How to Spend an 8 Hour Layover in Denver: DEN to the Denver Art Museum
Updated October 9, 2026
An 8 hour layover in Denver from DEN gives you time for the Denver Art Museum and its quieter neighbor. Ride the A Line to Union Station and the free 16th Street FreeRide to Civic Center, see both buildings of the art museum on one ticket, then walk around the corner to the Clyfford Still Museum.
Denver's main museums cluster around Civic Center Park, at the opposite end of 16th Street from Union Station. The Denver Art Museum fills two very different buildings, a castle-like tower clad in gray glass tiles and an angular addition of titanium and glass, joined by a newer welcome center. Directly behind it, a smaller concrete museum is given over to a single painter, Clyfford Still, which makes a calm finish after the big collection. Getting there takes two rides, the A Line and then the free 16th Street FreeRide shuttle, and neither needs much planning. Check the calendar before you go. The art museum is closed on Wednesdays and the Clyfford Still on Mondays, so go on a Tuesday or any day from Thursday to Sunday.
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Is it worth leaving the airport?
Yes, if your flight lands close to on time and it isn't a Monday or a Wednesday, when one of the two museums is closed. The trip downtown and back takes about three hours, which leaves time for a good look at the art museum and a shorter visit next door. The plan brings you back to DEN two hours before your flight, as the airport recommends.
Getting from DEN into the city
Ride the underground train from your concourse to the Jeppesen Terminal and walk to the Transit Center at the south end. Take the A Line to Union Station. From there, the free 16th Street FreeRide shuttle runs the length of 16th Street to the Civic Center end, a short walk from the museums. As of October 2026, the RTD Airport Day Pass is $10, and contactless cards work.
Plan on about 2 hr 14 min for the round trip between Denver International Airport and the first and last stops.
This plan also keeps 45 min to get out of the airport and 1 hr 30 min to get back through security before your flight. You can customize these buffers with Navi through text.
Times are estimates, not guarantees. Confirm your boarding time with your airline and check entry requirements before leaving the airport. You are responsible for getting back in time for your flight.
Visa and entry
Anyone arriving from another country clears immigration and customs before leaving the terminal, at DEN or at the first US airport on the trip. Domestic passengers need only their boarding ID. Expect a full TSA screening on the way back in. If your next flight is international, come back earlier, since international check-in closes sooner.
What to do with your bags
There is no luggage storage at DEN, so assume your bag comes with you. Museums often turn away large bags, so travel with as little as you can. As of October 2026, Bounce lists Denver drop-off shops from $3.95 a day, with several around Union Station that you can use on the way to the shuttle.
The 8 hour plan, stop by stop
About 3 hr 31 min in the city
Time to head out from Denver International Airport for Denver Art Museum. It's a 1 hr 8 min transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
The museum spreads across two landmark buildings linked by a welcome center. Gio Ponti's Martin Building, opened in 1971, is a seven story tower faced in gray glass tiles that holds much of the permanent collection, from Indigenous arts of North America to European paintings and works from the American West. Across the way, Daniel Libeskind's Hamilton Building of 2006 is a cluster of sharp, titanium-clad forms, where walls lean and galleries fit into odd corners, with changing exhibitions and more of the collection. As of October 2026, general admission for visitors from outside Colorado is $27, or $30 from Friday to Sunday and on holidays, and one ticket covers both buildings.
Tip: Begin at the top of the Martin Building, where the upper terraces look over Civic Center, then work down and cross to the Hamilton Building. Look up on its main stairs, where the slanted walls are at their most dramatic. For a quick meal, Café Gio in the Martin Building serves during museum hours.
- Time here
- 1 hr 15 min to 1 hr 25 min
- Website
- denverartmuseum.org
NaviTime to head out from Denver Art Museum for Clyfford Still Museum. It's a 4 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
When the abstract painter Clyfford Still died in 1980, his will left nearly everything he had kept to any American city that would build a museum for his work alone. Denver took up the offer, and this building by Brad Cloepfil opened in 2011 with board-formed concrete walls and upstairs galleries washed in daylight from a perforated ceiling. The rooms move through his career, from early figure studies to the huge canvases of torn color he is known for. As of October 2026, adult admission for visitors from outside Colorado is $18, and the museum opens six days a week, closing on Mondays.
Tip: Buy your ticket online while you are still in the art museum, as the staff suggest, then walk around the corner to Bannock Street. Leave time for the upstairs rooms, which hold the largest canvases. This is the last stop before the shuttle back to Union Station.
- Time here
- 35 to 40 min
- Website
- clyffordstillmuseum.org
NaviTime to head out from Clyfford Still Museum for Denver International Airport. It's a 1 hr 6 min transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
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