How To Use This E-Book
Getting around the e-book
This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Colorado, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editors Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Colorado. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights in Colorado are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
Youll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Colorado. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.
About Insight Guides
Insight Guides have more than 40 years experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.
Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.
2017 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd
Table of Contents
Colorados Top 10 Attractions
From the historic homes of Mesa Verde to the latest contemporary art in Denver, here are our top recommendations for a visit to the colorful state of Colorado.
Top Attraction 1
Rocky Mountain National Park . Trail Ridge Road offers soaring high country views of serrated alpine peaks, sparkling lakes, glaciers, fragile tundra meadows, charismatic mega-fauna, wildflowers, and pioneer cabins. For more information, .
Dreamstime
Top Attraction 2
Mesa Verde . Cliff Palace is one of the most magical Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings at the nations favorite archeological park, near Durango in the Four Corners region of southwestern Colorado. For more information, .
Colorado Tourism/Denise Chambers
Top Attraction 3
Denver . A vibrant and fast-growing city, with the largest municipal park system in the US and cultural institutions that include the pioneering Denver Zoo and the Denver Art Museum. For more information, .
Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau
Top Attraction 4
Grand Junction . A mini-Napa Valley amid the carved redrock canyons of the Colorado River, this is famed for its wineries, fruit orchards, and proximity to Dinosaur and Colorado National Monuments. For more information, .
Dreamstime
Top Attraction 5
Pikes Peak . Drive, hike, or ride the Pikes Peak Cog Railroad to the top of this 14,110ft (4,301-meter) mountain which, among other things, inspired the writing of the anthem America the Beautiful. For more information, .
iStock
Top Attraction 6
Leadville . Not only the best-preserved mining town in Colorado, with its own mining history museum, but also the highest town in the country, and possibly the most storied. For more information, .
iStock
Top Attraction 7
Telluride . The quintessential Colorado ski destination an attractive Victorian mining town in a glorious box-canyon setting far from anywhere, offering skiing, eclectic festivals, friendly locals, and an unpretentious atmosphere. For more information, .
Colorado Tourism/Matt Inden
Top Attraction 8
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad . Ride to Silverton and enjoy views of Mount Sneffels and the glorious Animas Valley, preferably during the fall when the aspens turn golden. For more information, .
Colorado Tourism/Matt Inden
Top Attraction 9
San Luis Valley . Combining traditional Hispanic culture, New Age retreats, hot springs, high peaks, Americas tallest sand dunes, and overwintering sandhill cranes, the San Luis Valley surrounding Alamosa is a unique destination. For more information, .
Nowitz Photography/Apa Publications
Top Attraction 10
San Juan Skyway . There are million-dollar views all along the narrow, winding San Juan Skyway between Durango and Montrose, but keep your eyes on the road the dropoffs are very steep. For more information, .