Denver

You probably won't be surprised to learn Denver is called "The Mile High City" because its elevation is exactly 5,280 feet. This gives the city a certain dramatic quality, especially given the Rocky Mountain scenery that pops up in the distance when you least expect it and the memorable, exhilarating, legendary blizzards. Although it will never be a world-class metropolis like New York or Chicago, Denver has shaped up since its overpopulated, over-polluted "Brown Cloud" days of the 1970s and 1980s. The 500,000-population city's core is its LoDo (lower downtown) area, with excellent shopping at the 16th Street Mall and Larimer Square, as well ...

You probably won't be surprised to learn Denver is called "The Mile High City" because its elevation is exactly 5,280 feet. This gives the city a certain dramatic quality, especially given the Rocky Mountain scenery that pops up in the distance when you least expect it and the memorable, exhilarating, legendary blizzards. Although it will never be a world-class metropolis like New York or Chicago, Denver has shaped up since its overpopulated, over-polluted "Brown Cloud" days of the 1970s and 1980s. The 500,000-population city's core is its LoDo (lower downtown) area, with excellent shopping at the 16th Street Mall and Larimer Square, as well as Coors Field (where the Rockies play), Invesco Field at Mile High (Broncos), Pepsi Center (Nuggets and Avalanche) and Six Flags Elitch Gardens (tons and tons of kids). The museums are nice, world-class or just a step below, and hip neighborhoods such as the northwest Sloan's Lake and Berkley/Tennyson have popped up to supplement established tourist districts such as Cherry Creek (shopping and eating) and City Park (parks, the zoo, museums).

About the Expert

Steve Knopper is the Denver-based author of Moon Handbooks Colorado as well as a contributor to numerous Fodor's city guides.