North America > United States > Denver (DEN)
The Car or no Car advice for Denver can be broken down into three similar questions - do you need a car in Denver ; is it worth it (based on costs), and ultimately - should you rent one? (a balance of the two).🚆 🚌⛴️ Do we need to rent a car in Denver ?
These scores are based on the quality of public transport and other travel options. If these are good enough to see the main points of interest, then you don’t need to rent a car.
💰💶💳 Is it worth hiring a car in Denver?
These scores reflect the practical factors that affect whether renting a car is convenient, good value, and stress-free.
✈️ Denver International Airport — massive, modern, and isolated
Denver International Airport (DEN) opened in 1995, replacing the old Stapleton Airport. It is one of the largest airports in North America and one of the furthest from its host city: more than 20 miles from downtown, surrounded by open plains.
For 25 years, the airport relied solely on road access. Finally, in 2016, Denver opened the A Line, a modern rail link connecting DEN to Union Station. (It was not 2021, though construction delays did push parts of the system into the 2020s.)
The A Line is quick, reliable, and reaches the heart of downtown in about 35 minutes. It is easily the best piece of public transport in the region.
🚇 Public transport in Denver — decent, but very limited
Denver’s RTD system includes buses, light rail and commuter rail. However:
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routes are spread out
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frequencies drop outside peak hours
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the network feels built for commuters, not tourists
You can use light rail within the city, but it rarely takes you to the dramatic places that define Colorado. Once you leave the core urban area, bus services thin out quickly.
So, while Denver is easier without a car than many U.S. cities, it is still far from “car-free friendly.”
🚆 Long-distance trains — spectacular but not practical for local travel
Amtrak’s California Zephyr runs west from Denver through the Rockies toward Grand Junction and Salt Lake City. This is one of the most scenic rail journeys in the world. The train passes deep canyons, river valleys, and snow-covered passes.
However:
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it runs once per day
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times can be unpredictable
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it does not replace a car for exploring mountain towns or trailheads
It’s a magnificent trip, but not a transport solution.
🚂 Niche tourist railways — beautiful, but difficult without a car
Colorado is full of iconic tourist railways. Two of the most famous are:
Pikes Peak Cog Railway (near Colorado Springs)
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Reached from Denver by bus to Colorado Springs (frequent).
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But the station lies well beyond walking distance of the bus stop.
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A taxi or rideshare is needed for the final stretch.
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Without a car, coordination is possible but awkward.
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
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One of America’s great historic steam railways.
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But Durango is 330 miles from Denver, a six-hour drive.
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No direct rail or practical bus links exist.
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A rental car or short hop flight is the only realistic way to get there.
Other enthusiast railways — like the Georgetown Loop — are closer, but again they require driving.
🏞️ Why Denver almost demands a rental car
Many of the places visitors want to see lie well outside the reach of public transport:
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Rocky Mountain National Park
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Boulder and the Flatirons
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Red Rocks Amphitheatre
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Idaho Springs and Mount Evans
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Breckenridge, Vail and Keystone
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Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak
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Great Sand Dunes National Park (farther, but spectacular)
Colorado rewards spontaneity. Without a car, that spontaneity vanishes.
🚴 Cycling in and around Denver
Denver does have a growing cycling culture, yet most visitors do not come here to ride in the city itself. Even so, the region offers excellent recreational cycling, and these routes are the reason bikes matter.
The Cherry Creek Trail is the most popular option. It runs for miles through parks and green corridors, with long stretches that feel far removed from downtown traffic. You can join the trail easily from central Denver, and the gradients are gentle. As a result, it works for almost all fitness levels.
Another major route is the South Platte River Trail. This connects several neighbourhoods, sporting venues and outlying districts. Although it is not a mountain route, it does give you a strong sense of how the city interacts with its rivers and open spaces. Bike-share schemes, including the modern e-bike fleets, make these routes very accessible.
However, the real cycling jewels lie in areas surrounding the city. Roads near Boulder, Golden and Evergreen draw riders for their scenery. These climbs are serious, even for experienced cyclists, and the altitudes are high. For visitors, hiring a car to reach these starting points is often the simplest approach. Put bluntly, Denver’s best cycling begins once you’ve driven out of Denver.
🎸 Red Rocks Amphitheatre – The Ultimate Denver Concert Experience
Red Rocks Amphitheatre is one of the most iconic music venues in the world. It sits in a natural bowl of ancient red sandstone, just outside Denver, and the setting feels almost unreal. The sound quality is superb because the rock walls act as perfect acoustic amplifiers. Concerts start at sunset, and the colours of the cliffs change as the sun drops behind the mountains. Even if you are not seeing a show, the site is open during the day. You can walk the trails, climb the long staircases, and explore the visitor centre. The venue sits well beyond Denver’s public transport network. You can reach it with a rideshare, a private shuttle on concert days, or your own rental car. Parking is easy but can be busy on show nights. Red Rocks is not just a concert venue. It is a classic Colorado experience and one of the region’s defining highlights.
🎨 Denver Art Museum – A Downtown Architectural Landmark
The Denver Art Museum gives you two striking buildings in one compact cultural district. The older North Building has a bold geometric form, but the real scene-stealer is the Frederic C. Hamilton Wing, designed by Daniel Libeskind. He is famous for the master plan of the new World Trade Center site, and you can see the same sharp, crystalline language here. Many visitors compare it to the Guggenheim Bilbao. The difference is that Libeskind favours fractured planes and angular lines rather than Gehry’s sweeping curves. It divides opinion, but that is part of the point. Great architecture should provoke a reaction. The best part is that the museum sits right in downtown Denver. You can walk there easily from most central hotels, or hop on light rail or a local bus. You never need a car to visit, and the whole district around the museum is designed for pedestrians, with cafés, green spaces, and other cultural venues only minutes away.
❄️ Winter driving and mountain passes
Winter driving is one of the biggest factors in deciding how and when to rent a car in Colorado. Conditions can change rapidly. Even in late spring, high passes may still see snow, and sudden storms can sweep across the Rockies with little warning.
The most important feature on most winter journeys is I-70, the highway linking Denver to major ski towns. Traffic can slow to a crawl during peak weekends. Moreover, Colorado enforces strict traction laws, requiring snow tyres or chains at certain times. Visitors in rental cars must check whether their vehicle meets these rules.
Some roads, such as Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, close entirely for winter. Others, including Loveland Pass, can be open yet extremely challenging. Drivers must be cautious.
Further south, Pikes Peak is reached by a toll road that climbs to more than 14,000 feet. It is one of the highest paved roads in the United States. Although ploughing is frequent, conditions can still close the route on short notice. The air becomes thin, the drop-offs are dramatic, and weather changes quickly. The drive is stunning, but it is not for nervous drivers.
Because of these factors, many travellers choose to visit mountain towns by train or bus in winter and then rent a car only when weather conditions improve.
🏙️ Denver vs Boulder vs Colorado Springs — which is the best base?
Denver – the gateway and transport hub
Denver offers the most flight options, the fastest airport train, and the widest range of rental cars. It also has the greatest choice of urban attractions. However, it sits slightly removed from the mountains. Each day trip requires a bit more driving compared with the other cities.
Boulder – the car-free friendly option
Boulder sits at the foot of the Flatirons and is far better suited to visitors who prefer walking. The city centre, Pearl Street and the university areas are extremely compact. Local buses link many neighbourhoods, and the HOP shuttle circulates through key districts. Cycling is excellent, and many trailheads lie close to town.
Yet Boulder has a drawback: no major airport. Travellers fly into Denver and then transfer. And although you can reach the Flatirons without a car, most of the surrounding canyons and passes still require one.
Colorado Springs – efficient for specific attractions
Colorado Springs works best if your focus is the Pikes Peak region. It has its own useful airport, and bus services from Denver are frequent. However, the city is very spread out. Garden of the Gods, the Broadmoor, the Pikes Peak Highway, and surrounding canyons are all poorly served by public transport. You can reach the city without a car, but you cannot explore from the city without one.
Because of this, Colorado Springs becomes a highly practical base only with a rental car.
🧳 Conclusion — Should you rent a car in Denver?
Should you rent a car in Denver? In almost every case, yes. The airport train helps, the local network covers downtown, and long-distance rail offers superb scenery. Yet the heart of Colorado — the mountains, the parks, the canyons, and the historic railways — remain firmly out of reach without driving. Renting a car turns Denver from a city break into a gateway to one of America’s most dramatic landscapes.