Aspen
THE AMERICAS · SKI · MOUNTAIN TOWN
A silver-mining town that struck a second seam in snow. Aspen has four separate mountains, a Victorian grid you can walk end to end in twenty minutes, and a level of money that shows in the shopfronts and the restaurant prices. It is also, genuinely, a great ski town — and in summer it turns into wildflower meadows and one of the most photographed pair of peaks in America.
The plan
Aspen Mountain
Straight up from the end of town, no beginner runs at all, and the Ajax bump skiing that made the place.
Snowmass
The big one — 1,340m of vertical and enough terrain for a week. Twenty minutes by free bus.
Maroon Bells
The two peaks on every Colorado poster. Reserved shuttle or bike only in season; go at sunrise for the reflection.
Highland Bowl
A 45-minute bootpack along a knife ridge to a 700m open face. The badge everyone in town wears.
Aspen Ideas / Music Festival
Summer fills the tents with physicists and orchestras. Lawn tickets to the music festival are cheap and lovely.
Book before you fly
Maroon Bells
Private cars are banned in season — a reserved shuttle from Aspen Highlands or a bike are the options.
Little Nell & Hotel Jerome
Christmas and New Year book out by the previous summer.
Aspen Music Festival
Summer; lawn tickets are cheap and rarely sell out.
Getting there
Fly Aspen (ASE)
Four minutes from town and one of the most scenic approaches anywhere, but weather cancellations are common. Have a plan B.
Fly Denver (DEN) or Eagle (EGE)
Denver is four hours by road or a short hop; Eagle-Vail is 70 minutes by car and often much cheaper than flying into Aspen.
Getting around
RFTA buses are free within Aspen and Snowmass and run late. Nobody who lives here parks in the centre.
When to go
Best time to go
Late January to March for snow, or late June to early September for wildflowers, festivals and hiking without the winter prices.
Cheapest months
April to May and October — almost everything closes, but rooms drop by two thirds.
Priciest & busiest
Christmas to New Year, when Aspen is the most expensive week of skiing in North America.
If you've got one day
Morning
Aspen Mountain
Late morning
Snowmass
Lunch
Bonnie's
Afternoon
Maroon Bells
Evening
Dinner at Element 47, then Highland Bowl
If you've got a week
Day 1
Arrive, settle in around The Little Nell, and take it slowly — Bonnie's for dinner.
Day 2
Aspen Mountain.
Day 3
Snowmass. Dinner at Element 47.
Day 4
Day trip — Snowmass.
Day 5
Maroon Bells. Matsuhisa Aspen at some point.
Day 6
Highland Bowl.
Day 7
Aspen Ideas / Music Festival. Finish with Cache Cache.
Staying longer?
Nearby & day trips
Snowmass
Twenty minutes by free bus, with more terrain and cheaper beds than Aspen itself.
Glenwood Springs
Forty minutes down-valley for the world's largest hot-spring pool and much cheaper hotels.
Four hours over Independence Pass in summer, or the I-70 route year-round.
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