Top attractions

Rioja restaurant

Robert Frost wrote about the road not taken, and if I could go back to Rioja restaurant in Larimer Square I would take the menu choice not chosen (or rather, only chosen as a starter). I would ask for the artichoke tortelloni. It’s tortelloni filled with artichoke mousse, queso de mano (a soft white Venezuelan cheese) and chervil and is served in a creamy white truffle brodo (or broth). Then I would die happily, having left all my worldly goods to the chef. That is all I can say. www.riojadenver.com/

Denver Art Museum

Housed in a suitably impressive building near Capitol Hill is the Denver Art Museum — and while there are genre-shaping works by Georgia O’Keeffe, Charles Burchfield and Thomas Hart Benton (I’m not even mentioning the European works — the Picassos, Monets etc), my two top tips are the collections of pre-Columbian artefacts and its Spanish colonial rooms. I guarantee you will not have seen collections like these before, and the range and depth of the pre-Columbian collection will stun you. Set aside a couple of hours at least. And after that, check out the Clyfford Still Museum next door, which features the world’s biggest collection by the abstract expressionist. Nice.

Renaissance Hotel

There’s a time on every holiday when the desire for a topof-the-range hotel trumps every other roadside attraction in town. When that mood hits in Denver, you hit the Renaissance Hotel. It’s the best-located hotel in town, situated in what used to be the Colorado National Bank — built in the former Colorado National Bank. It still has the massive steel vaults, from where miners could lodge their gold and silver ore and be paid in US currency. Yes, it’s luxury — but you deserve it. www.rendendowntown.com