Condé Nast Traveler magazine this month named Denver to its list of Best Places to Go in North America and the Caribbean in 2025, joining familiar locales such as Alaska and Cuba, but also Boise, Idaho, and Greenland (yes, it’s part of North America too).
The article covers amenities for the first-timer and/or out-of-towner, such as the urban hotels and bars that set the tone for vacationers and conventioneers. It also lists high-profile restaurants that have become national media darlings and global symbols for the Denver food scene. That includes James Beard and Michelin-checked names such as the new Xiquita from chef Erasmo Casiano, Alama Fonda Fina and Sắp Sửa (plus the toothsome, inspired Odell’s Bagel).
On the drinks side, Laws Whiskey House “just debuted its long-awaited Whiskey Church, a state-of-the-art tasting room with big vaulted windows, pews, and spectacular views of the Rockies,” wrote Condé Nast’s Katie Kelly Bell. “New urban hotels, big and small, are joining in on the fun. Book a stay at the long-awaited Studio Gang–designed Populus, the first carbon-positive hotel in the US and an arresting addition to the city’s skyline, or at the recently opened Urban Cowboy in a historic Queen Anne–style Gilded Era mansion.”
(To genuinely dive into the city’s history, she added, stay at the Crawford Hotel in the “elegantly revamped Union Station, which just underwent a stunning makeover of its own.”)
It’s encouraging, in a way, since no Colorado destinations made last year’s list.
And yet, we still would like to see a list that includes local cultural recs outside of hotels and restaurants. What’s Denver’s best public art, performing arts, and neighborhoods? (Check out this recent New York Times missive, “33 Hours in Denver,” for that).