Denver is an outdoor city with spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains and plenty of urban adventures for all ages. Explore The Mile High City’s farm-to-table cuisine, local craft breweries and unique live music venues like the famous Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre. Visit the Denver Art Museum with its famous Indigenous art and Western art collections, see the giant blue bear public art sculpture, shop at Cherry Creek or get an authentic western shirt at the iconic Rockmount Ranch Wear. Denver combines historic Victorian brick buildings in Larimer Square and LoDo (Lower Downtown) with the bold architecture of today, all within a laid-back, walkable city center.
Hotels | Culinary Scene | Museums & Attractions
New & Notable Rankings
U.S. News & World Report ranked Denver the #2 best place to live in the country, based on affordability, job prospects and quality of life among other categories. For the last three years, Denver has earned a spot among the top three in the rankings.
Lonely Planet named Denver one of the “Top Ten Cities in the World to Visit in 2020,” citing The Mile High City’s creative energy, culinary scene and new cultural attractions.
Popular UK travel publication, Rough Guides, crowned Denver the “Top Worldwide City to Visit in 2020,” focusing on the city’s proximity to the Rocky Mountains, the vibrant music and cultural scene and its neighborhoods.
Forbes.com placed Denver among the “Top 25 U.S. Cities to Visit in 2020” due to its urban adventure opportunities, barrage of new restaurants and new boutique hotels.
According to a 2020 study from the National Endowment for the Arts, Denver leads the nation in attendance rate at performing arts events and exhibitions.
In December 2019, Denver International Airport (DEN) was ranked the #2 airport in the U.S. in the second annual Wall Street Journal airport rankings. The rankings scored the 20 largest U.S. airports in on-time reliability, value, convenience and more factors that matter most to travelers.
In the 2019 World Airport Awards, Denver ranked in the Top 10 for the following categories:
Best Airports with 60–70 million Passengers: ranked 4th, making DEN the highest-rated North American airport in the category
Best Airport Staff in North America: ranked 3rd behind Vancouver and Seattle-Tacoma
Best Regional Airport in North America: ranked 1st
Best Airports in North America: ranked 2nd behind Vancouver
World’s Best Regional Airport: ranked 7th, one of only 2 U.S. airports on the list
Best Airport in the U.S.
Hotels
The Ramble Hotel
The Ramble Hotel, an independently owned, three-story hotel opened in Denver’s RiNo (River North) Art District in April 2018 with 50 guestrooms; an intimate theatre and bar; flexible meeting space; a small retail outlet; an outdoor courtyard; an independently owned restaurant; and a marquee lobby bar, Death & Co Denver. The bar marks the first outpost outside of its original location in New York’s East Village, which opened to immediate acclaim in 2006.
The Source Hotel + Market Hall
This 100-room hotel is located next to the popular Source culinary marketplace. The property features its own extension of the marketplace, as well as a courtyard connecting it to The Source. Dining options include Safta from lauded Chef Alon Shaya; Smok from Chef Bill Espiricueta; and The Woods, a rooftop collaboration between The Source Hotel and New Belgium Brewing. Also on the rooftop is a fitness center, two plunge pools and sweeping views of downtown Denver and the Rocky Mountains.
Origin Red Rocks
Origin Red Rocks is the first-ever official hotel partner of Denver’s iconic live music venue, Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The 124-room property features a gear garage with outdoor gear for rent, as well as bike storage, local art, family-friendly programming and a shuttle to Red Rocks on show nights. Nomad Taqueria & Beer Garden, the on-site restaurant, features a menu with Southwestern-inspired food and 20 beers on tap.
Culinary Scene
Denver has seen explosive growth in dining options, with new collaborative local marketplaces and food halls, chef-driven restaurants, brew-houses and hyper-local fine dining springing up in a series of neighborhoods. More than 320 restaurants opened in Denver in 2019, and 11 Denver chefs, makers and restaurateurs were semifinalists for the prestigious 2020 James Beard Awards. Five of those chefs and makers were further honored as Nominees for the awards. Additionally, Denver is the only city in the U.S. to have hosted the Slow Food Nations festival, which casts a spotlight on innovative chefs and producers from around the world, as well as Denver’s remarkable food scene.
Attimo Wine, from Snooze co-founder Jon Schlegel, opened in January 2020. The winery and tasting room features wines made in the Piedmont region of Italy, alongside Italian-style cocktails and shareable food that pairs with both.
The highly anticipated For[a]ged from Denver chef, Duy Pham, opened in Dairy Block in December 2019. The menu features a raw bar as well as hyper-local steakhouse cuisine.
In September 2019, Philippe Delgrange and Rick Wahlstedt of famed New York City restaurant Le Bilboquet opened its second iteration in Cherry Creek North.
Woodie Fisher Kitchen & Bar opened its doors in February 2019 adjacent to the new Hilton Garden Inn Denver Union Station. The former firehouse and historic site now boasts globally-inspired dishes from executive chef Kelli Daniels.
MARKETPLACES & FOOD HALLS
Over the past seven years, Denver has embraced the food hall and gourmet market trend, bringing several local makers and artisans together and providing a taste of everything Denver has to offer under one roof.
Denver’s newest food hall, Broadway Market, is a collection of open-concept restaurant stalls, plus a chocolatier, coffeehouse, bar and self-serve beer wall. The nine different restaurant concepts come from some of the city’s most acclaimed chefs and restaurateurs and range from pizza and curry to fried chicken and sushi.
Inside Stanley Marketplace, Annette, from Chef Caroline Glover, was named one of the “50 Best New Restaurants in America” by Bon Appétit in 2017, and Caroline and her staff were nominated for two James Beard Awards in the same year, with two more James Beard nods in 2019 and 2020.
Over the past two years, the Dairy Block micro-district has been developing in LoDo. This historic block was once home to Windsor Dairy, and it's now a vibrant micro-district that boasts 15 boutique shops, 18 restaurants, seven bars, a luxury coworking space, a local food hall called Milk Market and The Maven, a 172-room boutique hotel.
DENVER’S BEER SCENE
Denver brews more beer than any other American city and is home to Coors Brewery — the largest single brewing site in the world. More than 200 unique beers are produced and served every day in Denver. There are now more than 70 breweries in Denver, more than 150 in the metro area and nearly 400 throughout the state.
To showcase new and iconic Denver breweries, VISIT DENVER creates an annual Denver Beer Trail. The 2019–2020 edition is the largest yet; it features 40 must-try local breweries, both new and well-loved, from well-known beer producers around the Denver area.
Museums & Attractions
Mission Ballroom
AEG Presents Rocky Mountains opened The Mission Ballroom in August 2019. It is the centerpiece of North Wynkoop, a fourteen-acre mixed-use project in the RiNo Arts District. The new 4,000-person venue already boasts a world-class concert schedule, adding to Denver’s reputation as a top destination for live music.
Denver Art Museum
Martin Building Undergoes $150 Million Renovation
Denver Art Museum’s Martin Building (formerly North Building), is undergoing an extensive, multi-year renovation. The renovation includes the Anna and John J. Sie Welcome Center, which includes two new dining spaces — including a restaurant from award-winning Denver chef Jennifer Jasinski — the Bartlit Learning and Engagement Center and updated galleries. The entire building is currently scheduled to reopen to the public by its 50th anniversary at the end of 2021.
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Stonehenge: Ancient Mysteries and Modern Discoveries, Mar. 12–Sept. 6, 2021
After centuries of speculation, experts are finally starting to understand the mysteries of Stonehenge, thanks to archaeological excavations and advances in scientific techniques. Explore where, when, why, and perhaps most intriguing, how Stonehenge was built.
History Colorado Center
Forty Years on the 'Fax, through December 31, 2021
Take a stroll down Colfax Avenue, dubbed "America’s longest, wickedest street." From its birth as US Highway 40 in 1926 until I-70 diverted traffic away from it in the ’60s, Colfax boomed with hotels and motels, swanky restaurants and drive-ins, and all forms of shopping and entertainment, from amusement parks to nightlife.
Meow Wolf Denver
In 2021, Meow Wolf, the artist collective responsible for Santa Fe’s immersive art exhibit the House of Eternal Return, will open its second permanent installation in Denver. Meow Wolf creates immersive and interactive experiences that transport audiences of all ages into fantastic realms of story and exploration. To preview what visitors can expect, the collective created the world’s first art experience and amusement park ride, Kaleidoscape, at Elitch Gardens Theme & Water Park, which opened to much excitement in April 2019.
CRUSH Walls
Denver’s international street art festival saw its largest gathering of artists and spectators ever in celebration of the event’s 10th anniversary in 2019. What started as a small, one-weekend gathering of artists and community members in Denver’s RiNo (River North) Art District has now grown to feature more than 100 artists from around the world and nearly 150,000 spectators. Now, as a result of CRUSH Walls and various other public art initiatives around the city, Denver has developed a concentrated and thriving street and public art scene, leading AFAR magazine to name it the “Street Art Capital of the Country.” The works created during CRUSH Walls are available for public viewing year-round.
