Budget Friendly Denver

One of Denver’s fun things to do for less than $10 is to spend an afternoon wandering among paintings of dramatic landscapes, cowboys and Native Americans at the American Museum of Western Art – The Anschutz Collection. Captivating paintings are arrayed from floor to ceiling salon style, and an audio device allows you to learn about collection highlights at your own pace. The Victorian-era Navarre Building housing the collection has a history every bit as colorful as the paintings inside. Starting out as a girls’ school (1880s), it became a bordello and gambling den (1890s), then took a turn as a swinging jazz club owned by bandleader Peanuts Hucko (1960s) before being refurbished to house the current museum (1990s). Cheesman Park should be on your list of places to go in Denver for a number of reasons: its tree-lined paths, sweeping lawns and flower beds are lovely, it’s on a hill and on a clear day offers spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains, and the Neoclassical Cheesman Pavilion at its center is a perfect setting for vacation photos. Best of all: There’s no entry fee because it’s a public city park. Take time to wander outside its boundaries to ogle the neighborhood’s historic mansions or visit the (though it does charge a fee), which occupies the park’s eastern edge.