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| *Travel Tips>>>Denver Travel Tips |
Suggestions for a trip to Colorado in February...I want to surprise my husband.? |
Travel Info My husband and I both work long hours and have stressful jobs, he called the other night and said, lets take a short trip somewhere So I want to surprise him with a trip tp Colorado. We have never been there. Does anyone have any suggestions on a nice place to stay / resort for a week in February? Thank you!! Travel Tips The ski towns will be very expensive in February. If that doesn't faze you I suggest Aspen or Telluride. They both have an older historic town section that's charming, unlike some other ski towns like Vail. Figure $200/night, absolute minimum. $300 may be more like it. You'll definitely need reservations. If that's not within your budget, and you don't need fancy shops and restaurants, my pick is Estes Park outside Rocky Mountain National Park. Low key in winter, plenty of lodgings in all classes, including some nice B&Bs. I like the condos at Fawn Valley Lodge, a mile outside of town. The Stanley Hotel is a refurbished classic, mildly upscale with a good restaurant. Grounds with views. Activities are mostly nature, in February snowshoeing or cross country skiing. Maybe a little low level hiking, depending on the weather. EDIT: Estes Park does not fill up in the winter. Half the town closes down, because demand is low. If you go to the mountains rent a 4WD for the likely snow and drive carefully. Don't go on a backroad without knowing exactly what you're doing. If you want to go urban, rather than mountains, either a downtown Denver hotel or the Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs. The winter is off season for them and about $200/night buys you a 5 star resort with health club and a truly great indoor pool. Several restaurants. Large well trained staff. Other amenities. They have a detailed website. Denver has tons of stuff to do, great restaurants, some night life, cultural stuff, etc. Others If you want to stay in Denver, stay at the Brown Palace for a really luxurious experience. They also have a full-service spa. For a more ski-ish vacation, try Steamboat Springs. It's beautiful, with a huge variety of places to stay, and WAY less pretentious than a lot of other ski areas (ahem, Aspen). SKI TOWNS Telluride and Aspen are both very posh trendy ski towns. Lots of gourmet food, boutique stores, and a celebrity sighting every now and then. Breckenridge is a bit more affordable and my favorite ski town. Very nice little village to walk around in the evening. Vail is nice too. URBAN Boulder and Denver are your options. If you want a big city with lots of great cultural museums and whatnot, Denver is a great option. LoDo, its redeveloped warehouse district, has some interesting stores, restaurants, bars, etc. Boulder is more of a quaint college town. The town itself is sort of a postcard. A newly opened Saint Julian Hotel is very posh with a spa. Many of their rooms have views of the mountains. A few blocks away is downtown Boulder's pedestrian mall, lined with art galleries and a smell of espresso in the air. You can rent mountain bikes from University Bicycle on 9th and Pearl and explore some of the area's hundreds of miles of biking trails. (Note that not all trials allow bicycles.) Another less expensive option in Boulder is farther away from downtown, and is called Boulder Outlook. They have an "adventure concierge" to cater to outdoorsy types. NON-SKI MOUNTAIN FUN Estes Park is a cozy little mountain town. You'll be near hiking and cross-country skiing. Estes Park, I should worn you, is very touristy. It's too late for you to get real high in altitude unless you climb the mountain yourself. If you're into that, there are plenty of "14'ers" to hike. Cross-country skiing, snow shoeing, etc is an option. TIPS If you're coming from a lower altitude or somewhere with more humidity, you will need to force yourself to drink plenty of water. People get dehydrated here CONSTANTLY. Wear lots of sunscreen, especially if you're out in the snow, which reflects the radiation back up at you. Denver has worse traffic than you'd think. Plan accordingly. The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs is a really nice place: http://www.broadmoor.com/ Also the Cliff House is a nice bed and breakfast in Manitou Springs: http://www.thecliffhouse.com/ I agree with the Brown Palace, in Denver: http://www.brownpalace.com/ Up in the mountains, The Sonnenalp Resort in Vail is really nice, Feb might be a peak time though: http://www.sonnenalp.com/ Are you wanting to ski, do outdoor activities, or just stay in, in a nice hotel? Price range? Can you give more details. if you like snow ,mountains,skiing go to winter park.if you want to see more of the city stay downtown Whether you ski or not I like Steamboat Springs and Vail. If you don't ski this is a great opportunity to learn. Shops galore. Restaurants and dives are there too. Break a leg!!! The Brown Palace in downtown Denver is awesome. See if you can get into the Beatles room (it's where the band stayed when in Denver). If you want do downhill ski, Aspen is nice...but it does get full quickly and is expensive in winter. Crosscountry skiing or just hiking in the mountains....Estes Park is awesome. Nice little town, but again, it fills up fast. If you want a lot of stuff to do and maybe just a day in the mountains, stay in Denver. Just watch the weather as it can change quickly. I definately agree with what someone else said....get a 4WD or an AWD vehicle! Have fun! |
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