RhebeAguado

Was planning to fly from Denver to Aspen in August, but a buddy is insisting that I take the train., He said the ride is through the Rockies and the scenery would be exceptional. He, however, had never experienced it himself. We will be driving later from Aspen to Boulder, and wonder if the scenery would be similar, and if it is worth the six hour train ride.
Have never visited this part of the country and will stay in Aspen for five days.
Thanks for any personal input.
Rhebe

Gretchen

Drive?

happytrailstoyou

It strikes me as odd that a "buddy" would insist that you take a train ride that he has never taken?

The drive is hard to beat.

simpsonc510

The drive across Independance Pass is awesome!

simpsonc510

Trains do not go to Aspen (or at least not Amtrak). I just checked their web site as I thought your buddy might be mistaken... yep, you can get 'close' to Aspen, but not IN Aspen by train... unless there's a special scenic train that is privately owned/run. Your friend might be thinking of the train trip thru the Moffet Tunnel and westward from there. It is beautiful, for sure... but it doesn't go to Aspen.

tekwriter

As mentioned above,the train does not go to Aspen, only Glenwood Springs and you'd have to rent a car there to get to Aspen. You should rent your car in Denver (were you planning renting a car in Aspen to get back to Denver?) It's only a three-hour drive to Aspen and the scenery along I-70 is phenominal, including through the Eisenhower Tunnel under the Continental Divide, over Vail Pass, then through Glenwood Canyon. You could return to Denver/Boulder via Independence Pass, up through Leadville then back to I-70. The train trip is notoriously unreliable with many delays. Driving is a much better means of transportation, just as good if not better than the train!

PeaceOut

It takes longer than three hours to drive Denver to Aspen, at least in our experience. Count on closer to 4.5, if you drive reasonably like we do.

RhebeAguado

Thanks for getting back to me so fast. We were not going to drive, because he is picking me up in Glenwood Springs. and the we will have have a car from for rest of the trip all the time in Aspen, and then for the ride to Boulder, the three days on Boulder and then he would drop me off at the airport at Denver and then on home. It sounds like the view must be spectacular but I don't see any sense in rentng a car just for the few hours to Aspen. I*t is just the train, or the plane. A CAR SERVICE WOULD BE A FORTUNE.unless there is a shuttle service or a car pool arrangement I could find. Anybody know of anything? Thanks loads

pookymimi

Amtrax train - Union Station to Glenwood Spring (quite expensive my Husband says).
From Glenwood you drive through Carbondale to Aspen, we've done that several winters. We live in Littleton and lived by Aspen, my Husband still works on the Western Slope. We've done the I-70 to Aspen hundreds of times and it gets very windy on some places so unless you are an experienced driver it can be challenging.

pookymimi

"We've done the I-70 to Aspen hundreds of times and it gets very windy on some places so unless you are an experienced driver it can be challenging"

I didn't mean Glenwood to Aspen, I meant I-70 Denver to Glenwood Springs 3.5 hours, to Aspen is another 1.5 hr depending on traffic.

Gretchen

To the OP, please don't be put off by the wind challenge post even though it is "hundreds of times". It is a beautiful drive. The Glenwood Canyon portion of I70 is VERY interesting, and you might like to get out and see the display there about how it was built. Seems to me that the drive from DIA to Aspen is about 4 hours without dallying along the way.

christy1

Rhebe, there are so many train buffs out there, I have to think there are blogs and websites that discuss the trip from Denver to Glenwood Springs. Maybe you could decide that way.

Okay, a quick google search does show many trip reports--this was the first I found. It sounds like the train does go through better scenery than the interstate, which IMO is not that scenic.
http://www.mylittleportal.com/glenwo...lfornia-zephyr

I think everyone is missing the point here--he is already going to be driving back from Aspen to Boulder, and so WILL be traveling across the Rockies by car. (And IMO, there are much prettier routes to travel across the state on than I-70). His choice is train or fly to Glenwood Springs.

Gretchen

I don't think we've entirely missed the point. He can drive one way on I70, and back a slightly different way--Independence Pass.
Seems money is no object here also. If it enters the picture, then driving both ways would surely be more cost effective.