by Nicole Emmett

Created on: November 26, 2008   Last Updated: September 08, 2009

Did you know that Denver has a nickname? Mile-high city, because Denver is actually exactly 1 mile above sea level. Denver is a beautiful city, so why wouldn't you want to visit these top tourist attractions? 16th street mall offers nothing but gorgeous scenery, a European style pedestrian precinct, souvenir shops, boutiques, not to mention the stalls of street traders and the south end of modern skyscrapers towering over you.

How about visiting the local brewery? The Coors brewery offers a free 30 minute self-paced tour that covers the beer-making process. And if your over 21 then why not go for the taste testing? Just a 20 minute drive from downtown Denver.

OK time to visit the museum of nature and science. What we will find here is amazing exhibits of dinosaur skeletons, one of the largest gold nuggets found in Colorado and remains of ice age animals. There is also a planetarium and Imax theatre.

With over 3,500 animals and 600 species, its time to go to the Denver zoo. They house species from all over the world including; polar bears, grizzly bears, Komodo dragons, and penguins. Now that we've seen all the animals, why don't we go to the Denver Botanical gardens and see over 15,000 plant species spanned over 23 acres?

Art exhibits, corn maze, haunted house, and a trail of lights are just a few of the highlights of Denver's botanical garden. Trail of lights illuminates with more than one million shining lights, lighting up the trail through a lovely forest path towards Chatfield at the gardens. Take a mount Goliath tour and experience gentle summer breezes as your path leads you through the alpine tundra, glorious rocky mountain views, wind-sculpted bristle cone pines and unbelievable floral treasures.

Now if those hikes and garden didn't get you all revved up then lets head over to Denver's Elitch gardens. An amusement park and separate water park should make your vacation perfect. It has over 45 rides to choose from including a 1945 carousel. The adrenaline junkie inside of you might be yearning to hop on these thrill rides, a 22 story free-fall ride called "The tower of doom" or how about plummeting downwards 60 mph on this suspension coaster that can rise 10 stories skywards, called "The Eraser". And then there is the flying coaster that gives you unobstructed views of downtown Denver where passengers ride abreast to other passengers while flying through a series of loops, spirals, twists, turns, cork screws and dips.

Having fun yet? I hope so, but if not, there is still plenty of amazing attractions in Denver, Colorado.

Learn more about this author, Nicole Emmett.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.