Fort Collins and LovelandColorado

Dining alfresco at dusk during a farm-to-table dinner event at Happy Heart Farms

Richard Haro

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The Loveland Visitors Center, home to the iconic Love sculpture where visitors can hang locks

Dick Knapp

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Cycling snow-covered trails on fat-tire bikes at Horsetooth Reservoir

Josiah Roe

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A tranquil fall day at Lake Loveland

John Giroux

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Major Airports:
Denver (DEN)
States:
Colorado

Outstanding art, craft beer and endless events in a Rocky Mountain playground

Fort Collins and Loveland naturally have scenic beauty and small-town charm, but this pair of northern Colorado cities also boasts an incomparable locale: less than an hour from big-city Denver, 35 minutes from the towering peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park and a stone’s throw from the Old West city of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Whether you’re a foodie or beer fanatic, art aficionado or outdoor adventurer, a visit to Fort Collins and Loveland will surprise and delight.

Brews for You

Fort Collins is the backbone of Colorado’s storied craft brewery scene. At New Belgium Brewing, high at the top of many beer fans’ must-visit lists, enjoy a brewery tour and tasting, plus food trucks and special events including concerts and yoga. Head over to Odell Brewing to sample a flight of ultra-creative brews – think fruit-flavored and nitrogen-infused. Don’t overlook the “big one,” either. Budweiser, the “King of Beers,” is brewed right here at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, where you can soak in long-range mountain views and take a picture with the world-famous Clydesdale horses. Just 30 minutes south, Loveland is also home to 11 craft breweries, two distilleries and one cidery/meadery. Can’t decide where to sip? Beer & Bike tours let you visit several top spots while touring the town on two wheels.

The Great Outdoors Are Calling

Experience nature’s built-in adventures year-round – winter or summer, rain or shine (well, mostly shine, because this region ofColorado gets about 300 days of sunshine a year). Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the most-visited national parks in the USA, is located less than an hour away. Set aside an entire day or longer to enjoy 482 kilometers of hiking and biking trails, rock climbing, camping, horseback riding, winter sports, wildlife watching and scenic drives including one of the most spectacular routes in the country: Trail Ridge Road, peaking at nearly 3,700 meters altitude. If you want to go full-on cowboy or cowgirl, Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch offers dude-ranch vacations complete with horseback riding, ranch chores and campfire meals in the serene Rocky Mountain foothills.

Arts, Culture and One-of-a-kind Attractions

Art enthusiast? Loveland is, too. In fact, it’s one of the major producers of bronze sculptures in the world. Stroll amid whimsical public art installations in Loveland’s three public sculpture gardens and see how real bronze statues are made at a working bronze foundry. Art Castings and Bronze Services of Loveland both offer tours by reservation on certain mornings. In August, the city hosts the largest juried sculpture show in the USA, Sculpture in the Park.

Both Loveland and Fort Collins boast ultra-charming downtowns. Loveland’s is lined with locally owned shops, boutiques and restaurants, while Fort Collins’ downtown is so pretty that even Disneyland copied its design for its Main Street USA. There’s creativity in every corner of downtown Fort Collins, from murals on electric transformer boxes to painted pianos to hidden alleyways decorated in whimsical street art. You can’t leave town without adding a lock (and throwing away the key) for someone you love to the LOVE sculpture in Loveland, one of the largest of its kind in the USA.