Denver hands out its best views for free: a capitol step exactly a mile up, sandstone amphitheatre seats open to anyone, and the river confluence where the city began. Add $9 smothered burritos and Saturday market peaches and three days cost under $100.
Free 45-minute guided tours run weekdays 10am-3pm inside the 1894 granite dome. Stand on the 13th step marked 'One Mile Above Sea Level', then climb 99 stairs to the rotunda gallery for Front Range views.
Twenty-plus food trucks park in Civic Center Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11am-2pm, May through October. Plates of Nepali momos, birria tacos or arepas run $8-12, and the Greek Amphitheater lawn is free seating.
Michael Graves' postmodern 1995 landmark costs nothing to enter. The fifth-floor Western History and Genealogy department holds 600,000 photographs, and the Gates Reading Room keeps its original ranch-house woodwork and Western furnishings.
Where Cherry Creek meets the South Platte, the exact spot prospectors camped in 1858 and founded Denver. Locals tube the man-made whitewater chutes for nothing, and the paved Cherry Creek Trail runs 40 miles from these steps.
Saturday market on the Esplanade beside East High School, 8:30am-1pm June through October. Palisade peaches, Olathe sweet corn and roasted Pueblo green chile sell by the bag, and stand breakfast burritos cost about $7.
Greek-American diner running since 1927, three blocks from the theatre district on Curtis Street. The green chile smothered breakfast burrito is about $12, coffee refills are unlimited, and portions routinely feed two off one plate.
Eleven independent stalls under a 1928 warehouse roof on Larimer Street. Vero Italian sells pizza by the slice, Izzio bakery does discounted end-of-day loaves, and Crema pulls espresso for around $4 with free seating throughout.
Santa Fe Drive counter institution since 1985 and a James Beard America's Classic winner. The chile relleno burrito smothered in green chile runs about $9, tacos are $2.75, and the kitchen serves late into the evening.
The 738-acre park and its 300-foot sandstone monoliths cost nothing to enter, open one hour before sunrise. Trading Post Trail loops 1.4 miles through the formations, and amphitheatre seats are walkable whenever no show is loading in.
Buffalo Bill Cody is buried at 7,380 feet on Lookout Mountain. The grave, picnic tables and terrace overlook are free while the small museum charges $5, and the view spans Denver, the plains and the Front Range.
Eighty acres laid over Denver's 1858 city cemetery, with bodies still beneath the lawns. The 1910 neoclassical marble pavilion frames an unbroken sightline to Mount Blue Sky, and the perimeter loop is a flat 1.6 miles.
The white arched footbridge over I-25 connects LoHi to the city and delivers the skyline-against-the-Rockies shot for nothing. Little Man Ice Cream's 28-foot steel milk can at the west end scoops cones for about $6.