Best time to visit Boulder
United States · North America
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Boulder
Tap a month for its page
- JanJBoulder in January: avoid
- FebFBoulder in February: avoid
- MarMBoulder in March: good
- AprABoulder in April: good
- MayMBoulder in May: sweet spot
- JunJBoulder in June: sweet spot
- JulJBoulder in July: good, busy
- AugABoulder in August: sweet spot, busy
- SepSBoulder in September: good, busy
- OctOBoulder in October: good
- NovNBoulder in November: ok
- DecDBoulder in December: ok, busy
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Plan this trip
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too.
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Flights from
Flights
Your city is a guess from your time zone. Choose your city
Where are you flying from? Choose your city for its flights and fares.
Book with the airline
Where to stay
Book direct
Luxury
Things to do
Car hire
Rent direct
Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
Things to do in Boulder
- Flatirons Rock formations near Boulder, Colorado
- Chautauqua Park At the base of the Flatiron's rock formations.
- Eldorado Canyon State Park Eldorado Canyon State Park is a local state park to see the wilderness and beauty of this Colorado area.
- Flagstaff Mountain Flagstaff Mountain is a must-do.
- Bear Peak Mountain in Colorado, United States of America
- Green Mountain (Boulder, Colorado) Mountain in United States of America
- Fiske Planetarium Planetarium in the United States
Tours and tickets in Boulder
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank
Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Boulder), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.
Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3° | 4d | 58% | 7.8h | avoid | bitter cold: 3C daily max |
| Feb | 4° | 5d | 58% | 9.0h | avoid | bitter cold: 4C daily max |
| Mar | 10° | 6d | 57% | 10.0h | good | 10C max, 6 rainy days |
| Apr | 15° | 6d | 55% | 10.8h | good | 15C max, 6 rainy days |
| May | 19° | 10d | 61% | 11.7h | sweet spot | 19C max, 10 rainy days |
| Jun | 27° | 4d | 50% | 12.9h | sweet spot | 27C max, 4 rainy days |
| Jul | 30° | 3d | 48% | 13.2h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Aug | 29° | 3d | 50% | 12.4h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Sep | 26° | 3d | 47% | 11.1h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Oct | 16° | 4d | 53% | 9.6h | good | 16C max, 4 rainy days |
| Nov | 10° | 4d | 55% | 8.4h | ok | 10C max, 4 rainy days |
| Dec | 7° | 3d | 52% | 7.7h | okbusy | busier than usual |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at Pearl Street, downtown, 19 km from the airport (BJC): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Boulder's December days now average 6.6°C, 4.1°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 5 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 3.6° | 4.4° | 8.0° | 12.8° | 17.8° | 23.8° | 26.7° | 25.9° | 21.9° | 15.7° | 8.6° | 2.6° |
| 2017–26 | 3.4° | 4.5° | 10.3° | 14.6° | 18.9° | 26.5° | 30.2° | 29.0° | 25.7° | 16.5° | 9.9° | 6.6° |
| Change | -0.2° | +0.0° | +2.3° | +1.8° | +1.1° | +2.7° | +3.5° | +3.1° | +3.9° | +0.8° | +1.3° | +4.1° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
Fly into Denver (DEN), then drive. The flights under Where to book are to Denver.
| Denver (DEN) | the drive is not measured yet |
|---|---|
| Denver (BJC) | the drive is not measured yet |
The drive from each airport is the road's, from openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT: typical, not a schedule.
How far Boulder is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Salt Lake City
- from Phoenix
- from Las Vegas
- from Dallas
- from Minneapolis
- from Austin
- from Los Angeles
- from San Diego
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Boulder, flying or not.
Before you go
Type A and B plugs at 120 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the United states dollar. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise normal security precautions. Everything for United States: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay work almost everywhere, though a few small places take cash only. Keep some $1 and $5 notes for tips; Venmo and PayPal are for locals.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Expected: 15–20% in sit-down restaurants (18–20% is standard in New York) and 10–20% for taxi, Uber and Lyft drivers. Large groups may find it already on the bill.
Getting around Boulder
- Apps — Rides: Lyft, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: Text messages (SMS), WhatsApp. In San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and some other cities you can also book a driverless Waymo in its own app.
Boulder and Denver share a common mass transit system, known as RTD. which won "Best Public Transportation" in a nationwide survey in 2008. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Boulder, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — 911 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (50)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/getting-help
- omny.info
- omny.info/fares
- clippercard.com/contactless-payments
- clippercard.com/pay-with-phone
- mtc.ca.gov/news/starting-wednesday-bart-riders-can-tap-bank-cards
- sfcta.org/blogs/next-generation-clipper-tap-pay-here
- metro.net/fares/how-to-pay
- transitchicago.com/howto/pay-for-your-fare
- info.myorca.com/contactless
- miamidade.gov/global/service.page?Mduid_service=ser1565197498854306
- mbta.com/fares/charlie/tap-ride
- holocard.net/for-visitors
- holocard.net/help
- sdmts.com/fares/pronto-ways-pay
- ridepronto.com
- norta.com/ride-with-us/how-to-pay
- norta.com/ride-with-us/how-to-pay/fares
- norta.com/ride-with-us/how-to-pay/lepass
- capmetro.org/fares
- wmata.com/fares
- wmata.com/pay/tap-ride-go.html
- muni.org/Departments/transit/PeopleMover/Pages/FaresandPasses.aspx
- uber.com/global/en/cities/new-york
- lyft.com/rider/cities/new-york-ny
- waymo.com/faq
- visittheusa.com/travel-trade/faq
- nyctourism.com/tipping-sales-tax
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/United_States
- infobip.com/blog/most-popular-messaging-apps-by-country
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- visitphilly.com/things-to-do/attractions/septa
- lvmonorail.com/ticket-information
- lvmonorail.com/frequently-asked-questions
- apps.apple.com/us/app/ridertc/id909691507
- lasvegasnevada.gov/News/Blog/Detail/your-guide-to-exploring-las-vegas-bus-it-bike-it-or-share-it
- visitlasvegas.com/plan/getting-here-and-around/maps
- visitlasvegas.com/experience/post/getting-around-vegas
- visitlasvegas.com/experience/post/vegas-on-budget
- wegotransit.com/buy/fare-information
- wegotransit.com/wego-now-accepts-credit-card-mobile-wallet-contactless-payment
- wegotransit.com/ride/transit-services/airport
- trimet.org/fares
- trimet.org/schedules/maxredline.htm
- rtd-denver.com/fares-passes/fares
- rtd-denver.com/fares-passes/tap-n-ride
- app.rtd-denver.com/en-US/route/A/schedule
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/09PAYMENT290526C6588B796E664822A2BD0DEB6452CAD4.PDF
Boulder in pictures
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Tyler Cipriani, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Roger W, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Boulder is like
Boulder is a college town of about 106,000 in the Front Range region of Colorado. The home of the University of Colorado, the city has a reputation for progressive values and outdoor recreation. It is a very pleasant place to live and visit. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- University of Colorado Boulder. The flagship institution of the state of Colorado, CU (as it's called locally) has a 600-acre campus… More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Colorado Buffaloes, 2150 Stadium Dr. (ticket office). CU's sports teams are among the city's best-known attractions, competing in seven men's and 10 women's sports, mostly in the Big Conference. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Denver International Airport DIA) is the nearest and most practical airport, easily accessible by the AB bus directly from Boulder or alternatively by the Flatiron Flyer and A Line (see By bus below). More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- Boulder has a very low crime rate and has no bad neighborhoods, but use common sense. University Hill, which is bordered by Baseline, Broadway, and Canyon can become raucous in the evenings, especially on weekends. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Boulder, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Boulder
Also in United States
- Anaheim best Apr, May, Oct
- Anchorage best Apr, May, Jun
- Asheville best Apr, Sep, Oct
- Aspen best Mar, Apr, Jun
- Atlanta best Apr, May, Sep
- Atlantic City best Apr, May, Oct
- Austin best Feb, May, Oct
- Bend best May, Aug, Sep
- Big Island best Jan, Mar, Oct
- Big Sur best Apr, Sep, Oct
- Boston best Aug, Sep, Oct
- Burlington best May, Jun, Sep
- Cape Cod best Jul, Aug, Oct
- Carmel-by-the-Sea best May, Sep, Oct
- Charleston best Mar, Apr, Oct
- Charlotte best Apr, May, Oct
- Charlottesville best Mar, Apr, May
- Chicago best May, Jun, Sep
- Dallas best Apr, May, Oct
- Death Valley best Apr, Oct, Nov
- Denver best Apr, Sep, Oct
- Detroit best May, Jun, Sep
- Fairbanks best May, Jun, Jul
- Flagstaff best May, Jun, Aug
- Fort Lauderdale best Mar, Apr, May
- Galveston best Apr, Sep, Oct
- Houston best Apr, May, Oct
- Jackson Hole best Mar, Aug, Sep
- Joshua Tree best Apr, May, Oct
- Juneau best Jun
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- Key West best Mar, Apr, May
- Lake Tahoe best Mar, May, Oct
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- Los Angeles best Jan, Apr, Oct
- Martha's Vineyard best May, Aug, Oct
- Maui best May, Sep, Oct
- Miami best Jan, Feb, Mar
- Minneapolis best May, Jul, Sep
- Nantucket best Jul, Aug, Oct
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- New Orleans best Mar, Apr, May
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- Oahu best May, Sep, Oct
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- Santa Barbara best Apr, May, Sep
- Santa Cruz best Apr, May, Oct
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- Sedona best Apr, May, Aug
- St. Augustine best Apr, May, Oct
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- The Grand Canyon best May, Sep, Oct
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- Virginia Beach best Apr, Sep, Oct
- Washington DC best Apr, May, Oct
- Yellowstone best Jul, Aug, Sep
- Yosemite best Aug, Sep, Oct
- Zion best Apr, May, Sep
Nearby
Kind of place
Boulder is in United States, North America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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