Expert: Steve Collins - 10/29/2011

Question
QUESTION: Steve, my wife and I plan on driving from Houston, TX to Colorado around Christmastime for our 25th anniversary. Neither of us ski. Can you recommend places to visit in Colorado (probably Denver, but not necessarily) (or en route to)? Thanks for your time.

ANSWER: Hi, and Congrats on your Anniversary!

I guess I need a bit more info to have a better idea of what types of things you all like to see/do.  For example, Colorado Springs is a great destination, and the weather down there tends to be a bit more mild than other parts of the state.  If you don't mind spending some money, Christmas at The Broadmoor is SPECTACULAR (www.thebroadmoor.com).  A little less pricey, but also a gorgeous historic hotel is the Cliff House at Pikes Peak in Manitou Springs.

Denver is also a great destination at Christmastime--especially places like Larimer Square downtown, where they really go overboard to decorate for Christmas.  Plus, the Denver City and County building is always lit up for the holidays.  I took a video of it a couple of years ago (not exactly high quality, though.....) and posted it on YouTube at http://youtu.be/RdD5_mpc5ik.

If you would like to get into the mountains, there are PLENTY of great little towns that do not have ski areas nearby, so you actually would be in their off-season (meaning lower rates in most cases).  The town of Estes Park is GORGEOUS, and right at the eastern entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park.  The Stanley Hotel is a historic hotel that really decorates for Christmas as well (although one caveat--it IS rumored to be haunted....it is the hotel where Stephen King was working that inspired him to write "The Shining").  I have stayed there, and it was very peaceful!

There are 2 towns in the Arkansas River Valley (Salida and Buena Vista) that are also great places to visit in winter--in Salida, they actually create a giant Christmas tree with lights on the side of a mountain above town to celebrate the season.  However, there IS a small ski area (Monarch Mountain) that is near Salida, so you MIGHT run into some higher prices there during the holiday season.

I live in South Park, Colorado (yes....it does actually exist), and winter is definitely low season up here--even though we are only about a 20 mile drive from Breckenridge (one of the most popular ski areas in the US).  There is a fairly new little bed and breakfast near me called the Mountain Comfort (www.mountaincomfortbanb.com) that has really comfortable rooms, fantastic views of the Mosquito Range, and it is run by a couple of retired schoolteachers who are REALLY nice folks.  The nice thing about staying someplace like my area is that we are close enough to where you could go over to Breckenridge for the day, but you would not have to pay ski area prices to stay here.

I guess my main question to you is--what are you looking for?  Do you want an active vacation, with something like snowmobiling, snowshoeing, winter horseback riding, or something along those lines?  Or, are you more interested in more passive pursuits like sightseeing, cultural activities, shopping, etc.?

If you will give me a little more information on your interests, I will try to narrow this down to some more specific suggestions.

Does that help?

Steve



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Steve, we're thinking more of a passive, sightseeing kind of holiday; not a lot of shopping; some cultural activities are nice. Thanks again.

Answer
I definitely would recommend a couple of days in Colorado Springs if you can do it.  As I had said before, the Broadmoor offers a Christmas package complete with a Broadway-style show that is really fun, and the hotel is one of the best in the country.    If you don't want to pay Broadmoor prices for lodging, my other recommendation was the Cliff House at Pikes Peak (www.thecliffhouse.com).  You might take a day to ride the Cog Railway to the top of Pikes Peak (www.cograilway.com) for a view of "purple mountains majesty" and the "fruited plain"--Katharine Lee Bates wrote the words to "American the Beautiful" after a day at the top of Pikes Peak.  Also in Colorado Springs, you can tour the Garden of the Gods, the US Air Force Academy (and its famous chapel), and the US Olympic Training Center.  If you don't want to spend the money for one of those 2 more expensive hotels, there are plenty of national chain hotels in Colorado Springs.  For something a bit more unique, a bit more funky, but also a lot less expensive, the El Colorado Lodge (www.elcolorado.net) is an old-style (built in 1929) roadside motel, Route 66 style property.  It is definitely not a luxury hotel, but the rooms are clean, and it is straight out of the history books for the old-fashioned family road trip.  The web site for the Colorado Springs visitors bureau is www.visitcos.com.

Denver is another worthwhile stop--especially around the holidays.  Downtown is all lit up, and there are a lot of special events around town.  For more information on Denver and special events for the holidays there, the visitors bureau web site is www.visitdenver.com.  I am having a bit of a hard time coming up with unique ideas, because, even though it is a really nice city--it is still a big city like many others.  The Colorado Ballet is famous for their presentation of the Nutcracker for the holidays, and the holiday show at the Arvada Center is "The 1940s Radio Hour" (www.arvadacenter.org).  At the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (www.dcpa.org), they will be performing "A Christmas Carol" live onstage.

I would also suggest as part of your trip a few days (I don't know how much time you have....) in Estes Park.  It is a BEAUTIFUL little mountain town not too far from Denver and right at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.  The drive up there is gorgeous, the scenery and wildlife that are accessible right from your car is pretty amazing, and during the holidays, it is decorated into a setting straight out of Currier and Ives.  An added bonus is that, since there is no ski area nearby, winter is actually low season up there.  Their visitors association web site is www.estesparkcvb.com.

Anyhow--that is just a few ideas.  Am I on the right track?  Does that give you a starting place?

Please let me know if you have specific questions, and I will try to steer you in the right direction.

Hope that helps!

Steve