Fall Weekend in Colorado Springs

In 2018, Loren and I spent a long weekend in Colorado Springs, CO. It was both our first time visiting and we had such a blast. I've put together this full itinerary on what to do, where to go and the best part: what to eat.

Here is the Airbnb we ended up staying in. It was the perfect location and our host was exceptional!

Garden of the Gods: Unfortunately we went on a super foggy day but it was actually still SO beautiful.

We spent about 2-3 hours hiking around and stopped at the Garden of the Gods Market and Cafe (try the Green Goddess Smoothie: Honeydew melon, cucumber, apple, kale, mint and ginger or the Southwest Eggs Benedict: Poached eggs, bacon, spinach, and green chile on a buttermilk biscuit, cumin brown butter hollandaise or the Mountain Man Hash: Smoked pork, leek hash browns, two over-easy eggs with choice of pork green chile or sausage gravy).

Cave of the Winds Lantern Tour (1.5 hrs; $31/ea.): This was a fun little activity and would be especially fun for little kids. This tour had some bad review on Yelp but we went away. We agree it was very cheesy but the actual tour itself and getting to explore the caves was really interesting. We went for the views and at the top of the mountain we couldn't see a thing with the fog (Instagram vs reality below).
Yellow Mountain Tea House: The cutest little Chinese tea shop and our first meal in the springs. They had SO many different varieties of loose leaf tea to choose from for drinking with your meal or to take home. Once you've chosen your tea, you'll be seated at your table to order food. Everything we ate was amazing and was so well made.

Here are a few things we ordered: Xiao Long Bao, Chicken Dumplings, Meat Shumai.

Skirted Heifer: We loved this place so much we came here twice on this trip (don't judge us). The first time around we met these retired stoners that were a hoot to talk to. The food was ready quickly and it's in a nice area of the city with other shops and bars if you're looking to make an evening of it.
Fossil Craft Beer Co.: While we had some time to kill after the cave tour and dinner, we popped in here for a flight. The bartender was really friendly and great to talk to. You can tell it's where the locals go and not a super touristy spot. It was also dog-friendly, so automatically it was a 12/10 experience.