Sit on the Left side of the plane for the best views on flights from Tampa to Denver. The right side wins at takeoff for Tampa Bay views, but the left side delivers the far more dramatic payoff: the full Rocky Mountain Front Range on approach into Denver is one of the great aerial sights in North America. Over the flight, the left side also picks up the Mississippi River crossing and the gradual transition from Great Plains to the Rockies. The Denver landing view tips the balance decisively.

During takeoff from Tampa International (TPA), sit on the Right side for the best views. Departing Tampa, most runways send you northwest or northeast. On a westbound/northbound departure, the right side gives you Tampa Bay sprawling out to the south and southeast, with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge clearly visible as a distinctive cable-stayed span crossing the bay mouth. The downtown Tampa skyline also appears briefly to the right before you climb out over the bay. Notable sights include: Tampa Bay, Sunshine Skyway Bridge, downtown Tampa skyline, St. Petersburg peninsula.

When landing at Denver International (DEN), sit on the Left side for the best views. Denver International sits east of the city, and most arrivals come in from the east or southeast. Landing westward on runways 16L/R or 25, the left side faces south and southwest, giving you a direct view of the entire Front Range — the Rocky Mountain wall running from Pikes Peak in the south up through the Rampart Range and Mount Evans to Longs Peak in the north. This is one of the most dramatic mountain approach views in the US. Notable sights include: Front Range Rocky Mountains, Pikes Peak, Mount Evans, Denver city skyline.

The flight from Tampa International (TPA) to Denver International (DEN) takes Approximately 3 hours 30 minutes.

The flight tracks northwest over central Florida, then crosses the Gulf Coast near Tallahassee or Alabama, traverses Mississippi and Alabama lowlands, crosses the Mississippi River near Memphis or slightly north, then tracks across the Arkansas and Missouri plains, over the Ozark Plateau, across Kansas and eastern Colorado's flat high plains before the dramatic Front Range rise into Denver. The transition from green agricultural land to the tan shortgrass prairie of Kansas and eastern Colorado is clearly visible from altitude.