Denver Travel on the Cheap
In typical Krystal fashion, I am running late and it's somehow already the first day of spring. (Where is 2016 going?!)
With that confession out of the way, I hope you won't mind terribly if I share a few posts of the
winter adventures I've gotten up to this year so far!
Let's start with this whirlwind trip to Denver, Colorado that my good friend Brittney and I took on the cheap.
We arrived in the city early on a Friday afternoon, which felt a bit like playing hooky from school. With only one personal bag a piece, we were able to fly Frontier airlines for $29 out of San Diego. They do deals constantly and if you're not looking for luxury (or can't afford to, in our case) it's a great way to get to travel and stay on budget.
And speaking of budgets, we had booked the Homewood Suites more for price (around $125 a night) and prime location considerations versus comfort but...it was fantastic! The rooms came with kitchens and were generously sized, the free breakfast was well better than we expected and the staff were accommodating in every way. I would gladly stay here again.
We spent more than a few hours curled up on this couch eating left over Pho and watching HGTV while we thawed.
In the past I never really used the fridge on such a short trip, but Brittney made me realize the error of my ways! By eating leftovers from our dining out adventures we saved a TON of money from not buying snacks and second breakfasts. (we like to eat, don't judge)
There's something so exciting about taking in the view of a new city, just ripe for you to explore!
We set out almost immediately to explore the city..and stopped almost equally as soon because we discovered a Pho place and a gelato place right next to each other on 16th st and couldn't resist either.
Properly fueled and a few good conversations with locals later, we continued to explore.
This is Brittney, she's adorable and quirky and we've been friends since we were children trying to survive school.
We wandered without direction and with no other intention than to see what we could, as it should be.
We made some charming furry little friends, who were not shy in the least.
Actually Brittney and I made quite a few slightly ill advised choices... hung out with wild animals, went to the park at dusk. ( I would NOT recommend the last one. It didn't exactly feel safe after we realized it was getting dark and we were two girls alone in a strange city)
But we did get to enjoy how pretty it is while it was still light out and plenty safe!
Just on from there we discovered some museums and the library. I have to say that Denver has some of the best museums I've been to! Very interactive and just all around fun with great architecture. I would thoroughly recommend the Denver History Museum.
We happily spent hours there without even realizing. I don't have any pictures on my camera but I added a few over on my Instagram.
On the way back to the warmth of our hotel we passed so many gorgeous shops in our search for some bath salts and bubbles that we could use to soak away the cold and take advantage of the lovely large tub in our room.
We just may have gotten distracted by a German Christkindl Market! The smell is what pulled us in, sausages, funnel cakes and all kinds of pastries just begging to be eaten!
But the Glühwein and the accordion music made us stay much longer than planned.
We made it back to the room full, pink cheeked and happy.
After a couple of hot bubble baths, phone calls home to our spouses and a few too many episodes of Property Brothers, we fell asleep as happy as can be and so ready to see what the next day had in store for us.
Just a side note: I do not receive compensation for any products mentioned in this post. I just thought it might be helpful to break down what it cost me for this trip in case you want to plan one yourself!
Total Cost: $338 (this will vary for everyone, but this is what I paid for the following and it's definitely doable!)
Plane ticket (roundtrip) - $73 from Frontier Airlines San Diego to Denver
Hotel - $125 a night (Split between the two of us) Homewood Suites Downtown Denver
Food/Expenses - $125
Transportation (We used Uber to the airport and back, also split between two) - $15 using new uber user discount.
Use my code for $15 off with krystaln16