun long weekend exploring three major cities, Rocky Mountain National Park, and eating delicious food. We always say that if we were to live anywhere else besides the West Coast, it would definitely be Colorado!
From the awesome food and coffee scene to the endless outdoor adventures, it’s our kind of state! You could easily spend more than 4 days in Colorado and we have so much of the state left to explore, but if youโre considering heading to The Centennial State for the first time and want to visit some of the main cities (Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs) and Rocky Mountain National Park without breaking the bank, hereโs an itinerary for 4 days in Colorado to help you out!
Note: This itinerary is based out of Denver and involves a decent amount of driving, but the drives are typically very scenic and worth it! If you are only going to spend time in a couple of these areas, check out our “if you have extra time” section at the end for more ideas of things to do in Colorado and places to eat!
To read a more detailed recap of our trip to Colorado, check out our blog!
Looking For More Things To Do In Colorado? Check out our other guides:
- The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Rocky Mountain National Park
- A Complete Guide to visiting Mesa Verde National Park
- Things to do at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
- 12 Day Southwest Colorado Road Trip Itinerary
- How to hike Mount Elbert: The highest point in Colorado!
- All of our Colorado Vlogs
- All of our Colorado Guides
Before embarking on your adventure, please review theย Leave No Trace principlesย to ensure you leave every place better than you found it, so that others can enjoy these beautiful places for many years to come!
These seven principles include planning ahead and preparing, hiking and camping on durable surfaces, disposing of waste properly (pack out what you pack in!), understanding campfire rules and always fully extinguishing your fires, respecting wildlife, and being considerate of other visitors.ย
Note: this blog contains affiliate links. Full disclosureโ if you click on these links and make a purchase, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. We will only ever recommend products we truly love, actually use during our adventures, and think you can benefit from too!
โWhere to stay in Colorado
We recommend staying in Denver because itโs the most central spot to all of the destinations on this guide and has a great food scene. On the days we traveled outside of Denver, we loved coming back to Denver at night for a delicious dinner and some ice cream. :)โ
Some good VRBO options in Denver are:ย Option #1, Option #2, Option #3. If you prefer a hotel,ย The Crawford, inside of Denver’s Union Station looks super cool!
And if you’d rather stay in one of the other cities, here are a few good options:
Boulder:ย Hotel Boulderado, St. Julien Hotel & Spa
Colorado Springs: Option #1, Option #2
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Getting Around Colorado
While within Denver and Boulder you could easily walk or take an Uber/Lyft around, we highly recommend renting a car for your trip so you can easily get from city to city and to the mountains.
Day 1: Denver
- Grab coffee at Huckleberry Roasters! We loved the murals both inside and outside of this coffee shops, as well as their seasonal drinks!
- Get breakfast at Snooze, an A.M. Eatery. This place is SO good! They are originally from Colorado, but have locations in Texas, Arizona, and California, but it’s worth checking them out in their hometown. Make sure to get their pancake flight! If you’ve had Snooze before, check out Sassafras American Eatery instead!
- Wander around Union Station, which is a beautiful renovated train station from 1914. Itโs still a working train station, but is also home to restaurants (like Snooze, mentioned above!) and shops!
- Walk around downtown Denver. Some spots to visit:
- Coors Field
- Tattered Cover Book Store
- Larimer Squareโsuch a cute little street!
- The Crush Walls, which are a bunch of cool murals! We loved the murals in the RiNo area especially!
- Explore and have lunch at the Denver Central Market. This indoor market has multiple restaurants to choose from, a bar, coffee, and more! After finishing lunch, grab an ice cream flight from High Point Creamery, which is also in the market and sooo good!
- Head to Red Rocks Park and hike the Red Rocks Trail and then stay for an outdoor concert among the red rocks! You can check out their concert schedule here. Not a fan of anyone playing during your trip? Check out a game at Coors Field instead or go brewery hopping!
- Note: If you go to Red Rocks youโll want to pack a dinner or snack to eat before the concert. Trader Joeโs in Denver has lots of great pre-made options!
Day 2: Boulder
- Kick off the morning with breakfast at Denver Biscuit Co. before heading to Boulder (a 35 minute drive). This biscuit spot has been featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives and is a super popular spot in town, so try to get there early!
- Grab coffee at Boxcar Coffee Roasters in Boulder. This is right on Pearl Street, which is the coolest little street with a view of the mountains.
- Walk around Pearl Street Mall. This tree-lined street is super cute and a bit touristy at times, but we love walking around it! Boulder Book Store was one of our favorite finds on Pearl Street.
- Have a quick lunch on Pearl Street. A handful of cheap options:
- Hike the trails at Chautauqua Park! We recommend the Royal Arch Trailโ3.4 miles, 1,358 ft elevation gain. Make sure you’re adjusted to the altitude change (unlike we were) otherwise this will feel a LOT harder!
- โDinner at Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery. This is a cash only spot is a Boulder institution and has a lot of variety for all different taste buds.
- For dessert, head over to Gelato Boy!
- Head back to Denver for the night. Try to get some sleep because tomorrow will be a big adventure!
Looking for more information about Rocky Mountain National Park including things to do and places to stay? Check out our Things to do in Rocky Mountain National Park guide for tons of information about where to stay, places to stay, things to do, and where to eat nearby!
Day 3: Rocky Mountain National Park
- Leave Denver bright and early to drive to Rocky Mountain National Park, which is a 1.5 hour drive. It gets crazy busy there in the summer and parking can be hard (and there are long shuttle lines), so try to leave as early as possible.
- You have a handful of amazing hiking options for your one day in the park! We’d suggest one of the options listed below.
- If you have enough time or just want something easy to do, drive Trail Ridge road, which is 48 miles one way and offers amazing views, chances to see wildlife, and overlooks to stop at! We’d recommend at least driving to the Alpine Visitor Center from Estes Park, which has the majority of the views.
- Walk around Estes ParkโโInkwell & Brew is a cool coffee shop if you need a caffeine boost!
- Head back to Denver for dinner. We highly recommend Chop Shop Casual Urban Eatery. It was one of our favorite meals our whole trip! The food feels very high quality and fancy, but it’s an order at the counter joint
. - Walk across the street to grab dessert โat Nuggs Ice Cream!
Hike Options in Rocky Mountain National Park
- Emerald Lake Trail (3.2 miles, 620 ft elevation gain)- This hike starts at Bear Lake and passes Nymph and Dream Lakes before ending at Emerald Lake. The trail is gorgeous and all of the lakes are so pretty! You can even add on Hiayaha Lake for a total of 4.9 miles.
- Alberta Falls and Mills Lake (5.4 miles, 938 ft of elevation gain)- We loved this hike! We did this in combination with Emerald Lake and Mills Lake was a lot less busy and the views were gorgeous (the main photo for this guide was taken from the Mills Lake hike!)
- Sky Pond (8.5 miles, 1,761 ft of elevation gain)- It’s said this is one of the BEST hikes in the park, although it’s a bit more strenuous than the previous hikes. We plan to hike this in the summer of 2021.
- Chasm Lake (8.2 miles, 2,542 ft of elevation gain)- Another amazing lake hike that requires a good uphill climb to get to.
- Mount Ida (9.3 miles, 2,362 ft of elevation gain)- This trail is located off of Trail Ridge Road and has an incredible view from the top!
Tip: Pack a picnic lunch to enjoy on the trail!
Want to get 30% off an AllTrails+ membership? Click this link or use our code aplusk30 (you must redeem this code on the website, not the app)!
We use AllTrails+ on every single hike and it is the most helpful hiking tool out there! Some of the features we love are offline maps (so we can navigate even without cell service), wrong-turn alerts, and its 3D maps feature, so we can get a feel for trails before we hike.
Note:
Rocky Mountain National Park now has timed entry in the park between June 4-October 12 to help control crowds. Reserve your time to enter here. You can also enter the park without a permit before or after the permit hours.
The park also offers a free shuttle, which you may need to take if you arrive late and parking is full.
Day 4: Colorado Springs
- Leave Denver relatively early to drive to Colorado Springs, which is about 1 hour 15 minutes away from Denver. You’ll want to make sure to have enough time to explore there!
- Enjoy breakfast + coffee at Switchback Coffee Roasters or Loyal Coffee.
- Drive to the top of Pikeโs Peakโthe round trip journey to the 14,114′ summit is between 2-3 hours. It does cost money to do this ($10/adult or $35/car with up to 5 people), but the views are amazing!
- Grab lunch at Skirted Heifer or Piglatin Cocina.
- Explore the trails at Garden of the Gods. This park is SO cool and really fun (and easy) to walk around. It’s perfect for all ages and athletic abilities!
- Head back to Denver for dinner. Some options:
- Avanti Food & BeverageโWe loved Quiero Arepas and the view from upstairs!
- โWork & Class
- Root Down
- Linger
- Enjoy one last ice cream at Little Man Ice Cream or Sweet Action Ice Cream โ(Can you tell we love ice cream?!)
If you have extra time…
Have more than 4 days in Colorado? Here is a list of more things to do in Colorado, including food, hikes, and more!
Food
- Torchyโs Tacos–Our favorite taco shop from Austin is also in Denver! Not local, but so dang good. Get the queso!โโ
- Tocabe (Denver)
- Chook Charcoal Chicken (Denver)
- Jelly Cafe (Denver)
- Sam’s No. 3 Downtown (Denver)
- Birdcall (Denver)
- Onefold (Denver)
- Pony Up (Denver)
- Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs (Denver)
- Las Tortas (Denver)
- Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse (Boulder)
- Snarfโs sandwiches (Boulder)
- Pizzeria Locale (Boulder)
- The Buff Restaurant (Boulder)
- Blackbelly Market (Boulder–a little pricier)
- Avery Brewing (Boulder)
- Urban Steam (Colorado Springs)
- Shugaโs (Colorado Springs)
- Garden of the Gods Market and Cafe (Colorado Springs)
- Monse Pupuseria (Colorado Springs)
- Paravicini’s Italian Bistro (Colorado Springs)
Coffee
Colorado has a solid coffee scene!
- Blue Sparrow Coffee (Denver)
- Little Owl Coffee (Denver)
- Corvus Coffee Roasters (Denver)
- Thump Coffee (Denver)
- Crema Coffee House (Denver)
- Prodigy Coffee (Denver)
- Lula Rose General Store (Denver)
- Ozo Coffee (Boulder)
- Beleza Coffee Bar (Boulder)
- Story Coffee Company (Colorado Springs)
Activities
- Hike more trails at Rocky Mountain National Park
- Sky Pond (8.5 miles, 1,761 ft of elevation gain)
- Chasm Lake (8.2 miles, 2,542 ft of elevation gain)
- Alberta Falls (1.6 miles, 232 ft of elevation gain)
- Mount Ida (9.3 miles, 2,362 ft of elevation gain)
- Climb one of the 14ers
- Walk up 2,744 steps at the Manitou Springs Incline–3.6 miles, 1,860 ft elevation gain
- Hike to Seven Falls in Colorado Springs
- Visit more towns! High up on our list is Aspen to hike the Maroon Bells.
- Explore more National Parks! Colorado is home to 4 total and more information on them can be found here.
Heading to Colorado?
Pin this 4 days in Colorado itinerary + guide to help plan your trip!
Thank you for this post! I’m sitting in Warsaw, Poland right now but feeling like I was in Colorado ๐
Wow, Warsaw! That’s so cool! Thank you for checking out our guide ๐ We hope you can make it to Colorado soon!
Yes, we will visit USA in September and we’re planning to see North California, part of Oregon and Colorado, so now I’m reading all your posts! Tips and photos are amazing:)
That is going to be an AMAZING trip! We have a bunch of guides/blogs for all of those areas that can hopefully help. Let us know if you have any questions! ๐ And thank you so much!
Would like a interested in 5days Denver Colorado what’s the best and most seen
Hi Mark, we personally have only ever spent a couple days at a time in Denver, using it to explore all of the amazing outdoor areas nearby (and in this guide). We hope to spend more time there in the future and can elaborate more on things to do just in Denver.
Iโm from Evergreen, Colorado and LOVE this list you put together!! Amazing recommendations!
Wow, thank you Kristin! Having someone from Colorado say such nice things about our guide is the best compliment we could ever receive and means so much to us!
wonderful introductory tour to the amazing state of Colorado, where i lived for MANY years! you’ve definitely hit the highlights. good callouts for Manitou and Maroon Bells. thanks for taking me along a nostalgic road!
Thanks DJ! We can’t wait to explore more of the state later this year and visit some of the lesser known spots. If you have any suggestions, let us know! ๐
All of your Airbnb links are just taking me to the main Airbnb page and not to a specific home. Anyway to copy links to the exact homes?? Thanks!
Hi Julia! That’s so weird–they are working for me (minus one that must have been removed as a listing). I am so sorry about that! Here are all of the links for you ๐
Brass Rabbit (Where we stayed!): https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15398636
Other Denver Airbnbs: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/9108143, https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/30255388
Boulder Airbnbs: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/1687770, https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/954814, https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/9349915
Colorado Springs Airbnbs: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/25551797, https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5495105, https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20423675
Sorry again that those weren’t working for you! Let me know if I can help with anything else ๐
Thank you so much. These links work perfectly!
Yay! Iโm so glad!
Hello,
This article is very amazing and Colorado is a really really cool place. I love to visit. thanks to sharing this blog.
Thank you so much Robert! We love Colorado and cannot wait to go back soon!
Great site! Your blog and travel guides are outstanding! My brother and I just traveled to Colorado and we were able to plan a good portion of our visit using suggestions from your guide! We at Skirted Heifer and Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery and were sure to take the Emerald Lake Trail. It was well worth it. I hope I am able to use more of your guides in the future and look forward to reading about your travels!
This makes us so happy Chris! We are so glad that you found the guide helpful and had a great trip! Once we hit the road in our van we will be creating many more guides for spots all around the US…stay tuned! ๐
My, now, Fiancรฉ used your guide to help us plan our trip itinerary and WOW!! We had such an amazing time. Thank you for your help!!
This just made our day! We are SO glad you had an amazing time! And congratulations on your engagement!
Hello,
This is the best vacation is looking days in Colorado is the best information is Awesome. thank you for share this blog
Of course Robert! We are glad you found it helpful!
Hello! This guide it has helped me plan a trip to Denver in November. I love photography so I am excited for the Rocky Mountain Park. I also saw your YouTube videos on the food and I cant wait to try the Denver Biscuit Co. Other than Rocky Mountain Park, what is one place I must visit for photos?
Hi Hannah! We’re so glad the guide has helped! We love the Flatirons for photos and also Garden of the Gods, especially if there is some snow! The white snow + orange color of the Garden of the Gods = stunning!
Hello! Looking to visit Colorado in the early part of 2021 (Jan/Feb), which I read are freezing cold months. Are the weather and COVID risks for using this itinerary?
Hi Laura! This guide was more intended for the summer and was written pre-COVID, but with that said, a lot of these activities can be done in the winter, assuming roads are clear enough. Rocky Mountain NP is open in the winter (although parts are closed) and you can snowshoe by Bear Lake, among other activites. They have some info here with current conditions too! Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods are both open in the winter too, weather permitting! As for COVID, I would need to double check that all of these spots are still open, but with takeout and picnicking they should all still be doable! Outdoor dining may be a bit cold ๐ I hope that helps some!
Great Site.
Any recommendations as to where to stay and other thoughts on adding Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP to a CO trip?
Hi Frank! We actually haven’t been there yet, but planning to this summer! It looks really cool, so we’d suggest adding it if you have the time. Montrose is the closest larger city to there, so that would probably be your best bet for places to stay.
Thank you for sharing your adventure with great detail! Your blog made me without a doubt want to visit the areas you outlined. We look forward to visiting Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs and Rocky Mountain National Park in earl June. Your blog gave me so many great ideas for hikes and things to do for our trip. We are planning a total of 10 days split between a couple different AIRBNB. One is in Nederland and the other in Old Colorado City (due to work events we need to attend).We did some of the Colorado Springs stuff on our last trip. I did come across Paint Mines Park in Colorado Springs and wondered if you have be there or had any pointers. Thanks again!!
Hi Deanna! We are so glad the guide gave you some ideas for your trip. It sounds like an incredible trip across the state. We unfortunately havenโt been to the Paint Mines Park, but it looks super cool! Another spot that is sort of close (1.5 away, so not really haha) is Bishop Castle. We have always wanted to go there! We hope yโall have a great time ๐
I followed this guide almost to the tee and our trip was everything and more I could of hoped for! Thank you for putting together such an easy guideline to follow for us first tome travelers to Denver!
Hi Jess! We are so happy to hear this! Thank you so much for following our guide!
I also followed this guide to a tee and it was the best thing we could have ever done for a first-time trip to Denver! I used your Itinerary Sheet as well and it made the planning process that much better to make sure we got in all of your amazing recommendations. I have no doubt I will be using more of your itineraries in the future, thank you so much for putting this together ๐ Cheers!
This was the BEST comment to see today, thank you! We are so happy to hear you had a great time! Thank you so much for trusting our advice and for using the itinerary sheet too! It has helped us stay organized so much and we are really glad it helped you too!
Man, This is a perfect plan. I stopped further search after reading this. Just following it! Thank you.
Hi Rajesh! We’re so glad you found it helpful!
Thanks for the tips! I saved your guide for a trip we had planned before cancelling bc of covid last summer. Very excited to take this trip in the next few weeks to CO. Looks like these spots are centrally located around Denver so we will stay there for 4 days, any suggestions if we want to visit Winter Park? Should we plan to stay there too for a few days or just visit for the day? We are traveling with a toddler and baby so want to do all the fun things but also make it easy to travel with them. Thanks!
Hi Caitlin! We are glad the tips helped! We haven’t personally visited Winter Park, but it looks like it could be a pretty short day trip from Denver (closer than Rocky Mountain NP actually!), assuming you only want to spend one day there. If you want to spend more time there, it may be good to split up the locations you stay at! This guide definitely involves a lot of driving, but if you’d rather have one home base it’s definitely doable!
Hi Adam & Kathryn, thanks for sharing your recommendations and documenting nicely in this blog. We just took trip to Denver and Colorado springs. Your blog was very helpful in planning our trip. Your restaurant recommendations were top notch…thanks a lot!!!
Hi Amit! We are so glad that the guide helped and that you enjoyed the food!
Well done on this post! I live out here in Colorado, and you really touched on everything that would make a great 4 day trip out here. Your hike picks for Boulder and RMNP are perfect! Hope you get to do Sky Pond this year – it’s incredible! I have one suggestion – there’s a place in Estes Park called Cinnamon’s Bakery – they serve different cinnamon rolls each morning until they run out, and they are AMAZING. Highly recommend trying them next time you’re there. Cheers!
Thank you so much Danielle and thank you so much for the Cinnamon’s Bakery tip! We will try to swing by there (if we can get there early enough) next time we are in Estes Park!
My husband and I just got back from visiting Colorado. We were looking for a quick get away with a short flight 3.5 hrs from Jersey. This was a perfect trip! We stayed in Boulder and made day trips to Denver, RMNP, Colorado Springs, Peak’s Pike etc. We loved the downtown Colorado Pearl street lively area and Denver for dinner and ice cream. The street performers were very entertaining.
Adam/Kathryn,
You guys did a great job writing out the activities and places to visit! We kept referring to your list and it made our trip more wholesome. I will definitely look at the other places you have visited and your recommendations.
Thank you so much! ๐
Hi Gurpreet! So happy y’all had a great trip! We love Boulder and that is a great place to stay! Thank you so much for using our guide, we’re so glad it was helpful and we hope that we can help you with a future adventure ๐
Great trip, any advice for 4 day skiing trip ( 4 days 4 mountains)
Hi! We haven’t personally skiied in Colorado, but we LOVE the town of Telluride and would love to go there in the winter. You can take the gondola from town to the ski area easily and the town is historic and beautiful!
Is last week of October 2021 too late to have access to trails and activities with regard to weather/temps?
Most of the hikes should still be doable in normal conditions, but an early snow storm could mess things up. We visited Boulder and Denver in late October 2019 and they got a bunch of snow, but we hear that was a bit early compared to normal. It was 80 degrees the day before and then snowed…which we also hear is normal haha, but it cleared up pretty quickly.
We are heading to Denver in 3 weeks on our way to the Utah Mighty 5 National Parks. Looking forward to a great time, highlight will be the Broncos game vs the Colts. So much to do, your insights certainly have helped us narrow down what we will try to do. Red Rock looks like it will be awesome and we are hoping to log some major miles on our bikes.
Thanks for taking the time to put this guide together. Hope your trip back from Alaska was uneventful.
Have a blast at the game and in Denver, that’ll be an awesome stop on the way to Utah!