 |
Northwest Airlines Flights from Portland (PDX) to Denver (DEN)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Northwest Airlines, which operates 2 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Portland (PDX) to Denver (DEN), departing between 6:40am and 1:15pm. Usually a Boeing 737-700 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Portland, OR to Denver, CO is 2 hours and 20 minutes.
During your Denver vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Larimer Square
This is where Denver began. Larimer Street between 14th and 15th streets was the entire community of Denver City in 1858, with false-fronted stores, hotels, and saloons to serve gold-seekers and other pioneers. In the mid-1870s it was the main street of the city and the site of Denver's first post office, bank, theater, and streetcar line. By the 1930s, however, this part of Larimer Street had deteriorated so much that it had become a skid row of pawnshops, gin mills, and flophouses. Plans had been made to tear these structures down, when a group of investors purchased the entire block in 1965.The Larimer Square project became Denver's first major historic preservation effort. All 16 of the block's commercial buildings, constructed in the 1870s and 1880s, were renovated, providing space for street-level retail shops, restaurants, and nightclubs, as well as upper-story offices. A series of courtyards and open spaces was created, and in 1973 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Allow at least a half-hour.Larimer Square hosts numerous special events, many tied to local sporting occasions (the National Western Stock Show, the Denver Grand Prix, and so forth). Oktoberfest (Sept) features German music, dancing, heritage booths, and authentic bier; June's La Piazza dell'Arte features 200 artists creating pastel masterpieces on the street.
Denver Botanic Gardens
Twenty-three acres of outstanding outdoor and indoor gardens display plants native to the desert, plains, mountain foothills, and alpine zones. There's also a traditional Japanese garden, herb garden, water garden, fragrance garden, and a garden inspired by the art of Monet. "Romantic Gardens" feature a waterway, and the "Gardens of the World" hold plants from Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the tropics.Even in the cold of winter, the dome-shaped, concrete-and-Plexiglas Tropical Conservatory houses thousands of species of tropical and subtropical plants. Huge, colorful orchids and bromeliads share space with a collection of plants used for food, fibers, dyes, building materials, and medicines. The Botanic Gardens also have a gift shop, library, and auditorium. Special events are scheduled throughout the year; offerings range from garden concerts in summer to a spring book-and-plant sale to a cornfield maze southwest of Denver in the fall. Allow 1 to 2 hours.
Denver Art Museum
Founded in 1893, this seven-story museum is wrapped by a thin 28-sided wall faced with one million sparkling tiles. Construction on a jagged, avant-garde addition, designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, began in 2003. When finished in fall 2006, the unique structure will double the size of the museum and give Denver its most distinctive building by a long shot.The museum's collection of Western and regional works is its cornerstone. Included are Frederic Remington's bronze The Cheyenne, Charles Russell's painting In the Enemy's Country, plus 19th-century photography, historical pieces, and works by Georgia O'Keeffe. In 2001, Dorothy and William Harmsen, longtime Colorado residents and founders of the Jolly Rancher Candy Company, donated their prestigious Western art collection to the museum. Assembled over 40 years, the collection immediately made the museum's inventory of Western art one of the most impressive in the nation.The American Indian collection is also excellent, consisting of more than 17,000 pieces from 150 tribes of North America, spanning nearly 2,000 years. The collection is growing through the acquisition of historic pieces as well as the commissioning of works by contemporary artists. Other collections include architecture and design; graphics; and Asian, African, Oceanic, modern and contemporary, pre-Columbian, and Spanish Colonial art.Overview tours are available Tuesday through Sunday at 1:30pm, plus 11am on Saturday; an in-depth tour of a different area of the museum is offered each Wednesday and Friday at noon and 1pm; and a variety of child-oriented and family programs are scheduled regularly. There is also a gift shop. Allow 2 to 3 hours.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Denver area, including:
Brown Palace Hotel
For more than 100 years, the city's finest hotel has been the place to stay for anyone who is anyone. It combines great rooms and amenities with the intangibles: interesting history, romantic atmosphere, regional personality, and impeccable service. A National Historic Landmark, the Brown Palace has operated continuously since it opened in 1892. Designed with an odd triangular shape by the renowned architect Frank Edbrooke, it was built of Colorado red granite and Arizona sandstone. The lobby's walls are paneled with Mexican onyx, and elaborate cast-iron grillwork surrounds six tiers of balconies up to the stained-glass ceiling. Every president since 1905 (except Calvin Coolidge) has visited the hotel, and Dwight Eisenhower made the Brown his home away from the White House. His former room, now known as the Eisenhower Suite, is a vision of stately elegance, with a preserved dent in the fireplace trim that is the alleged result of an errant golf swing. There are also lavish, unique suites named after Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and The Beatles, each recently redecorated.Standard rooms are also lush and comfortable, either Victorian or Art Deco in style with reproduction furnishings and fixtures. Each has a desk, a duvet, and individual climate control. The clientele is a mix of leisure travelers and businesspeople with a taste -- and a budget -- for luxury. The staterooms on the ninth floor are especially enticing, with cordless phones, big-screen TVs, fridges, fax/printers, and safes. The water's great here: The Brown Palace has its own artesian wells!
JW Marriott
Opening in summer 2004, the high-end JW Marriott is the first hotel in the Cherry Creek neighborhood, and it was well worth the wait. Sumptuous interiors and bold primary colors make for a distinctive ambience, and the attention to detail is excellent. The little touches are what this hotel is all about: jumbo flatscreen TVs with DVD players, spectacular views, big bathrooms with granite aplenty, user-friendly thermostats, and excellent service. For shoppers, it's beyond ideal, a block from the Cherry Creek Mall and surrounded by chic retailers of all stripes. The standout amenities: Mirepoix, the sleek eatery; a huge exercise room; and an upscale shopping arcade. Conveniently, the hotel is next door to the Cherry Creek Bike Rack, where you can rent bikes and also park them for free, and very close to the Cherry Creek bike path.
Innkeeper of the Rocky Mountains
A member of Hostelling International, this centrally located hostel is in a bustling urban area just off Colfax Avenue, within walking distance of more than 50 restaurants as well as all the major downtown attractions. Facilities include a community kitchen, lockers, laundry machines, Internet access, and a cafe. Each dorm room has no more than four beds; there are also five private bed-and-breakfast rooms in two adjacent houses. The front door is always locked and someone is on the premises all night. Under the same ownership are a nearby B&B and guesthouse, and a lodge in the Rockies.
|
|

|