United States · regional guide
Colorado travel guide
This guide gathers everything TripsCircle knows about Colorado: 7 destinations, 69 places and 3 curated routes. The most common route styles are adventure, cities and nature. Trips run 3–7 days.
- Destinations
- 7
- Places
- 69
- Curated routes
- 3
- Trip lengths
- 3–7 days
- Routes favor
- Dec – Jan
Where our routes go in Colorado
Tap a dot to open that destination's guide.
7 destinations in Colorado
Ordered by how many of our curated routes stop there, then by how many places we have picked.
Best of Colorado
Our curated picks by theme, drawn from the places our route editors chose for their routes.
- Best restaurants15 picksAjax Tavern · Buckhorn Exchange · Denver Biscuit Company
- Best bars & cafés7 picksBreckenridge Distillery · Denver Union Station · Death & Co Denver
- Top things to do30 picksAspen Art Museum · Aspen Highlands · BreckConnect Gondola
- Best outdoor spots9 picksBear Lake · Grottos Trail · Moraine Park
Places worth planning around
A short sampler from the 69 places in Colorado, starting with those featured on the most of our routes.
OutdoorsBear Lake
Flat half-mile loop around a subalpine lake under Hallett Peak, and the trailhead for the park's classic hikes.
SeeAspen Art Museum
Free contemporary art museum with a rooftop cafe and mountain views.
EatAjax Tavern
Slopeside patio at the base of the gondola, known for its truffle fries and burger.
- Do
BreckConnect Gondola
Free gondola from the edge of town to the base areas at Peak 7 and Peak 8.
EatBuckhorn Exchange
Denver's oldest restaurant (1893), packed with taxidermy and serving steaks and game.
DoAlberta Falls
Easy 1.6-mile round-trip hike to a 30-foot cascade on Glacier Creek.
Curated routes through Colorado
3 routes with at least one stop here.
Best time to visit Colorado
Of the 3 routes here with a recommended season, at least half point to Dec – Jan. January and December are the most-recommended months (2 of 3 routes).
Climate averages (NASA POWER, 2001–2025) for 5 of our destinations here: July is the warmest month, with average highs near 80°F (27°C), and December the coolest at about 30°F (-1°C). April is the wettest, around 2.3 in (59 mm) of rain, and June the driest at about 1.3 in (33 mm).
NASA POWER is a gridded model (roughly 50 km cells), so coastal and mountain spots read as regional averages.
Weather by destination
Getting around Colorado
Legs between consecutive stops on our routes. Distances are straight-line estimates, not driving distances.
- Breckenridge → Vailabout 33 km (20 mi) straight-line
- Vail → Aspenabout 63 km (39 mi) straight-line
- Denver → Rocky Mountain NPabout 89 km (56 mi) straight-line
- Rocky Mountain NP → Aspenabout 161 km (100 mi) straight-line
Planning a trip to Colorado
How many days do you need for a trip to Colorado?
Our 3 curated routes with stops in Colorado run 3–7 days.
What are the best places to visit in Colorado?
Going by how often our route team includes them, the most-featured destinations in Colorado are Aspen, Breckenridge, Denver, Downtown Denver & 16th Street and Rocky Mountain NP. Aspen alone has 18 hand-picked places in our guides.
When is the best time to visit Colorado?
At least half of our routes here recommend Dec – Jan. NASA POWER averages put the warmest weather in July and the most rain in April.
Where can I find the best restaurants in Colorado?
See our curated picks: best restaurants in Colorado, chosen from 15 places in our curated routes. We also have lists for bars & cafés, things to do and outdoor spots.
More in United States
- United States travel guide
- California 26 destinations
- Florida 16 destinations
- Texas 12 destinations
- New York 11 destinations
- Tennessee 11 destinations
- North Carolina 10 destinations
- Utah 10 destinations
- Michigan 8 destinations
- Washington 8 destinations
- Arizona 7 destinations
Take your crew to Colorado
Start from one of our Colorado routes in TripsCircle, then shape it together: shared itinerary, polls for the big decisions, split expenses and packing lists.