Experience the best of Boulder

Boulder lies about 1,650 metres above sea level on the edge of the Front Range, where the plains meet the Rocky Mountains. The Flatirons, steep slabs of tilted sandstone, rise directly behind town and are a symbol of the city. The University of Colorado campus, with its sandstone buildings and red-tile roofs, spreads across the south side, and the Pearl Street Mall is a pedestrian street of shops, cafés and street performers.

Chautauqua Park, with an auditorium dating from 1898, is a starting point for trails, and the Boulder Creek Path follows the water through town. Eldorado Canyon State Park, a short drive south, has sheer cliffs for climbers, and the Peak to Peak Highway runs along the mountains towards Rocky Mountain National Park, whose high peaks and elk meadows lie to the north-west. Denver is about forty kilometres to the south-east.

Boulder is known for natural foods, craft breweries and farm-to-table restaurants, and Colorado's green chile, elk and bison appear on menus. The climate is sunny and dry, with cold snowy winters that melt quickly, warm summer afternoons and golden aspen colour in the mountains each autumn.