I’ve been to Denver, Colorado, often but never got to actually see the city. Instead, I was very familiar with its airport having waited for many connecting flights at the world’s third busiest airport.
The Mile High City, so named because it’s exactly one mile above sea level, had more than 69 million people pass through its airport in 2022, according to the Airports Council International. As one of those many millions, I’ve always been curious what lay outside the terminal hub’s doors, so I recently took the opportunity to meet up with a childhood friend and explore Denver.
Over a three-day long weekend, we discovered Denver has something for everyone. For sport enthusiasts, there are six professional sports teams — the day we left, the Denver Nuggets won their first NBA championship. For music and outdoor lovers, there’s the world famous Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. And last but not least, Denver has a thriving arts, cultural and culinary scene.
The Denver Art Museum, with its renowned American Indian Art and Western Art collection, is just one of many museums in the Golden Triangle Museum District, while the city’s RiNo (or River North) District hosts an annual international art mural competition.
While visitors’ choices of what to do are numerous, here’s how we did Denver.
Day 1: After our three-hour flights (mine from Vancouver and my friend’s from Toronto), we take the A line commuter train half an hour to Denver’s historic downtown district. Transit between an airport and the city’s downtown couldn’t get any easier or cheaper (a one way ticket was $10.50 US).
We get off at the revitalized and remarkable Union Station, built in 1881 with an impressive Great Hall on the main level. The station is surrounded by hip restaurants and nightclubs in the Lower Downtown District, known to locals as LoDo.
Just a five minute walk away is our accommodation, The Maven, a boutique hotel located in the Dairy Block, which was once home to Windsor Dairy, where milk, butter and cheese was processed from 1918 until 1928.
The hotel’s location is ideal, with easy access to one of Denver’s newest food halls, a 16-venue eatery, called the Milk Market, that offers everything from take-away to dine-in restaurants and even has a bar and a performance stage.
While there’s plenty of choices to hang out in the Dairy Block, including a funky outdoor space in the alleyway, one of our favourite places to relax is The Maven’s comfortable lobby, with striking decor including an art piece of a giant, wooden, outstretched hand.
It’s a welcoming setting for hotel guests, particularly during the hotel’s extended happy hour (4 to 7 p.m.) when free drinks are served from a vintage Airstream, parked in the lobby and decorated with lights. The hotel and the block itself has many social media picture-taking moments, from its inviting lobby (love the airstream), stylish rooms (mine had a swing) to colourful murals in the alley.
After our complimentary margaritas we take a shuttle bus and drive less than half an hour to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, for a Brit Floyd concert.
It’s no surprise this is the 11th time the British Pink Floyd tribute band has played the Red Rocks. The open concert venue is the world’s only natural occurring acoustically perfect amphitheatre, thanks to the disc-shaped red rocks that surround the stage providing an ideal transfer for sound.
It was also a great performance by the band, who played many of the hits from Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” album, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year — an album my friend and I remember well from our youth.
Day 2: If you haven’t visited a Meow Wolf, then Denver is a good place to be introduced to this multimedia, immersive art experience. I had a bit of an idea of what to expect after seeing Meow Wolf at AREA15 in Las Vegas, but my friend was in for a surprise.
Let’s just say she didn’t expect to be interacting with aliens in a surreal, walk-through venue, built on a triangle between three highways. More than 300 artists, many of them local, helped created Meow Wolf’s third and largest installation in Denver. There’s also one in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
That evening we visit LoHi (Lower Highlands) — another hip Denver neighbourhood, with plenty of cocktail lounges, brewpubs and restaurants to enjoy a dinner at Bamboo Sushi. This sleek, modern restaurant is known for its sustainable sourcing of seafood and serves up great sushi signature rolls. Also, worth ordering was the tempura cauliflower with a black bean sauce, miso glazed black cod and spicy edamame, making that dinner one of our favourite meals of the long weekend.
Day 3: What better way to understand a city than to learn some of its history, so we take a downtown walking tour and see inside some of its many historic red brick buildings, like Wynkoop Brewing Company, Colorado’s first brewpub, built in 1899.
Our guide is Rich Grant, a youthful senior who describes himself as your typical outdoorsy Coloradan, who arrives to our meetup in front of Union Station after a 16-km (10-mile) bike ride.
“Everybody here bikes, hikes, skis. We’re known for our recreation,” he says, adding a close second is beer.
Coors has its main headquarters just 20 minutes outside of Denver and the city itself is home to about 70 craft breweries. “If you wanted to be an actor, you’d go to New York. If you want to be a brewer you’d go to Denver,” says Grant.
In the afternoon, we decide to cram as much culture in as we can so visit the Denver Art Museum and the adjacent Clyfford Still Museum. The latter museum has an interesting history after the artist donated his lifetime of work to a city that was willing to build a museum and exhibit his work only. Denver took up the challenge and now has the most intact body of work of any major artist.
Next on the agenda is a quick trip to the Denver Botanic Gardens, on 24 acres not far from downtown. The gardens is known for its large, historic Iris garden (their colours were amazing) but rain meant we spent most of our time there checking out the orangery housing exotic tropical plants.
Our evening ends back where it began at Union Station, where we enjoy a creative seafood dinner at Stoic & Genuine. The smoked salmon and artichoke dip made for a perfect appetizer and both of us ordered their delicious seared scallops, fingerling potatoes and grilled asparagus. Great ending to a great weekend.
Kim Pemberton was hosted by Visit Denver, which didn’t review or approve this story. Follow her on Instagram at kimstravelogue.
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