Need help planning Colorado Vacation

amother

Wine

Mon, Jul 15 2019, 12:46 pm

I'm from Colorado.
Personally, I always thought Colorado Springs was boring. Spending one day there would be enough. There is garden of the gods, and cave of the winds. Kids don't find that so interesting. There is pikes peak, which is nice and scenic. Air Force Academy if you like that kind of stuff. Colorado springs is not close to Vail.
Vail has a huge tourism industry in the summer. The Chabad there is really good and popular, I would recommend calling them to get advice - they are VERY friendly. Vail is gorgeous and they set up a lot of outdoor activities for families at the bottom of the mountain, if I remember correctly ropes course, and rock climbing. You can also drive to gorgeous scenic places. Vail is a bit expensive. Close by is Copper Mountain which might be more reasonable (but I don't think they have Chabad there). There is a humungous gorgeous lake between the mountains called Lake Dillon in Dillon, CO which is right on the way to copper mountain and Vail. (Boating and the like).
Five hours away from Denver is Aspen which is GORGEOUS!!!! That's where maroon bells is. The chabad there is also very good, in fact I think they might be brothers with the one in Vail. Aspen is a very upscale expensive town, but may be totally worth it if you can. They also have a lot of summer activities.
Boulder is gorgeous and I would definitely recommend going there if you have extra time. It is not near Vail or the mainstream tourist mountain towns. They have celestial seasonings tea factory which is a ton of fun, my kids loved it. But beware they don't let kids under age 5 come on the tour. My little kids still liked being in the shop though.
The resaurant/grocery store in Denver is called East Side Kosher Deli. Every summer they deal with many tourists, and they will pack up food for you to take to the mountains, they are very used to this.
Denver itself also has tons of great things to do!
I hope this helps!

amother

Turquoise

Mon, Jul 15 2019, 1:03 pm

I thought Pikes Peak was overrated. Same for garden of the gods.

There were some great Old West type museums in CO Springs.
We didnt get to it, but I remember some interesting looking tours of gardens and old homes. I think it depends if you are looking for active activities or enjoy historical stuff so YMMV.

The best part of the whole trip was a stop at Seven Falls. We came late afternoon so got the whole effect of the sunset on it. The most stunningly beautiful nature spot I've seen ever. Achingly beautiful. I looked it up recently and looks like it's more touristy now with activities etc. I don't remember where it is in relation to CO Springs or Boulder but not too far, I imagine.