Winter in ‘The Mile High City’, Denver, Colorado

The post Winter in ‘The Mile High City’, Denver, Colorado appeared first on TD (Travel Daily Media) Travel Daily Media.

With 300 days of sunshine, world-class, Michelin-rated dining, a thriving cultural scene, and professional sports – Denver, also known as the Mile High City offers the perfect jumping-off point for winter enthusiasts. This season boasts a wide variety of events, new restaurants, and cultural attractions to check out, along with loads of new and renovated hotels.

Seasonal Highlights

Channel your inner Colorado cowboy at National Western Stock & Rodeo (Until 26 Jan)

The National Western Stock Show & Rodeo, a cherished Colorado tradition since 1906, is returning to the National Western Complex on 11-26 Jan 2025. The show celebrates Denver’s rich Western roots and is the nation’s premier livestock, rodeo and horse show, serving agricultural producers and consumers throughout the world. Enjoy rodeos featuring top-notch bull riders, horse shows, livestock competitions and auctions. The show also offers endless amounts of shopping at Colorado’s largest Western trade show.

Train straight to the slopes with the Winter Park Express

Denver is the perfect place to start or end a ski trip for a dynamic city break with a Rockies twist. Denver is home to the only ski train in Colorado, making it the perfect option for those who want to skip a car rental and hit the slopes or enjoy all a mountain town has to explore. The Winter Park Express Train is now running Thursday through Monday. Departing Denver Union Station at 7am, the journey to Winter Park Ski Resort takes around 2 hours and departs at 4:30 p.m. The Ski train is perfect for families with tickets starting at £15.50 and £8 for kids.

Catch amazing artists at Denver’s most iconic venues

The Denver Center of Performing Arts (DCPA) has an impressive lineup of musicals, theatre productions and interactive events this season. Until 9 Feb, don’t miss Monopoly Lifesized: Travel Edition at DCPA Off-Center at Broadway Park. It’s a game show-style version of the world’s favourite board game. Rally friends, family or colleagues, for a heart-pounding competition this season. After its success on Broadway, Gutenberg! The Musical! is playing at the Garner Galleria Theatre until 4 May 2025. In this two-person musical spoof, a pair of aspiring playwrights perform a backers’ audition for their new, ill-advised project – a big, splashy musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg. Denver’s own Jake Brasch left audiences wanting more at the 2023 Colorado New Play Summit with The Reservoir at the Singleton Theater until 9 March 2025. The lineup continues with Back to the Future: The Musical, Mean Girls, The Wiz and more.

Denver is also home to world-class music venues that attract talent year-round. Don’t miss Billy Strings( 24-26 Jan 2025), Tyler, the Creator (11 Feb 2025), and Mary J. Blige (25 Feb 2025), all at Ball Arena. Hippo Campus headlines at Mission Ballroom on (16 Feb 2025), and Red Rocks Amphitheatre will host Icelantic Winter on the Rocks ft. Gramatik (8 March 2025).

New to Denver this Season

Recognised Restaurants

In the most recent guide, MICHELIN recognised 27 Denver restaurants. New restaurants added include Alma Fonda Fina awarded One MICHELIN Star, MAKFam with a new Bib Gourmand, and Brasserie Brixton and Kawa Ni as new Recommended Restaurants.

With international recognition, Denver’s restaurant scene continues to grow monthly. Most recently, Denver welcomed Le Colonial, an upscale French Vietnamese restaurant in Cherry Creek North; Stellar Jay, a lively rooftop dining experience, featuring shared plates and live-fired cuisine; Ajax Downtown from Aspen One and the only urban restaurant in its portfolio; Magna Kainan, the new RiNo project from Portland chef Carlo Lamagna and Denver’s Culinary Creative Group.

Exciting Accommodations 

As a result of MICHELIN Guide revealing its inaugural list of key hotels in the US, three Denver hotels Clayton Hotel and Members Club, Four Seasons Denver and The Crawford Hotel were noted as must-visit accommodations.

Located in Denver Union Station, The Crawford Hotel was recently renovated with rooms inspired by the golden era of train travel. Denver Union Station is a thriving hub for shops, restaurants, and offers easy access to Denver International Airport. Populus Hotel, a new downtown hotel inspired by nature, opened in October 2024. The 265-room, 13-story hotel features an event space, multiple food and beverage venues, and a rooftop deck and bar.

Unmissable Arts 

The Mile High City is home to countless once-in-a-lifetime exhibits this winter. Check out The Life and Art of Tokio Ueyama at Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, featuring more than 40 paintings loaned to the museum by the Japanese American National Museum and Ueyama’s family; Shadow and Light: Patrick Marold  at Denver Botanic Gardens, a site-specific installation highlighting the ever-changing qualities of light and shadow; Flow: On the River with John Fielder, an exhibition focusing on the many uses and importance of the Colorado River; Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak, at the Denver Art Museum with more than 400 of Sendak’s creations; the Butterfly Pavilion’s New Destination: Conservation – Virtual Exhibit is a global adventure using VR headsets to explore Butterfly Pavilion’s groundbreaking conservation projects.

Explore Denver’s hit attractions or hit the Rockies in no time 

Denver has a wide array of kid-friendly activities, head to the Denver Zoo to see more than 3,000 animals including elephants, orangutans and lions or visit the Denver Museum of Nature & Science to explore fossils and dinosaurs, ponder the mysteries of space at Gates Planetarium and watch larger-than-life films at the Phipps IMAX 3D Theater. The Downtown Aquarium is a perfect spot for kids to awe at astounding marine life, where they can feed the stingrays, pan for gold or become a marine biologist for a day.

The Mile High City’s proximity to the beautiful Rocky Mountains makes it the ideal destination for the adventurous. Nearby Rocky Mountain National Park is the perfect place for snowshoeing with magical views or try cross-country skiing in nearby Idaho Springs, Estes Park or Golden. After a full day of outdoor adventures, return to the city to grab a craft beer along the Denver Beer Trail, go shopping in Cherry Creek or explore the city’s vibrant neighbourhoods.

The post Winter in ‘The Mile High City’, Denver, Colorado appeared first on Travel Daily Media.