Denver travel guide

Work is a side note in Denver, where locals live for the city’s happening arts scene, its proximity to a tremendous natural playground, and some 300 glorious days of sunshine a year.

Cosmopolitan cool meets a pioneering Wild West spirit in this laid-back Colorado city. Denver lies on the western fringe of the Great Plains, where the colossal Rocky Mountains form a towering and wondrous backdrop to the cityscape. Denver sits conveniently at exactly 5,280ft (1,609m) above sea level, hence its nickname, the ‘Mile High City.’

Denver’s arts culture is booming. The Denver Art Museum’s more than 70,000 works of art fill two massive buildings, one of which is a spiky Daniel Libeskind number. On the first Friday of every month, art lovers flock to Denver’s First Friday Art Walks, an in-depth exploration of the city’s arty neighbourhoods, including notably the Art District of Santa Fe, home to scores of indie galleries and art studios. Final Fridays at the Golden Triangle Creative District draw hordes to visit the Triangle’s salons, museums, galleries, and studios for free.

Creative Denverites also hang out in LoDo (Lower Downtown), a revitalised pocket of Victorian and turn-of-the-century buildings crammed with coffee shops, brewpubs, and chic eateries. The 16th Street pedestrian mall, whose red-and-grey-patterned promenade depicts the skin of a diamondback rattlesnake, traverses this historic neighbourhood.

Sport is an addiction for Denverites, and the city is home to seven pro teams. Grab a beer and enjoy the phenomenal views from The Rooftop, a swanky deck overlooking legendary baseball diamond Coors Field. Or join 76,000 roaring fans and cheer on the NFL’s Denver Broncos.

Snatch a little action of your own on two beautiful stretches of paved bike paths along Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. It’s hard to resist the lure of the Rockies too, with countless opportunities for hiking, climbing, and skiing.

Denver is also home to some of the USA’s finest microbreweries, and hosts the annual Great American Beer Festival, where visitors get merrily drunk on over 3,800 varieties of beer. Colorado is one of a clutch of US states where you can legally buy marijuana too, so if you’re feeling dizzy, it may not be the altitude.