19 Unique Indoor Activities In Denver To Try Next Time It Rains (2024)
- Date: April 4, 2024
- Topic: Events
- Contributors: Written by Nina Gunther-Segal
Source: Peerspace
Denver is known for being a city that’s ideal for outdoorsy adventures, so when the weather gets bad, it can be especially disappointing. Luckily, though, there are also tons of fun opportunities for indoor activities in Denver! Keep reading for Peerspace’s top 19 choices.
1. Check out up to five zines from the Denver Zine Library
Browse more than 20,000 alternative and independent zines at the Denver Zine Library, located inside the Bob Ragland branch of the Denver Public Library. If you grew up in the 90s and are nostalgic for the DIY era, fashion, and music of that era, you’ll truly appreciate browsing this collection on a rainy day.
2. See awesome artifacts and more at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Although a trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is a worthwhile indoor activity in Denver for those of any age. Kids will especially enjoy the array of hands-on, interactive activities to be found here!
3. Find an excuse—or don’t—to throw a party at a Denver venue through Peerspace
No, of course you don’t need an excuse to throw a party with all your friends! But before you dismiss our suggestion, take a look at this list of weird national holidays to see if any of them strike your fancy and happen to be coming up soon. Some of our favorites include National “What If Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs?” Day on March 3rd, National Hawaiian Shirt Day on August 16th, and National Hobbit Day on September 22nd.
How about the venue for your impromptu party? Rather than hosting it at your own home, you can always go ahead and rent a Denver party venue on Peerspace. In fact, there are more than 200 such spaces to choose from in and around Denver.
Here are just a few examples of the many amazing spaces available for short-term rental to be found in Denver:
- This upscale coffee shop with an industrial vibe has tons of glowing reviews for a reason, with past renters consistently commenting that it was the ideal space for their events. Located in West Colfax and a staple of the local community, the roughly 1,400-square-foot space can accommodate up to 75 people at a time. It’s a great fit for medium-sized and large parties.
- This elegant downtown golf simulator lounge comes with a built-in activity that’s a blast for fans of golf. So it is especially great consolation if you were hoping to spend the day playing golf and got rained out. You might end up having an even better time here than you would have on the golf course, thanks to the spacious golf simulator bays with thousands of golf courses, golf games, a virtual reality headset, and more!
- This unique distillery/pub in the Baker neighborhood of Denver brings historic Denver (“the Queen City of the Plains,” as the hosts of this space describe it) to life. Their distillery uses regionally sourced, high-quality ingredients, old-world techniques, and hand-built stills to create truly authentic 19th-century flavors. In addition, the hosts of this venue will provide bartenders, a projector and full sound system, a small kitchen, a full bar, flexible food options, and more. So pretty much everything you need to make your party a hit!
- This urban loft in the heart of Lower Highland (AKA LoHi) has 12-foot ceilings, nearly 2,000 square feet of space, and three massive front windows that allow in tons of natural light. There’s also a chef’s kitchen with stainless steel cafe appliances, quartz countertops, and other beautiful design features, among other spaces throughout the loft.
4. Admire the art at the Denver Art Museum
Some of the most impressive aspects of the Denver Art Museum are its array of Native American art as well as its Asian art collection. The museum also hosts all kinds of events, lectures, and more, so be sure to check out their calendar to see what’s coming up soon!
5. Have a burger and a beer at the oldest bar in the city
My Brother’s Bar has been serving drinks to Denver residents since 1873 when it first opened. It’s also a historic destination, with figures like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg visiting it regularly in the Beat era! Combine this with the fact that the burgers are some of the best in the city, and you have a recipe for an amazing indoor activity in Denver.
Want to impress your date? Then our list of creative date ideas in Denver will reveal you as the cool and creative soul you are!
6. Discover baseball history at the National Ballpark Museum
Ranked as one of the top 20 best private baseball collections in the world by Smithsonian Books, the National Ballpark Museum is a small space containing some impressive artifacts of baseball history. It’s an ideal destination for sports enthusiasts!
7. Purchase an animal skull at the Learned Lemur
Are you a fan of taxidermy, oddities, and antiques? If so, then you’ll love spending part of your rainy day at the Learned Lemur. Here, you can buy (or simply browse and admire) strange and macabre items of all kinds.
8. See a movie at the historic, unique Landmark Mayan Theatre
With its truly unique Mayan Revival style architecture and facade (dating back to the Art Deco era), this historic theater is worth visiting just to see it. But we think it’s also especially fun to see a movie here on a rainy day!
9. See an enormous collection of vehicles at the Forney Museum of Transportation
When we say an “enormous collection,” we mean over 600 transportation-related artifacts, including not only the expected vehicles like cars, but also buggies, motorcycles, aircraft, carriages, rail equipment, fire apparatus, steam locomotives, public transportation, sleighs, bicycles, and more! Formerly a private collection, it’s now grown into a full-blown museum dedicated to transportation in all its forms.
10. Attend a performance at the Colorado Ballet
See a list of their upcoming performances here on their website.
11. See stunning paintings of the American West at this underappreciated museum
Pay a visit to the American Museum of Western Art. Here, you’ll find an extensive collection of paintings of the American West, painted by artists from the 1800s all the way to the 2000s. (And keep in mind that they’re only open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.)
12. Purchase art supplies from one of the oldest stores of its kind in the country
Meininger Art Material is a fourth-generation family-owned business that has been around since 1881, selling more than 80,000 different items in its 7,000 square feet of space.
13. See your first (and probably only) multiversal transit station
Convergence Station is a highly interactive art exhibition containing the works of more than 300 artists, absolutely packed with details and lore to explore in its fictional universe.
14. Confuse your brain at Museum of Illusions Denver
Not only are there tons of great photo opportunities at this unusual museum, Museum of Illusions will keep you occupied for several hours as you try to understand what you’re looking at and why it’s so baffling for your brain!
If you’re looking for chic and sweet spaces to hold a local event, then you need to see the venues that made our beautiful bay shower venue ideas in Denver list!
15. Appreciate adorably tiny items at the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls, and Toys
If you’re one of those people who adores dollhouses and their highly realistic miniature versions of real-world items, you’ll have an amazing time at the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls, and Toys! You can spend hours just staring at all the tiny items and the amazing amount of skill and craftsmanship that were required to create them. Kids will love this indoor activity in Denver, but so will anyone of any age!
16. Explore the country’s largest comic book store
One of the coolest indoor activities in Denver is paying a visit to Mile High Comics. It’s a massive (45,000 square foot!) warehouse containing roughly 10 million comics, along with toys and other related mementos. Upstairs, you’ll find the store owner’s collection of Pueblo and southwestern art, a mini museum that’s worth the visit all on its own.
17. Immerse yourself in the ocean life at Downtown Aquarium
One of the coolest things about Downtown Aquarium is the fact that you can eat lunch at their restaurant while seated directly around a 50,000-gallon aquarium. Plus, there are also an array of cool exhibits to check out if you’re interested in marine biology!
18. Sip a craft beer while sitting in a rejuvenating beer bath at Oakwell Beer Spa
Can’t decide whether you’d rather visit a spa or a brewery on your rainy day? Denver has plenty of both to choose from. But for an experience that combines the two into one incredibly relaxing experience, visit the Oakwell Beer Spa.
19. Get nostalgic at Fifty-Two 80’s
Visit this incredible antique store to purchase toys, clothes, and other memorabilia from the 80s. There are an estimated 4,500 items here to appreciate, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Smurfs to Garbage Pail Kids and so much more.
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