Travelling Colorado: How to make the most of your trip to Denver
The capital of Colorado has all grown up and we have found the best places to eat, drink, stay and visit.
The capital of Colorado has all grown up and we have found the best places to eat, drink, stay and visit.
1. Why the train station should be your first stop
Union Station is a grand gateway to Denver, just 37 minutes from the airport on the cheap and efficient A-Line train. Built in 1914, the Beaux-Arts station was lovingly refurbished in 2014, and is the undisputed heart of Denver’s revitalised Lower Downtown district (LoDo to locals). Step out into the opulent Great Hall, lined with white marble and arched windows, and depending on the time of day grab a cocktail at the classy Cooper Lounge, or brunch at Snooze AM Eatery, a cool diner with a creative, modern menu. Rocky Mountaineer’s Rockies to Red Rocks train departs here for a two-night luxury train journey to Moab, Utah, and every Friday to Sunday in winter, skiers board the Winter Park Express for the equally scenic two-hour trip to Denver’s closest major ski resort.
2. The city’s coolest district
LoDo was once considered no-go. Originally the city’s mercantile district, the area became something of a skid row before the construction of the major league baseball stadium Coors Field kicked off a renaissance in the 1990s. Bars, restaurants and office workers moved into the old red-brick warehouses, and the transformation was fully realised in 2021 with the opening of McGregor Square, a public plaza spanning an entire block opposite the ballpark. Bust your moves on the beautiful ice-skating rink in winter, or take the free 16th Street Mallride shuttle from Union Station to historic Larimar Square, a shopping and entertainment hot spot full of stately Victorian buildings.
3. The best restaurants in Denver
The Michelin Guide arrived in Colorado in 2023, giving gongs to top restaurants throughout the agriculture-rich state. A far cry from the mountain cuisine of ski towns, Denver’s dining scene is sophisticated and daring, led largely by out-of-town chefs such as New York’s Justin Cucci, who’s opened restaurants in unlikely locations such as a former mortuary (Linger) and brothel (Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox). Wisconsin-born chef Alex Seidel also helms a slew of top farm-to-plate eateries, the pick being Mercantile Dining & Provision, inside Union Station. Book the chef’s counter for ring-side seating as chefs clip micro-herbs straight from the plant into dishes such as maple leaf duck and pork chop saltimbocca. AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q won a Bib Gourmand from Michelin for its Texas-style smoked meats, served on brown paper straight from the wood-smoker and sliced at the counter. Order a side of ’slaw and pit beans, and don’t skimp on the custard-filled cornbread.
4. A walking tour of Denver
The word “graffiti” undersells the stunning street art encountered on a two-hour guided walking tour of the suddenly hip RiNo (River North) arts district. Rock-bottom rents for derelict factories and warehouses attracted artists to the area about 20 years ago, heralding not only an explosion in public muralism but the rapid gentrification of a once-avoided neighbourhood. You’ll gain both an appreciation of the talent of street artists, and a grounding in the political and social context that informed their works. Look out for Detour 303’s vibrant, neon photo-realistic portraits, Casey Kawaguchi’s mesmerising Samurai Girl, and the recurring purple pyramid people daubed by Chris Haven. Have lunch at RiNo’s Denver Central Market, a sun-filled artisan food hall, and finish up with a drink at Stem Ciders, a craft cidery that also does a mean ramen.
5. The best galleries
Akin to an acid flashback, or being trapped in a fever dream, Meow Wolf: Convergence Station is a mind-warping modern art museum masquerading as a psychedelic playground. The arts collective behind Meow Wolf started in Santa Fe, New Mexico (led by George R.R. Martin, who created Game of Thrones), and the Denver installation is its third and largest, showcasing the trippy talents of at least 100 local artists. “Don’t try to explain it,” was the advice I received, and I couldn’t possibly, except to say you’ll be an intergalactic explorer, traversing alien worlds while trying (in vain, I guarantee) to unravel a cosmic mystery involving lost travellers and the trading of memories. The whole experience is visually stunning, a sensory overload of dizzying intensity, and most definitely out of this world.
6. Where to see music
Red Rocks is a spectacular natural amphitheatre framed by monolithic, desert-red sandstone outcrops, and one of the world great outdoor concert venues (The Beatles played their only Colorado show here, in 1964). Summer has a regular roster of shows, but many people don’t realise Red Rocks is open year-round, and is at its most spectacular in winter, when the rocks are covered in snow and the colours pop against the sky. Many come to exercise; it’s 5km if you zig-zag up all 69 rows, and 388 steps from bottom to top, a lung-bursting assignment at nearly 2000m above sea level. It’s more sensible perhaps to walk the 2.5km Trading Post Trail, then warm up inside the visitor centre, which has an excellent historical display detailing the park’s history, plus a photographic exhibition of past performers.
7. Where to shop
Cherry Creek is the swanky side of town, a walkable and self-contained neighbourhood packed with luxury boutiques, hotels, restaurants, fine art galleries, day spas and salons. It has two mammoth retail centres: Cherry Creek Shopping Centre and Cherry Creek North, boasting more than 300 stores, a high proportion of them independently owned. If there’s one restaurant to put on your Denver hit-list make it Barolo Grill, a long-time institution so committed to its cuisine that it sends the entire payroll on an annual trip to Barolo, in northwest Italy, for fresh inspiration. Expect dishes such as Agnolotti con lavender (pinches of pasta filled with veal and tossed in lavender butter), Crudo di ricciola (amberjack sashimi) and Anatra di Barolo (braised duck). The wine list spans 15,000 bottles, and has earned the restaurant a Michelin sommelier distinction. Finish with an oak-aged grappa, if you dare.
8. The museums to visit
A cultural cornerstone of the city, Denver Art Museum houses the Petrie Institute of Western Art, and the Indigenous Arts of North America collection, alongside important artefacts from Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America. Located opposite the Colorado State Capitol, the museum has recently wrapped up a $US150m ($233m) reconstruction of the Martin Building, a fortress-like tower clad in millions of reflective tiles, built in 1971 and co-designed by Gio Ponti. The Italian architect also loved furniture design, and the museum has 18,000 objects in its Architecture and Design Collection, including works by American modernists Charles and Ray Eames, and European imports Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe.
9. An historic hotel
For a landlocked city 1600km from the nearest ocean, Denver has unexpected nautical distinctions. The Ship Tavern, inside the historic Brown Palace hotel, is adorned with dozens of model ships that the owner’s wife banished from the family home. Opening just after prohibition in 1934, it’s purportedly the oldest continually operating pub in the city, with bullet holes in the bar to vouch for its gangster credentials. Denver was also home of the “Unsinkable Molly Brown”, the larger-than-life philanthropist and unlikely heroine of the Titanic sinking. Her former Victorian-era home in the Capitol Hill district was saved from demolition in 1970 and restored to become the Molly Brown House Museum. The Titanic angle is a mere lure; the museum celebrates Denver at the height of its mining wealth in the 1880s, and pays touching homage to an unsinkable socialite and social justice activist.
10. Where to stay
It’s no accident that the reinvention of LoDo coincided with the opening of a swag of top hotels.Limelight Denver is a reinvention itself, beginning life in 2017 as Hotel Born, before being bought by the owner of Aspen Snowmass ski resort and joining its stable of Limelight hotels last year. This is the first incarnation outside a ski resort, and the alpine-tinged, contemporary styling translates well in Denver, where the Rocky Mountains are always front of mind. Ideally positioned opposite Union Station, the hotel has 200 guestrooms with a modern alpine meets Scandi aesthetic, all with floor to ceiling windows framing the mountains or the city (or both, in the case of corner suites), thoughtfully curated local art and a range of muscle-pummelling devices such as rollers and heated suction cups, presumably for recalibrating skiing-battered bodies (or book an in-room massage). The hotel provides a complimentary car service within a mile radius. From $US199 a night.
Ricky French was a guest of Visit Colorado and Visit Denver.
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