Last updated August 13, 2026 · Editorial policy
Things to Do in Denver, CO: What Is Actually Worth Your Time
Quick answer: This is an honest look at Denver, CO: which popular attraction to think twice about, and what to do with that time instead. It also covers the transit and money moves that save the most hassle.
Skip the 16th Street Mall. It is a stretch of the same chain stores you would find in any city, and an afternoon there is an afternoon not spent in the mountains. Use it only for the free MallRide shuttle that runs between Union Station and Civic Center, then move on. The better downtown move is the Golden Triangle museum cluster on Bannock Street, where the Clyfford Still Museum (around $15 to $18 for adults) sits steps from the Denver Art Museum and holds nearly all of one artist’s lifetime output in a quiet, low-traffic space most visitors walk past.
For a half day, the under-the-radar pick is the Forney Museum of Transportation (around $17 for adults), home to more than 600 vehicles including a Union Pacific ‘Big Boy’ steam locomotive and Amelia Earhart’s 1923 Kissel.
One smart arrival move: take the RTD A Line from Denver International Airport to Union Station for about $10 and roughly 37 minutes, rather than a rideshare that costs several times that in traffic. And remember that Red Rocks Park, about 20 miles west, is free to walk and hike on days with no concert booked; the Trading Post Trail loop runs about 1.4 miles.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
