Denver , Rocky Mountain National Park, Vail, Glenwood Canyon, Aspen, Leadville, Breckenridge
All distances and times are indicative and do not include stops.
Total mileage;500 miles round trip
Total drive time; Around 10 hours
How long do I need? You could do this in a week but would not have time to linger anywhere and take some time out. I would aim for at least 10 days for a more leisurely pace and two weeks if you want time to kayak, raft, hike, bike, horse ride or just spend some time chilling out and enjoying the scenery. If you are here in the winter there is the possibility of road closures but you may well be able to cover most of this trip and skiers will be very happy indeed!
Bear checking out the Convention Center, Denver
Fly into Denver, the mile high city, a vibrant cultural centre with a fabulous art museum, great restaurants and opportunities to watch any of the major league sports (I like the baseball at Coors Field). From Denver head into the Rocky Mountain National Park via the scenic Peak to Peak Highway. The scenery is jaw dropping with fabulous view of snow capped mountains, lakes, forests and alpine meadows. There is brilliant hiking and great subject matter for artists and photographers as well as wildlife spotting to be done – elk, moose, big horn sheep, marmots and black bears all make their homes here.
Vail Village Center
You can join back up with Highway 70 to make your way to Vail. Enjoy great restaurants, interesting shops and either hike or take the gondola at Adventure Ridge for some fabulous views. From here head to Glenwood Canyon (maybe stopping off at the upmarket ski / golf resort of Beaver Creek) to marvel at the spectacular gorge and potentially take in a rafting trip. Glenwood Springs is a great place to stop with a Hot Springs Pool and Glenwood Caverns and Fairy Caves. Drive on to Aspen to wander through the chic resort and check out the boutiques and some great restaurants as well as some incredible scenery – if you have time the trip out to Maroon Bells is well worth the effort.
The road back to Denver passes through Leadville, a Victorian silver town with an interesting main street and visitor center, and then on to Breckenridge to visit the old western style centre and the option of a tour of The Country Boy Mine, complete with gold panning in the creek.
Getting there…
To get the best deals on flights to Denver, and all your accommodation once you’re there, we recommend 1 Plus 2 Travel. They search the consolidators for you so you don’t have to!
We recommend Holiday Autos or Easycar for car hire. Check out our car hire info for ways to save money. You may want to cover your excess and increase your liability cover with a policy like that from Worldwide Insure or Insurance4carhire.com.
Where to Stay…
Downtown Denver has a great choice of hotels. Our favourite is the Hotel Monaco Denver. We love it for it’s location, spacious comfy rooms, slightly eclectic feel and free Wi-Fi. If you are travelling with a family, also check out SpringHill Suites Denver Downtown. This hotel is also in a good location, and the rooms are huge, with a separate sleeping and sitting area, fridge and microwave. There is free wi-fi and most of their room rates include a complimentary breakfast.
In Vail we love the Sonnenalp. This is one of my favourite hotels ever. The beds are fabulously comfortable, the rooms are lovely and the spa and pool area is wonderful. You can easily walk into Vail Village. The restaurant is great, especially the breakfast which is the best I have ever eaten. In fact I had something of a food epiphany in Vail. I ate a (very large) late breakfast at the Sonnenalp, followed by dinner in one of Vail’s many great restaurants and realised I had thoroughly enjoyed everything I had eaten that day, shortly followed by the realisation of how rare that was. Normally I end up eating something I don’t really like all that much because I am hungry and that’s what there is. Those of you who frequent train stations and airports will, I’m sure be very familiar with this feeling.
Anyway, back to where to stay. The best places to stay to access the Rocky Mountain National Park are Estes Park or Grand lake. Estes Park is the larger, busier community. In Estes park we like the Murphy’s River Lodge. It is fairly basic but has decent sized rooms with kitchenettes which we like as it allows us to do our own breakfast and make a picnic to take into the Park. In Grand Lake we like The Gateway Inn for its fabulous views – each room has a balcony to sit on and take them in – and very comfy beds.
In Glenwood Springs, our hotel of choice is the The Hotel Denver. We like the rooms and the free Wi-Fi and it is within easy walking distance of the restaurants clustered around Grand Avenue.
In Aspen, we like theLimelight Hotel for its location and fabulous views, especially from the lovely rooftop terrace. We like the huge rooms, many of which come with a fireplace and kitchenette. The heated pool and spa is also great.