One day in Denver

We are taking a last minute planned trip. We will have one full day in Denver. 
 

It is a couples trip. 
 

Any suggestions on things to do/see/eat? 

Rental car?

If so, a drive up to the top of Pikes Peak might be an option

16th Street Mall Downtown. Lots of shopping and tourist type shops.

Red Rocks Amphitheater

Coors brewery tour in Golden

Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

For a place to stay,The Stanley Hotel is 1.5 hrs away. 

It is the Hotel that inspired Stephen King for The Shining.  ;0)   Plus you get to admire the mountains

Without a rental car, you'll be limited by Denver's public transit. Light rail can get you from the airport to downtown, and a reasonable amount around Union Station.

As mentioned, 16th Street Mall. Denver Art Museum, if you're into that sort of thing or it's bad weather. Pints Pub next to the museum is great. There's a bunch to see and walk around in that LoDo area, including Coors Field baseball stadium.

With a car, lots more options! Downtown Boulder, or, even better, Chautaqua Park in Boulder and the Flatirons for viewing or hiking. Southern Denver suburbs have Chatfield Reservoir and Waterton Canyon.

Colorado Springs is two-plus hours from Denver Airport, but offers Pikes Peak, Manitou Springs stairway and incline (funicular), and Garden of the Gods. Traffic between south Denver and Colorado Springs sucks at any time, often for no apparent reason.

West of Denver is Golden and the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, including the Red Rocks ampitheater (famous concert place) and the under-known spectacular park around there.

Good luck and enjoy!

What do you like to do and will you have a car?  Based on that I can fill in on the suggestions above, which are quite good btw

Indy - Guy said:

Rental car?

If so, a drive up to the top of Pikes Peak might be an option

Paved now - you are above the clouds!

In reply to SoonToBeDatsun240ZGuy :

Pike's peak is great but I damn near had a panic attack going up.

Something about not being able to see the horizon/ground past the road. Good luck OP!

If you like beer and are in downtown check out Denver microbrew tour.

https://www.denvermicrobrewtour.com/

Owned and run by one of my very best friends. The tours are great.

Thanks for all suggestions, we are going to red rocks Thursday, then boulder either Friday or Saturday and then Denver the other day. 
 

We are staying in Morrison. 
 

I was just overwhelmed by the options of things to do and places to go in Denver. 

Have breakfast (or stop for ice cream) at The Cow if you're staying in Morrison.

In reply to Somebeach (Forum Supporter) :

We spent a week in Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park, downtown, Pikes Peak, Graden Gods, hot sulphur springs and more........horse back riding, camping, driving!

Since it looks like you're coming from Ohio, be aware that altitude and low humidity can put a hurt on you in the first few days here.  You should be fine in Morrison, but don't expect to be 100% for that one day unless you've already spent some time at altitude.  Denver is pretty low relative to the mountains, but I got nose bleeds the first time I stayed there and foolishly tried to go running.  So basically, pace yourself, drink lots of water, and enjoy.

Pikes Peak is pretty far away.  Mount Evans is closer to Denver, and you can almost drive to the top if you really want to experience a 14er without a long hike.

Rocky Mountain National Park is an amazing place and doable from Denver in a day.

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks I will have to check that out. 

In reply to JoeTR6 :

That is good to remember, bc we are planning to do a couple of hikes.