What's aspen like in the summer? (Denver, Glenwood Springs: construction, school, restaurants)

[aet08]

HI Everyone,

My girlfriend and I are visiting the Denver area for a a weekend, if we were to drive to Aspen to check it out, what attractions are there in the summer? What is Aspen like in summertime? Are there plenty of bars and restaurants? Which areas are must sees in Aspen?


Thanks so much for any advice!

[sunsprit]

I'm sorry ... did I misunderstand you? are you visiting Denver for a weekend, or are you heading to Aspen?

Assuming that you arrive in Denver on a Fri evening and are departing Sunday evening, you have a very limited time frame to do much ... especially if your focus is to depart to Aspen 180 miles away up in the mountains. Depending upon traffic, you can anticipate around 4 hours driving time because this isn't a 75 mph interstate cruise. Once you leave I-70 at Glenwood Springs, you have a much slower drive to Aspen. Alternate routes are as slow and can be even longer in time.

The good parts of Aspen in the summer remain. Lots of bars & restaurants. Concerts, the Maroon Belles, forests, lakes, streams, wooded areas, seminars and conferences, music school performances, and a host of outdoor activities ... golf, fishing, hang-gliding, bicycling in the mountains ... the options are essentially endless for just about any outdoor activity you can imagine. Plus, Aspen is a tourist town, so there's many touristy things to do if you are interested in the shopping, sightseeing, people watching, or just hanging around on the deck of a restaurant. I don't know the schedule, but there's Woody Creek for car/motorcycle races, too. The Hot springs in Glenwood Springs w/ tourist activities there, Reudi Dam for on the water activities. and so forth. Water levels are low this year, but there's still lots to do and many creeks in the hills around Aspen.

So, the question becomes what is your focus for this trip? Realistically, you'll not be seeing much of Denver or Aspen if you intend to see both in one weekend. Denver, of course, has much to do depending upon your interests ....

[wanneroo]

If you are in the Denver area for a weekend and those are your plans, it's not really feasible to drive up to Aspen as Aspen is a weekend trip in itself. Assuming their are no delays, even in summer there can be accidents, traffic, road construction, it's a 4 hour trip straight through. So that is 8 hours of driving right there over a weekend.

If you want to do it in a day, you'll have to leave in the morning to get there by noon and then the afternoon before a drive back.

If you do go there is plenty to do in town with restaurants and shops. Outside of town there are plenty of outdoor activities to do.