Need help planning Colorado Vacation

amother

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 7:27 pm

I'm planning on taking my family to Colorado for 3 and half days. I'm flying into Denver with my kids ages 3-15. I've never been there before so I would appreciate any help with planning. Based on my research so far I was thinking of heading out to Vail for two days and then spend one day in Denver. Does this make sense? Is bolder creek a better area to go to?

Can anyone recommend activities or some tips that can help me? Any recommendations regarding places to stay?

amother

Turquoise

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 7:32 pm

Tons to do in Colorado Springs.
Estes Park is beautiful.
I've never been to Vail but I thought the main attraction there is skiing?
I would make a quick stop in Denver just to get kosher food etc

alwayscooking

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 8:18 pm

What do u want to know? We went it is a amazing trip. There is one kosher storw in Denver that is also a restaurant stop by there before heading to Vail to get any food you need. You may want 2 schedule ur day so that ur drive to Vail should b be4 it gets dark as it is a very windy drive through the mountains. There is lots to do there and the scenery is beautiful let me know if you have specific questions.

amother

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 8:23 pm

Would you say Colorado springs makes more sense than Vail for a family trip? Seeing lots of activities to do in Vail, but not sure what makes more sense since I've never been to either one.

pesek zman

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 8:25 pm

Colorado is so beautiful! The weather is spectacular! Are you planning on hiking?

amother

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 8:37 pm

I'm planning on doing whatever fellow imamothers recommend;). All my other vacations were planned like this and they worked out great!

amother

Turquoise

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 8:45 pm

It's been over 10 years since I was there but there was a plethora of sightseeing, tours, museums etc in CO Springs. We regretted that we only had a day there.

It's a big state, so I recommend you narrow it down to the basic area you want to go to and maybe see if there are things to do along the way. The city of Denver doesn't have that much going on and there is only one real place to shop for kosher food so no need to do more than stop in for a couple of hours, tops.

amother

Tangerine

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 8:52 pm

deletw

doctorima

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 8:56 pm

Vail wouldn't be my recommendation for the main destination on your trip. Personally I'd go for Estes Park, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, where you can see some gorgeous scenery and do some easy family-friendly hikes, and also a town full of great tourist attractions that are perfect for all ages.

If you don't want Estes Park, I'd go for Colorado Springs as a reasonable alternative. It has lots of great activities as well, though the scenery is definitely a cut below RMNP.

amother

Turquoise

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 9:00 pm

Estes Park was great, but not much for very little kids, as I recall. Also, be aware that the roads to get up there are twisty and mountainy! If you are a nervous driver, not the best idea!
We stayed in a little cabin just below Estes Park for a night and loved it, though there are gorgeous chalet looking hotels in the park itself.

amother

Bronze

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 9:12 pm

Royal Gorge is stunning . Its a natural split from one mountain into 2 over the years from water eroding into the rock. You can go tubing in the water, zipline over the 2 mountains, theres a bridge over the mountains that you can walk or bike over, Theres a thrill ride where they tie you to some kind of harness and swing right at the edge of the mountain, theres also a playground and a merry go round
Maroon Bells is absolutely gorgeous. Its up north but worth the drive you wont regret it. The drive is spectacular and maroon bells is next level stunning where you can see snow on the mountaintops and theres a lake and hikes for all different levels. You can see animals. We didnt see any but people saw moose and elk...
Tons of things to do in Estes park and also nearby rocky mountain national park.
Theres tons different mountains to hike on but I didnt look into them bcz I was pregnant and was too high for me.
Theres real locomotives you can get ride on that looks really interesting though we didnt do it.
In almost every city theres segways.
Also highly recommend going gold mining. We went to a place called Hidee Gold Mine. hideegoldmine.com You go into an actual gold mine for a very interesting tour geared for kids and adults alike and at the end they let you take tools and mine off a piece of the rock and keep it. They also do panning for gold teaching you how they take the stone (not the one you picked) with gold in it and pick out the gold chips. You have to book online.
In vail we stayed in a hotel called Streamside it was under $200 a night really nice suite with a kitchen, dinette, living room area, bedroom, 2 bathrooms and a porch. We took a 1 bedroom but I'm sure they have bigger. It was less than 5 minutes away from the chabad by driving and the chabad was packed with all types on vacation so its not like theres barely a minyan. Theres a grocery near the chabad where we bought fruits and vegis
In denver, theres 1 kosher grocery they get milk products once a week. Theres a meat restaurant in the back thats REALLY good and they make mincha there daily.
Theres a pizza store not far called Brooklyn Pizza thats REALLY REALLY good.
If youre staying in Denver, theres the west side of denver and the east side. They are about 20 minutes away from each other by car. No judgement but I think the east side is more lubavitch or mizrachi type. (though I think its changing recently) The west side is more frum/litvish with one shul called Zera Avraham. The east side has an eruv through most of the area. The west side has an eruv through just a few blocks I think bec the Jewish community on the west side is smaller

amother

Bronze

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 9:13 pm

Theres also the celestial seasoning tour we didnt do that looks really interesting

amother

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 9:16 pm

What exactly is Estes park?

amother

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 9:18 pm

Thanks Burgundy, that's a lot of information, but if you stayed in Vail and went to all of those places did you end up doing a lot of driving?

amother

Bronze

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 9:27 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Thanks Burgundy, that's a lot of information, but if you stayed in Vail and went to all of those places did you end up doing a lot of driving?

We did do a lot of driving but the scenery compensated for it. I was pregnant so I got out of breath quickly so we didnt actually stay very long at the things we went to so I cant be the right one to answer the question as we didnt have to be in the car that much

Also FYI they dont let you take a car all the way up to marron bells. You drive to a point 20 minutes away and you take a bus up as theres not enough parking up there

amother

Bronze

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 9:30 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

What exactly is Estes park?

Estes park is just this huge park with a ton of things to do. Boating and hiking and horseback riding and jeeping and an amusement park and fishing....

amother

Slateblue

Sun, Jul 14 2019, 10:20 pm

If you're driving from Denver to Vail, you might want to stop at Red Rocks Amphitheater. It's right off the thruway if I remember correctly and I loved the majesty of the red rocks there.

amother

Mon, Jul 15 2019, 8:51 am

Any recommendations for where to stay in Vail?

aricelli

Mon, Jul 15 2019, 9:34 am

amother [ Slateblue ] wrote:

If you're driving from Denver to Vail, you might want to stop at Red Rocks Amphitheater. It's right off the thruway if I remember correctly and I loved the majesty of the red rocks there.

I regret not visiting there. They have shows there and yoga on the rocks which looked awesome (that was always on shabbos though) we enjoyed garden of the gods in colorado springs and cave of the winds in manitou springs. The children loved both

amother

Cobalt

Mon, Jul 15 2019, 12:28 pm

If you go to Colorado Springs, I highly recommend a visit to garden of the "gods"