Situated a mile above sea level in the shadows of the dramatic Rocky Mountain range, Denver is home to plenty of locals whose personalities neatly match the city’s setting: think of people who are open, sunny, outdoorsy, and - thanks to last year’s vote to legalize small amounts of marijuana for personal consumption - high. As of January 2014, both local and out-of-state residents will be able to legally purchase pot in Colorado. Whether Denver really becomes "New Amsterdam," as some have predicted, is unclear, but this development does reflect the generally progressive nature of this city that’s long been a favorite LGBT destination.

With a vibrant arts and cultural scene, a vast supply of cool and hip lounges and restaurants specializing in craft beverages (from beer to spirits) and seasonal cuisine, and gay hangouts spread pretty evenly around a number of parts of town, Denver is a great city for neighborhood touring. You can even make your way around on bike - just rent a two-wheeler from one of the many Denver B-Cycle bike-sharing stations around the city. With this in mind, here are five of the best parts of town for exploring, eating, drinking, and shopping.

A part of town that’s long been a bastion of gay nightlife but has steadily developed cachet as a hotspot of hipster cafés and quirky clothiers, design boutiques, and arty mixed bars is South Broadway (aka the Baker District), especially the blocks from about 3rd Avenue south to Alameda. Along here you can stop inside Beatrice & Woodsley (beatriceandwoodsley.com), an urbane spot for creative regional cooking, while Happy Coffee (happycoffeeco.com) is a cool little java joint serving espresso that’s every bit as "freakishly amazing" as this establishment claims. Catch a film at the gloriously restored Mayan Theatre, an ornate movie palace that was built in 1930 and screens indie and foreign flicks, or head to the Punch Bowl Social (punchbowlsocial.com), a quirky bar, bowling alley, craft beer hall, and restaurant with all sorts of amusing diversions, including ping-pong and shuffleboard.

Other neighborhood fixtures include Sweet Action Ice Cream (sweetactionicecream.com), which serves handmade desserts in fun flavors (biscuits-and-jam, blackberry whiskey), and the Hornet (hornetrestaurant.com), a venerable diner–cum–pool hall–lounge, great for everything from a full meal to cocktails. As for gay nightlife along this quirky corridor, you’ll find a somewhat cruise-y, all-ages bunch at the Compound (compounddenver.com), the city’s longest-running GLBT dance club, and Boyztown (boyztowndenver.com), a fun place to watch go-go dancers strut their stuff.

South Broadway is just a couple of miles south of downtown hotels, and there’s also a convenient chain property, TownePlace Suites Denver (marriott.com) that’s geared to extended stays and is within walking distance of the neighborhood.

Just south of downtown and its gleaming skyscrapers, this tract of first-rate museums can easily keep fans of art and history busy for a day or two. The spectacular Denver Art Museum, in a memorable building with a striking expansion designed by Daniel Libeskind, contains a terrific and diverse permanent collection and also stages excellent temporary shows. Next door, the unusual Clyfford Still Museum houses nearly the entire body of work of the acclaimed abstract expressionist painter for which it’s named, and across the street you can tour the Byers-Evans House Museum, which was built in 1883 and now contains rotating history exhibits. Other cultural draws nearby include the Molly Brown House and the relatively new and very impressive History Colorado Center.

The district also has a few fun bars and restaurants, including the laid-back gay neighborhood bar Broadway’s (broadwaysdenver.com), which has fun drag shows; and La Rumba (larumba-denver.com), an attractive, mixed gay/straight Latin club known for great salsa and meringue (Friday’s Lipgloss party is a particularly wild romp). Rooster and Moon Coffee Pub (roosterandmoon.com) is an inviting nearby spot to fill up on espresso drinks and light lunch and dinner fare. Just a five-minute drive southwest, check out the galleries along Santa Fe Avenue, a stretch of colorful old buildings that now supports a vibrant gallery scene as well as the Museo de la Americas - there’s also a fun little gay bar, the Barker Lounge.

The gay-owned and quite elegant Capitol Hill Mansion (capitolhillmansion.com), with its eight elegantly furnished suites and rooms, is one of the best accommodations in the Golden Triangle - it’s just around the corner from the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, a somewhat underrated treasure packed with pop art, Arts and Crafts furnishings, and works by late Colorado artist Vance Kirkland and many others.

One of the most intriguing sections of downtown, especially for culinary exploring, is artsy Larimer Square, a restored Victorian block that is now lined with trendy boutiques and cafes, including two of the city’s restaurant gems, Rioja (riojadenver.com) and Bistro Vendome (bistrovendome.com), which are helmed by talented James Beard Award–winning chef Jennifer Jasinski. For a post-clubbing nosh or late breakfast, drop by Tom’s Urban 24 (tomsurban24.com), a mod diner that’s open all the time, or stop inside longtime favorite Market at Larimer Square (themarketatlarimer.com), a wonderful little bakery, coffeehouse, and deli. Other dining highlights on nearby blocks include Cholon (cholon.com), a stylish and contemporary Pan-Asian restaurant; and Euclid Hall Bar and Kitchen (euclidhall.com), which is part of same group as Rioja and Bistro Vendome and is known for its interesting beer list and fun take on late-night comfort food (pad Thai pig ears, chicken-and-waffles with maple gastrique).

The neighborhood offers close access to the state-of-the-art Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA), the second-largest such space in the nation (trailing only New York City’s Lincoln Center), with its several superb performance venues hosting everything from nationally touring musicals to first-rate opera.

You’ll find several noteworthy hotels in this part of town. Opened in 2010, the stunning Four Seasons Denver (fourseasons.com/Denver) rises 45 stories above the neighborhood and contains 239 swank yet unfussy rooms with huge windows (the mountain-view rooms are especially nice), deep soaking tubs in the bathrooms, and pleasing stone and wood accents. Book a treatment in the superb spa, and dine at EDGE (edgerestaurantdenver.com), a stunning steakhouse renowned for regional game specialties like Colorado lamb chops with cucumber-mint raita and elk tenderloin topped with pan-seared foie gras.

With its stylish look as well as a convenient location across from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, The Curtis (thecurtis.com) looks like just another high-rise from the exterior. But inside you’ll discover a whimsical, retro-fabulous hotel with each floor themed differently - rooms on the eighth level have a sci-fi look, while those on the 12th are done with a get-your-groove-on dance-floor theme. Across the street, if you’re seeking more room to spread out, consider the surprisingly sleek and luxurious Denver Embassy Suites Downtown (embassysuites3.hilton.com), the city’s only LEED-certified hotel, whose ample rooms have microwaves and minifridges; there’s a very nice indoor saline pool and 24-hour fitness center, and cooked-to-order breakfast and an evening reception with snacks and beverages are included.

Take a trip north of downtown, beyond LoDo (aka Lower Downtown), to reach LoHi (Lower Highlands), and beyond that Highlands itself, neighborhoods that have become increasingly fashionable as places to eat out and bar-hop. Top spots in LoHi for dining and drinking include Jezebel’s Southern Bistro (jezebelslohi.com), which earns kudos for its delicious brunch and breakfast fare - it morphs into a more see-and-be-seen bar and dinner scene later in the day. Fans of whiskey should order one of the artisan bourbon flights. Distinctive for its outdoor seating beneath a giant milk jug, Little Man Ice Cream (littlemanicecream.com) is a fine spot for artisan sweets, while around the corner, one of the hottest dining spots in LoHi, Linger (lingerdenver.com), occupies a former mortuary (the owners describe it now as an "eatuary"). You won’t feel too creeped out when you see the stylish interior, enjoy the great views of the neighborhood, and feast on such creative international dishes as   lemongrass shrimp with crispy rice noodles, and carrot-and-lentil falafel with cashews and Turkish chile.

LoHi isn’t far from downtown accommodations, but there’s also a cluster of mid-range chain properties right on the edge of the neighborhood, within walking distance of the bars and restaurants nearest the pedestrian bridge into LoDo. Standouts include the Residence Inn Denver Downtown (marriott.com), which has spacious suites well-suited to longer stays, and the clean and reasonably priced Hampton Inn & Suites Denver–Speer Boulevard (hamptoninn3.hilton.com).

Northeast of LoDo, the once downtrodden warehouse district now known as the River North Arts District (RINO, rivernorthart.com) continues to take off, as both retrofitted vintage buildings and brand-new constructions lure artists, designers, furniture makers, and other creative spirits. Visitors will find much of the action - from studio galleries to stylish lounges and eateries - along the main drags of Walnut and Larimer streets, from about Broadway to Downing Street. The neighborhood is home to two of the most popular gay nightspot in the city, the long-running dance club Tracks Denver (tracksdenver.com) and the leather- and fetish-driven Denver Eagle (theeaglebar.com).

Among venues popular with a mixed crowd, the pleasingly named Infinite Monkey Theorem (theinfinitemonkeytheorem.com) is the city’s first urban winery - it’s open for tours, tastings, and all sorts of events. Across the street, the Populist (thepopulistdenver.com) is making waves for its stellar eclectic modern cooking (try the huitlacoche agnolotti or mussels with bone marrow). And nearby Black Shirt Brewing (blackshirtbrewingco.com) is producing some of the best beer in town, while Fuel Café (fuelcafedenver.com) is a great stop for creative diner-inspired fare, from fried-chicken with cheddar-scallion biscuits at breakfast to pork cheeks with mole sauce at dinner.

Although there are no hotels in RiNo, the historic and charming Oxford Hotel (theoxfordhotel.com) is just a few blocks south of where the neighborhood begins, in the heart of LoDo (and also quite close to Larimer Square). Built in 1891, this luxurious and beautiful restored hotel is renowned for its individually appointed rooms (all with such modern perks as Bose Wave/iPod docks and free Wi-Fi), gorgeous art deco Cruise Room bar, and full-service spa and salon.