Denver International Airport

Denver International is unusual in a couple of ways worth knowing before you go. It sits well out on the high plains — about 25 miles northeast of downtown, farther than most big-city airports — and it channels everyone through a single main terminal, the tent-roofed Jeppesen Terminal, before splitting into three concourses.

How the airport is arranged

Check-in, bags, and security all happen in the Jeppesen Terminal. From there, an underground automated train carries you out to Concourse A, B, or C. United, for which Denver is a major hub, dominates Concourses B and part of A; other airlines spread across all three. Concourse A has a second option — a pedestrian bridge from the terminal, the only concourse you can reach on foot — but the train is faster and runs constantly.

Because the train is the only way to reach B and C, factor it into your timing. It is quick and frequent, but the walk from the platform up to a far gate on a long concourse can be a real distance.

Getting to and from downtown

The RTD A Line commuter train is the easy answer. It runs from the airport station, attached to the terminal, straight to Denver’s Union Station in about 37 minutes, on a predictable schedule that ignores the traffic on I-70. From Union Station you are in the heart of downtown with light rail and buses onward.

Driving takes a similar amount of time in good conditions, but the distance means a taxi or rideshare is a substantial fare, and Colorado weather can lengthen the trip without warning in winter.

Worth knowing

Denver’s altitude and location mean weather is a genuine operational factor — summer thunderstorms and winter snow both cause holds and cancellations here more than at lower, milder hubs. If you are connecting in the shoulder seasons, a little schedule padding is wise. The terminal itself is bright and spacious, with a good spread of local Colorado food and drink once you are through security.