Start from 55 curated places around Boise, ID, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Kibrom's Ethiopian and Eritrean Food
Family-run Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurant on State Street — chef-owner Kibrom is a James Beard semifinalist, the injera is house-made, and the combo platters share family-style across a low table. The most distinctive cuisine in Boise.
Fork
Pacific Northwest American on Main with farm-to-table sourcing — house-made charcuterie, wood-fired plates, and a patio that fills first on summer weekends. The reliable downtown dinner.
Trails & outdoors
Table Rock Trail
1.8 miles, 900 feet of climbing from the Old Idaho Pen lot to the cross at the top — the city's in-town overlook trail. Steep and exposed, no shade.
Camel's Back Park
Eight-acre park in the North End with the gateway to the Boise Foothills trail system — the Camel's Back stairs climb to a 100-foot overlook, then dozens of miles of singletrack continue from there.
Things to do
Boise Art Museum
Twelve-thousand-square-foot art museum in Julia Davis Park — a permanent collection focused on Pacific Northwest and Idaho artists plus three rotating gallery spaces. Solid two-hour stop.
Zoo Boise
Eleven-acre downtown zoo inside Julia Davis Park — penguins, snow leopards, an African aviary, and an admission program that funnels half its revenue to international conservation. Two hours covers it.
Landmarks & sights
Idaho State Capitol
Geothermally-heated 1920 capitol building — the only state capitol in the country heated by hot springs water piped from beneath the foothills. Free self-guided tours; original marble and the Statue of Liberty replica out front are the photo stops.
Old Idaho Penitentiary
1870 territorial prison turned museum — 30 buildings, original cell blocks, the gallows, and a J. Curtis Earl arms-and-armament exhibit that spans the Bronze Age to WWI. One of only four territorial prisons in the country open to the public.