For a college town, Fort Collins isn’t particularly eclectic or diverse. Sometimes it feels like a big suburb, with an endless supply of chain discount stores and fast-food franchises patronized by SUV-driving, Timberland-wearing ex-Californians.

So if you’ve just arrived to town — say, a new grad student trying to economize on your pittance of a stipend, or a computer geek ready to spend your newly minted fortune — you need to experience places that are uniquely Fort Collins. Of course, there’s Old Town, which you probably visited in your first ten minutes.

But there’s also a crazy little place called the Swetsville Zoo, where the animals are oddly shaped sculptures crafted from bits of scrap metal. It’s something you can show visitors that they won’t find back home.

Speaking of metal, the first time you see a train traveling in the middle of downtown Mason Street is an exciting moment. The idea of underpasses and overpasses to help the train get through town is still a foreign one here. While anyone late for work or class may get a little peeved, the train that bisects the city adds a Wild West feel.

Brewery tours are a must, with microbreweries New Belgium, Odell and Fort Collins Brewery offering visitors samples of their products. Many people visit weekly, if not daily, and the taprooms become lively at times. There’s also that big brewery from St. Louis on the edge of Fort Collins. While visiting the Clydesdales, taste some of that corporate, rice-made brew.

Fort Collins has its share of interesting coffee houses. Starry Night, Mugs and the Bean Cycle in Old Town, along with Deja Vu near the Colorado State University campus, are ready to perk you up. The Alley Cat, tucked in an alley near campus, is open 24 hours a day for those who absolutely need a latté at three in the morning.

Other funky hangouts include Avogadro’s Number (the locals call it Avo’s), which is popular with an ageless university set. It’s perfect for planning a protest or working on a poem. Music ranges from jazz and bluegrass to swing. The place is huge and even offers a back patio complete with a tree house for kids.

The Town Pump is another unique place. It’s tiny, but always filled with colorful characters. Away from downtown, the Island Grill makes a nice stop. If you lust for music, other must-visits include Hodi’s Half Note and the spacious Aggie Theater. But the best place to see live music — short of Red Rocks outside Denver, naturally — has to be the Mishawaka Amphitheater, which features top talent in a wonderful outdoor setting along the Cache La Poudre River. In fact, the entire Poudre Canyon is an outdoor paradise, filled with beautiful and challenging hiking trails, including Greyrock Trail, and popular fishing spots.

The best part about Fort Collins is all the outdoor recreational opportunities. Parks are numerous, including City Park with its small lake, paddleboats and train for kids. A trolley car that runs along Mountain Avenue on the weekends from May to September will even take you to it. Other noteworthy parks include Rolland Moore Park with its ballparks and volleyball courts, Fossil Creek with its Tar Pits play area and “prehistoric” climbing wall, and Lee Martinez Park with trails along the Poudre River.

Aside from the city parks, the city’s natural areas program has set aside thousands of acres in and near the city. Explore are Coyote Ridge and Pineridge natural areas. Larimer County also has some nice open lands and parks, including Horsetooth Mountain Park. Look due west along Horsetooth Road. and you’ll indeed see the horse’s tooth. Lory State Park, with its twenty miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding, also is just minutes away.

For bicyclists, Fort Collins is hard to top. The Poudre Trail and the Spring Creek Trail are two of the most popular and scenic. Be wary of traffic jams, though, as bicyclists sometimes converge on walkers, Rollerbladers and skateboarders. And if it starts to rain heavily, head to higher ground. The high-water marks are an ominous reminder of past flooding.

But you don’t have to worry about rain too much here. Fort Collins boasts three hundred days of sunshine, so load up on sunblock, which is often given away at the numerous outdoor festivals in the area.

I can cram in only so much about what Fort Collins has to offer. And I’m not saying all is right with the city. Don’t even get me started on the city’s love affair with unsynchronized stoplights.

But all in all, it’s not bad here.

Kris Kodrich, who has been a reporter and editor for newspapers in Florida, Wisconsin and Oregon, teaches journalism at Colorado State University.