Denver · Weekend itinerary
A Weekend in Denver for Grown-Ups
Two days is enough for the essentials: a museum, a jazz supper club, Red Rocks and two nights in the city's best bars.
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Day 1: Museums and jazz
Downtown on foot.
Morning
Denver Art Museum
100 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Golden Triangle
Peak pricing at weekends; buy tickets online.
One ticket covers the whole campus: the Hamilton and Martin buildings and The Kirkland's decorative-arts collection. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (8 p.m. on Tuesdays); closed Wednesdays.
Lunch
Mercantile Dining & Provision
Denver Union Station, 1701 Wynkoop St
Lunch in Union Station (Saturday only; closed Sundays).
James Beard Award-winning chef Alex Seidel's Union Station restaurant: a café by day and a seasonal, farm-driven dinner at night, with shared plates. Lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday.
Dinner
Dazzle
Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1080 14th St
Dinner and the early set.
Denver's flagship jazz club, now in the city's Performing Arts Complex, with shows seven nights a week (around 70 a month), a full dinner menu and a Sunday jazz brunch.
Late
The Cruise Room
The Oxford Hotel, 1600 17th St
The 1933 martini bar.
An Art Deco martini bar modelled on the Queen Mary, opened in 1933 the day after Prohibition ended and billed as Denver's longest continuously operating bar. Open from 4 p.m. daily (until 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday, midnight Friday and Saturday, 10 p.m. Sunday); walk-ins only.
Day 2: Red Rocks and RiNo
The foothills, then cocktails.
Morning
Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre
Morrison (about 30 minutes west)
Heads-up: I-70 bridge repairs near Kipling St are causing delays; allow extra time.
Go early; it's free to walk.
An amphitheatre set into giant red sandstone rocks, opened in 1941. The park is open from an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset and is free to walk, with a visitor center and trails; concert tickets are sold through AXS.
Afternoon
Meow Wolf Convergence Station
1338 1st St, near Empower Field
Four surreal worlds; book a time slot.
Four surreal, walk-through worlds with more than 70 interactive installations. On select evenings the 21+ "Adulti-Verse" nights add drinks and entertainment with no children allowed.
Dinner
Tavernetta
1889 16th St, beside Union Station
Italian by Union Station.
Handmade pasta and an Italian-led wine list a few steps from Union Station. Dinner daily from 5 to 10 p.m., lunch on weekdays, and happy hour every day from 3 to 6 p.m.
Evening
Death & Co Denver
The Ramble Hotel, 1280 25th St, RiNo
Walk-ins welcome.
The New York cocktail bar's Denver outpost, inside the Ramble Hotel. Open from 3 p.m. daily (until 11 p.m., 12:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday); walk-ins welcome, with limited reservations.
Staying longer? Our 3-day Denver itinerary adds the Brown Palace and Williams & Graham.
Everything here was checked in September 2026. Hours change with the seasons and concert calendars, so confirm before you go.
Questions people ask
Is a weekend enough for Denver?
Yes for the museums, a jazz night, Red Rocks and the cocktail bars. Add a day for Boulder.
What should you not miss in Denver?
Red Rocks, a night at Dazzle, a martini in the Cruise Room and the Denver Art Museum.