Playing Tourist in Colorado

Do you live far away from friends and family?

As an Australian living in Colorado, I'm pretty far away from most friends and all of my family. It's not always easy being so far away, which is why it's extra special when we have visitors from home. 

Of course, having the chance to catch up with friends and family is always the best part about having visitors, but the other thing I love about it is being able to play tour guide! Having visitors is the best excuse for getting out and about to places we've been meaning to visit, but just haven't gotten around to, and for revisiting favorites. Playing tourist in our own backyard was one of my favorite things about living in California, and it's pretty great here in Colorado too.

My friend Daniela visited us from Australia late last year and we had so much fun playing tourist in Colorado together. We visited some of my favorite places, crossed quite a few destinations off my Colorado bucket list, and spent a lot of time catching up on the past eleven years since we last saw each other in New York. I was pregnant with Mathilde last time we saw each in other!

Here's a look at our week of exploring Colorado during Daniela's stay. Feel free to use it as an itinerary for your own trip to Colorado or for when you have visitors here.

Day 1

After Daniela's long trip from Perth, Western Australia to Denver (23+ hours of flying plus transfers) we kept things pretty simple for her first day and stayed local in Boulder. We shopped along Pearl Street Mall, took in the views of the Front Range from the scenic overlook off the Denver Boulder Turnpike (between Louisville and Boulder), and toured the Celestial Seasonings tea factory. It was a pretty quiet day, but it was so nice to catch up without having a ton of activities planned.

Day 2

After a quiet start to Daniela’s visit, we ramped things up with a weekend in the mountains. We started with a visit to Idaho Springs where we took in the views of the waterwheel and frozen waterfall along the freeway, checked out the historic buildings and gift shops, and had lunch at the Colorado classic, Beau Joe’s Pizza. 

We then headed further up into the mountains and spent a few hours exploring Vail. We happened to be there for the most spectacular pink sunset which made for the perfect holiday cards. 

In the evening we headed to Georgetown where we hit up a local Mexican restaurant for dinner before taking in the sights of the Georgetown Loop Railroad all lit up for the annual Santa’s Lighted Forest event. 

We then headed on to Winter Park where we stayed the night at Gravity Haus. Our room featured two queen beds with twin bunk beds over the top. It was the perfect room for a family.

Day 3

Our day of adventure!

After breakfast in the town of Winter Park we headed to the nearby ski resort of the same name to take a ride on the gondola for views over the mountains. We parked off site and took the Winter Park cabriolet to the resort. The cabriolet is a smaller, open air gondola that ferries visitors from the parking lot to the ski resort. It’s a two minute ride and is free.

At the resort we hopped aboard the scenic gondola and took a ride up to an elevation of 10,700ft. The views from the gondola ride were stunning, as were those from the lodge at the top where we stopped for a sweet treat.

From Winter Park we headed back to Georgetown where I had organized a day time trip on the Georgetown Loop Railroad for their Santa’s Rocky Mountain Adventure event. The train was decked out with Christmas lights and decorations, and there was a visit from Santa Claus. The holiday lights along the track were lit up, but given that it was still daylight they weren’t quite as impressive as they are at night, but they still looked pretty.

After our train ride we walked along Georgetown’s Sixth Street and did a little shopping in the local Christmas and candy stores. Daniela got to see her first CyberTruck, which was pretty hilarious! It was fun to capture her reaction upon seeing that monstrosity for the first time!

We had a super late lunch and headed back home.

Day 4

With the kids back at school after Thanksgiving Break, Daniela and I got to play tourist on our own. This gave us the chance to fit a lot more into each day, even though we had to work around school hours for the most part. 

We spent a day in Denver filled with all sorts of different activities and attractions. After a walk along the South Platte River we stopped at Babe’s Tea Room for morning tea - plus some fun photos with the floral decorations that cover the building’s facade.

We then headed to Meow Wolf where we spent a few hours exploring the various different worlds that make up Convergence Station.

From there we headed to the Christkindl Market in Civic Center Park. We drank gluhwein and hot chocolate, perused the market stalls, joined a raucous game of bingo in the Festival Hall tent, and stuffed ourselves with wurst, sauerkraut and latkes.

We finished the evening on a slightly higher class note with a visit to Denver Botanic Gardens for the annual Blossoms of Light exhibition. It was pretty chilly, but the lights were so beautiful.

Day 5

The next day we headed down to Colorado Springs for a change of scenery.

We visited the luxurious Broadmoor Hotel where we strolled around the grounds, took in the splendor of the public parts of the building, and marveled at the annual gingerbread holiday display. In the past this display has featured a gingerbread house, but the 2024 display featured Santa driving a gingerbread golf cart across a gingerbread bridge accompanied by chocolate elves and penguins. We decided to treat ourselves to lunch at the Broadmoor before heading on to our next destination.

Up next was Garden of the Gods where we spent the better part of the day. We took a few short hikes and lots of photos before checking out the sunset views from the visitor center.

We had planned to stop by the holiday markets at Cherry Creek on the way home, but ended up having to rush back for a middle school information night for Mathilde. Daniela got to experience an American middle school with the weird little chair/table combos, giant gym and the hallways lined with lockers.

Day 6

The kids start the school day late on Wednesdays, so we made sure to stay fairly local on day 6 seeing as we had a little less time to explore. We ended up spending a pretty relaxed day exploring the nearby town of Golden. Golden is a pretty picture perfect tourist town, so it was a lovely place to spend the day. We did a little shopping, checked out some murals, walked along the river front, explored the quaint buildings that make up Golden History Park, learned a little history at Golden History Museum, and had lunch at the Golden Mill where I was excited to finally try the New Zealand style berry soft serve ice cream. It took me straight back home.   

Day 7

For Daniela’s last day in Colorado we headed back to Denver to explore the city a little more. We started out with a walk around the Union Station area and had breakfast at Kaffe Landskap.

We then made our way to 16th Street Mall where we decided on a whim to take a tour of the Daniels & Fisher Clocktower. The views over Denver and the Front Range from the top are stunning and we got some fabulous photos behind the giant clock faces. You can see our visit here.

We spent much of the day just strolling around Denver taking in the sights including “I See What You Mean” the giant blue bear sculpture at the Convention Center, the “Dancers” sculpture outside Denver Center for Performing Arts, the new Populus building (the one that looks like an aspen tree), and so much more. We also stopped by the Christkindl Market again as it was Krampusnacht and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Krampus. We found him! 

That evening we had Lola’s school choir concert and then we turned in early before Daniela’s early morning flight home.

And, just like that, Daniela’s week in Colorado was over and I was driving her back to the airport. The week flew by so quickly, but I loved catching up after so long and it was great to show her around some of our favorite places here in Colorado.

My parents will be visiting over Summer Break so I can’t wait to play tour guide again with them!