If You Have 1 Day--Start at Larimer Square, Denver's birthplace, with a self-guided walking tour of the historic sites. Then stroll the 16th Street pedestrian mall and head toward the State Capitol, just across Broadway. En route, take a 1-block detour for an early lunch or a cup of tea at the Brown Palace Hotel. After seeing the capitol, explore other Civic Center sites, including the Denver Art Museum.

If You Have 2 Days--Spend your first day as suggested above. On day 2, drive west. Venture into the old Rocky Mountain foothill mining towns of Idaho Springs and Georgetown. En route, visit the Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Morrison, where numerous hiking trails originate. On your return, stop in Golden at Coors Brewery or visit Buffalo Bill's grave on Lookout Mountain.

If You Have 3 Days--Spend your first 2 days as suggested above. On day 3, explore more of Denver. The city has numerous historic homes, beautiful parks, attractive shopping centers, and several highly touted museums (for example, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Botanic Gardens, and the Black American West Museum).

If You Have 4 Days or More--Spend days 1 to 3 as suggested above. On day 4, plan a daylong excursion to a nearby city, such as Colorado Springs (home of the Air Force Academy and the Pikes Peak Cog Railway) or Boulder.

For your fifth day, climb higher into the Rockies to resort communities such as Estes Park (the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park), or venture west on I-70, uphill toward the renowned ski resorts that dot Colorado's high country.