Denver – the Mile High City

Colorado’s hip, young, capital city is booming with trendy new neighborhoods filled with chef-owned restaurants, galleries and one-of-a-kind shops. Blessed with 300 days of sunshine a year, Denver makes a perfect big city excursion before or after skiing in the Rockies.

Start downtown on the 16th Street Mall, Denver’s mile-long pedestrian promenade lined with shopping and dining opportunities. In the evenings, horse-drawn carriages clatter up and down the Mall, offering the city’s best people-watching.

On the southern end of the Mall is Civic Center Park, Denver’s cultural center surrounded by the imposing State Capitol and the brilliant Denver Art Museum, a titanium structure of jutting peaks and shards designed by world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. Just blocks away is the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the second largest arts center in the nation with 10 venues offering theater, opera, ballet and symphony music.

LoDo bookends the Mall’s north end and serves as Denver’s happening historic district, where century-old brick warehouses are now home to 90 brewpubs, sports bars, rooftop cafes and chic restaurants. Cheer on the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center (just two of Denver’s record seven professional sports teams) or listen to jazz at El Chapultepec, picked by Esquire Magazine as one of the top 50 bars in America.

Your Denver Vacation

Beautiful City Park offers a 120-mile-long panorama of snowcapped peaks and is home to two of Denver’s most popular year-round attractions: the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, the fourth largest museum in the nation; and the Denver Zoo, which has 4,000 animals on lovely grounds. Nearby, the Cherry Creek Shopping District is the place to browse through 500 department stores, boutiques, shops, and galleries in the most distinctive shopping area between St. Louis and San Francisco.

Another great way to get around Denver year-round is by bicycle. The city boasts 850 miles of paved, off-street bike trails and sports a new bike-sharing program that hosts 500 bikes for rent at more than 30 convenient locations. With 300 days of bright sunshine and a mild, dry climate, Denver’s bike trails are usually accessible. Of course, the Mile High City is just minutes from all the adventure, sports and history to be found along the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.