Now that I've moved to Colorado- road trips I feel like are going to be more of a thing. There are so many beautiful places to explore that are now so close! We started at the top clearly with the opportunity to check out Aspen, but then tacked on a few days in Breckenridge.
From Boulder, Aspen was around a 4hr drive (with some traffic), and Breckenridge was about 2, so we went far and made our way back. We stayed in Aspen at the Viceroy Snowmass- which was close to the town but a few miles outside. Definitely seemed more family friendly, very quiet during the summer, and a place where you enjoy your resort. The Viceroy was nice, however I would suggest if you go there not to book a studio room. It's an expensive hotel to begin with, and the studio room just had a weird layout that was not spacious at all (huge bathroom, but tiny bedroom, no desk/work space, galley like kitchen area) so just go ahead and splurge on a bigger room- why not. The hotel did have a nice gym, a pool that claimed to be heated but didn't really feel like it, outdoor hot tub, and during the ski season it was right by the lift so super convenient. To get to Aspen from Snowmass, we took a couple of buses- one down from the hotel to the park and ride, and then we would transfer to the bus heading to Aspen. Pro- free, Con- took about 40mins.
Places we ate in Aspen/Snowmass:
Clark's (sat at the bar-reservations needed)
Parc
Toro (hotel restaurant)
Daly Diner (bargain breakfast in Snowmass)
Places we drank in Aspen:
Casa Tua (nice patio)
Ajax Tavern (small- comfy outdoor seating)
Mi Chola (really cute mexican restaurant- went for an event)
Silver City (weird basement vibes- went for an event)
Dunbar ranch (for an event)
Everywhere was great, super cute, expensive but well you are in Aspen- hard to avoid.
Hikes:
Drove to Hanging Lake by Glenwood Springs. Glenwood Springs also looked cool- has one of the biggest natural hot springs resorts, we had lunch there at Rocky Mountain Pizza Co and Ice cream at Sundae's
Hanging lake is right now only open on the weekends- and you have to apply for a reservation online. Totally worth it though. 4 miles, 1.5hr hike up to the waterfall and lake, then back down.
Maroon Bells Crater Lake hike in Aspen- also another place you have to make a reservation online. We were only able to get in at 5pm, but it ended up being perfect timing for this 3.5mi/1.5hr hike. We even saw some wildlife- a moose, a fox, and a bunch of deer.
Breckenridge:
Stayed at an Airbnb one block from Main St.
Where we ate:
Blue River Bistro- outdoor dining
Brekfast - amazing avocado toast
Aurum- go for happy hour, really good deal!
Bread and Salt - lunch in Frisco on our way home
Hikes we did:
Ptfarmigan Hike: 5 miles/2 hrs/1000 ft elevation. Great views of the mountain and towns.
Elk Hike: 6 miles/2hrs/1000 ft elevation. Definitely a ski run during the season
Borro Trail: 6.5 miles/2hrs 20min/850 ft elevation. Plenty of parking by the trailhead since by a ski lift
What else we did:
Saw the Breckenridge Troll and got a photo (it's what you do)
Rented bikes, biked down to Frisco and to Lake Dillon- 1hr 15min downhill. Realized we did not want to bike back up so dropped bikes at the other bike rental location (Cristy's) and took the free bus back to Breckenridge (30min ride)
Thanks, Krista!