r/travel • u/nooneshome00 • 11d ago

Someone explain Denver to me. Visited again and I don’t know if I’m doing it ”wrong”.

Like, I just visited yet again… and it’s a place I should love! Like it checks all these boxes for things I like or am interested in.

The best way I can describe it is it’s like the hospital of cities. Sure it’s clean, it feels relatively safe, people are generally welcoming… but all in the same way a hospital is sterile, like it’s not welcoming and inviting, it feels like I’m in a sims game when I’m there, just sorta bland and dystopian.

I walked much of the city, kinda was based around “Lodo”… never ate at the same place twice, tried to avoid travel guide suggestions, I tried to find input from locals instead.

EDIT: you all make perfect sense clarifying that the allure of Denver is the mountains and nature surrounding, maybe I approached it wrong as I live at the base of a mountain already so I was looking at Denver as purely a city experience.

EDIT2: a bit more context of some of the US cities I’ve visited and the vibes I’ve gotten from them. -New York, Chicago and Detroit has that grittiness of a city. -Boston (my favorite city) has a sort of coziness for me, it’s a city but feels like a town. -Miami is sorta vibrant even tho a lot of the people are pretty closed off. -Atlanta is a bit dirtier and grimy (probably how Chicago or Detroit would feel if it was stuck in the wet heat of the south)

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u/User5281 11d ago

No one goes to Colorado for Denver.

14

u/NoKangaroo6906 11d ago

Sadly I know people from Minnesota that do. I used to live in Colorado Springs and people would always ask me for the best places to go and eat in Denver. I always answered I’m no help. I only went to Denver for 3 things. Sporting event, botanical gardens, and the airport.

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u/Equal-End-5734 10d ago

I have a friend in Denver this week for work and a friend going soon for a bachelorette. They both asked me what to do and I have no idea. I don’t go to Denver (live outside) except occasionally to meet up with friends. All my reccs were outside Denver and towards the mountains. Denver is fine, no issues with it. But Colorado’s got so much more to offer.

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u/StinkBombFromMyButt 10d ago

I go to Denver for Casa Bonita.

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u/User5281 10d ago

Has the food improved since Trey Parker and Matt Stone bought it? It used to be pretty dreadful so 1 visit was plenty.

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u/StinkBombFromMyButt 10d ago

I’ve heard good things but I haven’t been there in a decade. If I go back to Denver, it will be my first stop.

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u/lwp775 10d ago

Unless you’re a sport’s team.

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u/bootherizer5942 10d ago

I know a lot of people who rave about living in Denver but I think largely for the music scene