36 Hours in LoDo: Your Complete Weekend Itinerary

LoDo is one of Denver’s most dynamic neighborhoods, anchored at one end by Larimer Square and by Coors Field at the other. In the middle of it all, you’ll find the historical Denver Union Station and Dairy Block alongside the red brick warehouses that give the neighborhood its charming character. LoDo has become a model for how a city balances preservation with growth and today sits at the center of Denver’s identity. The best part? You can walk from one end to the other in about 20 minutes.

Friday Evening

Start at Union Station, whether or not that’s where you actually arrive. (The A Line runs from Denver International Airport to Union Station, which means a lot of visitors get their first look at Denver from inside the elegant Great Hall.) Leather couches, shuffleboard tables, coffee, ice cream, multiple bars and restaurants, and the Crawford Hotel—all of these things make Union Station the perfect place to begin your visit. 

Dinner: Jovanina’s Broken Italian. This cozy restaurant—complete with an open kitchen, a zinc bar, and a host stand built out of a converted scooter—is housed inside a former cigar factory on Blake Street. Jovanina’s serves Italian dishes filtered through a Colorado lens: handmade pasta, wood-fired pizza, and vegetable-forward plates meant to be shared. Jovanina’s is open until 10 p.m. on Fridays.

After dinner: Sotto Voce or Emerald Eye. Jovanina’s basement is home to Sotto Voce, a chic, Prohibition-era wine and cocktail lounge. Or, if you’re looking for something completely different, walk a couple of blocks to Larimer Square, where you’ll find another subterranean spot, Emerald Eye—a dark, tropical bar built around rum and agave drinks.

Saturday Morning

Coffee: Huckleberry Roasters. Choose between the Larimer Square location or the outpost at Dairy Block. The coffee is roasted locally and Huck, as it’s known in Denver, has both blends and single-origin roasts.

After fueling up, take a stroll—LoDo rewards wandering. Larimer Square is a block of Victorian storefronts that’s become a quintessential example of historical preservation. By the mid-20th century, LoDo had fallen into decline and many of its buildings were facing demolition in favor of urban renewal projects. In the 1980s and 1990s, preservationists and developers—most notably, Dana Crawford—began revitalizing the area, culminating in the 1988 passage of the Lower Downtown Historic District ordinance, which protected the architectural character of the neighborhood.

Head northeast from Larimer Square and in a few minutes you’ll find yourself at Union Station. A few blocks farther and you hit Dairy Block. And just a couple of more blocks and you’ll be at McGregor Square—just across the street from Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies.

If you want to spend a little time indoors: MCA Denver is located at the intersection of 15th and Delgany streets and has rotating contemporary exhibitions and a rooftop cafe worth checking out.

Saturday Midday

Shopping on Larimer Square. This block, the historical heart of LoDo, has a little something for everyone: John Fluevog offers unique shoes and boots; Garage Sale Vintage has, well, vintage-leaning secondhand clothes and goods and an in-store bar; and Chebet Mutai stocks jewelry, bags, and home goods rooted in African artistry. Visit Coco + Grace and Milly Rose for womens’ fashions; John Atencio for bold, hand-designed jewelry pieces with Colorado roots; and QINTI for Peruvian alpaca clothing, sterling silver, and natural gemstones. Round out your retail adventure with a stop at Moda Man for made-to-measure menswear.

Lunch: ChoLon. Chef Lon Symensma opened this modern Asian bistro on Blake Street in 2010, and it’s been one of LoDo’s most reliably high-end spots ever since. The French onion soup dumplings are the dish people talk about most; you’ll want to order more than you think, and be sure to let them cool a bit before you dig in. 

After lunch, you and walk back over to Larimer Square and peruse the selection of books at Little Blue Pigeon. Or, if you’re headed toward Union Station, the Tattered Cover Book Store has an outpost that’s perfect for the kind of browsing that fills the gap between lunch and whatever’s next on your itinerary.

Saturday Late Afternoon

Dairy Block is the perfect way to while away a few hours on a weekend afternoon. The microdistrict occupies a full square block on Wazee Street. that used to be the Windsor Dairy complex, and the redevelopment kept the structure’s bones while filling the interior alley with murals, string lights, and myriad businesses.

The alley itself is the draw. Free Market anchors one side of the alley, a covered hall of rotating local makers selling jewelry, home goods, flowers, and more. Denver Milk Market is an elevated food hall with multiple concepts, from hand-tossed pizza to Ethiopian to fried chicken.

If you’re thirsty, Dairy Block has plenty of options. Seven Grand keeps more than 700 whiskeys behind the bar. Westbound and Down pours award-winning Colorado craft brews. Blanchard Family Wines offers flights on the patio. Poka Lola offers cocktails with a creative touch. And Run for the Roses is another subterranean spot, where bartenders mix up cocktails from a seasonal menu printed on playing cards.

Saturday Evening

Dinner: BRUTØ. This intimate spot has just 18 seats at a chef’s counter, which faces an open kitchen built around a wood-burning oven. BRUTØ holds a Michelin star and a Michelin Green Star, the latter for sustainability, and the tasting menu emphasizes fermentation, local sourcing, and wood-fired cooking. Service runs Tuesday through Sunday, 5 to 8:30 p.m., and be sure to make reservations. 

After dinner: The Cruise Room. Walk over to the Oxford Hotel on 17th and find the narrow Art Deco bar off the lobby. It opened the day after Prohibition ended in 1933 and hasn’t changed much since. Classic cocktails, red neon, high ceilings, and a vibe you won't find anywhere else in the Mile High City.

Sunday Morning

Bottomless Brunch or Pancake Breakfast. Every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Osteria Marco on Larimer Square hosts Bottomless Drag Bingo Brunch, with a rotating cast of performers, Bottomless cocktails, free bingo, and made-from-scratch Italian food. Reserve ahead of time to ensure your table.

If pancakes are more your speed, Snooze an AM Eatery opens at 6:30 a.m. inside Union Station and doesn’t take reservations for small parties, so go early or plan for a bit of a wait.