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Denver is a year-round destination. Travel + Leisure named the city one of the best places to travel in 2016. We've assembled a list of top urban adventures involving sights, sounds and sunshine to get you off and running. Explore the top things to do in Denver in 2016.
Plan your visit now and check out some great hotel deals.
From the art galleries of RiNo to the river rapids of Confluence Park, Denver’s street art provides vibrant, inspiring backgrounds that reflect the city’s charm.
Denver is a hub for chef-owned, neighborhood restaurants that always impress. These signature dishes are must-tries!
Denver is the host of the Great American Beer Festival, the base for Coors Brewery and home to 50-plus microbreweries (explore the Denver Beer Trail). It’s no wonder that the Colorado governor used to own a brew pub. Beer runs deep in Denver and CNN says so.
Denverites try to keep this a secret, but the snow is minimal, the rain is almost non-existent and the sun is almost always shining. In other words, the weather is often patio perfect.
The museum has hosted the works of Cartier, Yves Saint Laurent and Van Gogh. What’s next? Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume. From Nov. 13, 2016, to April 2, 2017, check out Princess Leia's unforgettable bikini and Darth Vader's imposing black uniform.
Denver sits on some of the most fossil-rich land in the world. From the collections at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science to the Jurassic dinosaur bones on Dinosaur Ridge, discover a prehistoric world in Denver.
From new jazz supper clubs (Nocturne and Ophelia’s) to the nationally known, Denver-bred artists (Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, the Lumineers), our music scene has never been hotter! Plus, there’s a great line up of annual music festivals to enjoy. And while you’re here, don’t miss Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre. Even if there’s no concert going on at this geologic wonder, you can do early morning yoga and hike the trails in the park.
Where else can you see swimming Sumatran tigers, pet sting rays, admire giant Asian elephants and polar bears, and watch a grazing buffalo herd all in one day? Denver’s zoos and aquariums have that and more.
Nothing beats a baseball game at the gorgeous Coors Field where baseballs fly farther in the thin air. The purple line around the bleachers indicates that you’re sitting exactly a mile above sea level. Want to party? Check out the two-story deck called the Rooftop overlooking right field.
Denver is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. To keep up with the growth, Denverites are finding new uses for old buildings. The Olinger Mortuary is now home to a highly acclaimed restaurant called Linger, an 1800s brothel now plays host to travelers at Hostel Fish, and Baur’s Listening Lounge used to be a candy cane factory but is now a full-service restaurant and event space.
Everyone is welcome here. The Mile High City has long been a hotspot of gay culture and one of the country's largest PrideFests. Let us help you plan the perfect LGBT weekend.
Nine dollars will get you a local day pass that includes riding the A line from Denver International Airport to Denver Union Station, and any additional light rail trips you want to take that day. You can also explore the city with B-cycle, the local bike-sharing program with 87 stations and a fleet of 700-plus bikes.
Denver is the gateway to the Rocky Mountains and a perfect place to rest after spending the day touring Rocky Mountain National Park, driving up Mount Blue Sky (the highest paved road in North America) or zip lining in Conifer.
Local boosters named the frontier mining camp on the South Platte River "Denver" after Kansas Territorial Governor James Denver in hopes of gaining political favor. Unfortunately, Denver had retired by the time they named the town. There were originally three separate towns, with three separate names, where Denver now stands. In 1859, the other names were dropped in return for a barrel of whiskey to be shared by all. Fittingly enough, the first permanent structure in Denver was a saloon.
By an amazing stroke of good luck, the 13th step on the west side of the Colorado State Capitol Building is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level - one mile high. In Denver's rarified air, golf balls go 10 percent farther. So do cocktails. Alcoholic drinks pack more of a punch than at sea level. The Mile High City is also extremely dry, so it is a good idea to drink more water than usual. With less water vapor in the air at this altitude, the sky really is bluer in Colorado.
Denver is near the mountains, not in them. The Mile High City is located on high rolling plains, 12 miles east of the "foothills," a series of gentle mountains that climb to 11,000 feet. Just beyond is the "Front Range of the Rocky Mountains," a series of formidable snowcapped peaks that rise to 14,000 feet. Denver might not be in the mountains, but the mountains still dominate the city. The picturesque mountain panorama from Denver is 140 miles long. There are 200 visible named peaks including 32 that soar to 13,000 feet and above.
Denver has a population of 682,545 while there are nearly 3 million people in the metro area. The region's population grew 13.8 percent between 2010 and 2015. According to the 2015 census, 31 percent of the city is made up of Hispanics, while African-Americans make up 10 percent.
The mountainous area of Colorado is six times the size of Switzerland, containing 9,600 miles (15,449 km) of fishing streams, 2,850 lakes, and more than 1,000 peaks two miles (3,218 km) high.
The road to the top of the 14,260-foot (4,346 km) peak of Mount Blue Sky is the highest paved road in North America and is maintained and operated by Denver City Parks Department.
In 1893, while on top of nearby Pikes Peak, Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write the words to "America the Beautiful."
Central City, located about 45 minutes west of Denver, is known as the "Richest Square Mile on Earth" due to the half billion dollars of gold that was mined there.
The Colorado Trail is a 500-mile-long hiking trail, stretching from Durango to Denver, and crosses eight mountain ranges, seven national forests, six wilderness areas, and five river systems.
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