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Denver: Your best travel tips

CNN.com readers share their tips for some of their favorite attractions in Denver, Colorado.
CNN.com readers share their tips for some of their favorite attractions in Denver, Colorado.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • City Park offers the best view of the city, says one CNN.com reader
  • Another suggests Vine Street Pub and Falling Rock Taphouse for great beer
  • Recreation areas outside the city offer many opportunities to enjoy the city's natural setting

(CNN) -- Earlier this week, CNN's Jim Spellman offered some tips for visitors to his adopted hometown of Denver, Colorado, and we asked CNN.com readers to add their suggestions to his picks.

Some readers were down on Denver, while others had top spots and tips to share.

A reader with the handle Rgrange summed Denver up like this: "Denver's not for everyone. It's a casual, outdoorsy mid-size city with some nice cultural offerings. While it (hopefully) will never be like LA, NY, SF, or even Chicago, it's definitely worth a visit."

Here are some of your tips:

Best view of the city

City Park offers the best views "hands down," wrote commenter musicmac1. Denver's largest park offers a mile-high hiking and jogging trail, lakes, spectacular views of the city and surrounding mountains and is home to the Denver Zoo and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Favorite neighborhood

Congress Park is Rgrange's top neighborhood, a favorite for funky restaurants, the Tattered Cover book store, leafy streets and the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Brews and food

For beer, the Vine Street Pub and Falling Rock Taphouse get one reader's vote. The Vine Street Pub serves its own Mountain Sun ales and Falling Rock offers a constantly changing lineup of more than 200 beers.

Another reader said the tasty street food along 16th Street shouldn't be overlooked, including Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs, a sausage stand that's been featured on Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations."

Beatrice and Woodsley on South Broadway received a thumbs-up from commenter jeffrois. The restaurant's interior is inspired by an 1800s love story.

"Imagine a deserted, rustic cabin in a beautiful aspen grove, complete with time accurate details like raw split wood laid horizontally as a bar shelf," jeffrois wrote.

Favorite spots for outdoor activities

"I always liked Waterton Canyon, and the Elkhorn Trail up near Foxton for outdoor recreation," a reader with the handle kadler wrote.

Waterton Canyon offers visitors a range or activities from fishing, hiking and biking to horseback riding in this reservoir facility southwest of town. Wildlife seekers may spot bighorn sheep and mule deer.

The Elkhorn Trail weaves through woods and a meadow in Reynolds Park, also southwest of Denver.

Cultural and kid-friendly attractions

Commenters kadler and dtboco3 both recommended the Denver Art Museum, where newly remodeled galleries for American Indian and Northwest Coast art opened at the end of January.

The Denver Zoo and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, both located in City Park (above), are both adult and kid-friendly, dtboco3 said, as is the Butterfly Pavilion in nearby Westminster, Colorado, about 10 to 20 minutes from downtown Denver.

What else has been overlooked? Share your top spots below.