Pearl Street Mall is an open-air pedestrian mall with shops and restaurants. We loved it when we took our daughter to visit UC. It’s been several years, but there were some great farm to table restaurants there. Enjoy your trip, Red Rocks is really cool.

Red Rocks was going to be my suggestion. Who’s in concert?

Red Rocks is north of Colo. Springs, right? I lived in Boulder many years ago, so maybe things have changed. Unless you;re doing some hiking, Flatirons should take an hour or so. Nice day drive up Boulder Canyon. But it was mainly shopping and dining. Check the local sources to see if there are concerts (small venues) or special events. Watch out for football weekends.

https://www.bouldercoloradousa.com/things-to-do/fall-activities-in-boulder/

I wouldn't say that this is a don't miss but there is the Celestial Seasonings tea factory tour which is kind of fun, I think it's still open. Right near there is Avery Brewing which has great food and atmosphere. And you can take a free mini-tour of their brewery. We like to sit upstairs (cause we're old and it's a little quieter).

Pearl Street is good but you won't really see anything different than you could find in Boston. But, being in that part of town is a good excuse to have lunch at the Dushanbe Teahouse which is really cool. We also like Post Chicken and Beer for fun atmosphere and awesome Nashville hot chicken.

I hope the smog/smoke goes away before you get here. It's really bad right now.

Dee, Avery brewing is on my list! We love breweries. 🍻

bb: Brandi Carlile.

sushi, Red Rocks is not far from Denver.…I’m clueless about the layout of CO but my understanding is that it’s about 40 min from Boulder.

Also, our dinner in Estes Park at the Stanley Hotel was expensive and terrible. Definitely visit, it's very cool but just have a drink in the bar.

You can drive Trail Ridge Rd in RMNP but I highly recommend a jeep tour Then you can take in the views without having to worry about the crazy switchbacks.

Sue, I'm glad you are going to Avery, it's one of my favorites. if you like breweries, the ride from Boulder to Golden is only about 30 minutes and has really stunning high plains views. Then you can go to Coors. Downtown Golden is walkable and cute. Table Rock in Golden is a very scenic and not too strenuous hike.

Dee, we booked a jeep tour last night! We also have timed-entry passes for each day.

I saw very mixed reviews about the Stanley so I left it off my list, but will add your suggestion to get a drink there.

Thank you for the good info!

Jealous, jealous, jealous. Pretty sure you are the one that turned me onto Brandi Carlile, and look at her now! To see her at RR would be amazing!

Just wanted to circle back and say thanks again for the suggestions!

Of course we visited the Pearl St mall a few times. Very close to our hotel, and there was a ”fall fest” going on. We had lunch on a restaurant patio and watched some pretty good live music on Sat.!

We also visited the farmers mkt on Sat am and got picnic food to take to our concert that night. They had artists’ booths set up too, and I bought some earrings and a necklace from a great local artist. My favorite kind of souvenirs!

We did have a drink at the Stanley, which was fun.

We drove to Golden and had lunch. Coors was closed for tours, but we drove by just to see it.

In Boulder, we enjoyed a drink on the patio at Bitter Bar, dinner at Salt, lunch at Post, dinner at Avery Brewing (met up with a college friend!), and another lunch at Sforno on the patio. Fortunately we were able to have most meals outside. We stayed at the St Julien Hotel — first actual hotel in two years — and really liked it.

We thought ”downtown” Estes was just okay, but RMNP was amazing. We had a great dinner at Bird and Jim with a view of elks across the road, and a good BBQ lunch at Smokin Daves.

We did a 6 am jeep tour at RMNP, which was cold and awesome. We went to the park on our own at different times on 3 days. What a place!

And Brandi Carlile at Red Rocks was amazing!

Few Boulder pics.

We didn’t end up going to the teahouse, but took this pic outside.

El Dorado canyon hike, amazing scenery.

This was in downtown Golden.

Sounds like a great little trip!

Bestyears: You can find a bunch of videos from the concert on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI3hZ9S6_kI

What a nice trip! Did you not have any problems with altitude sickness? I had to have dh turn around as we tried to drive from Boulder to Estes Park a few years ago. My sister also had a problem staying up there for a weekend.

Oh yes, the altitude is no joke! We did struggle in Estes (9000’ I think?) and at the even higher elevations in RMNP (we went up to 12,000+’). We both had headaches the first 24 hours and had a hard time hiking even just a mile. If I had to do it again, I’d start in Boulder first, then go to Estes in hope of getting acclimated more gradually.