Aspen, Vail, Breckenridge, or ____?
 

Hello helpful travelers and locals,

I will be driving east from Telluride next month and trying to decide where to stay the next day. I need to get closer to Denver, but staying in the rockies for one more day is fine. Trying to decide between Aspen, Vail, or Breckenridge. Here are some details that might help:

- My husband and I take social distancing seriously, so we're really looking for a town with a quaint "town square" where we could walk around. The contents and prices of the stores/restaurants is not particularly important. We just want to walk around and take in the view. We don't want to be at a Holiday Inn on the side of the freeway where there isn't much to see/do within walking distance.

- Hiking nearby is a plus, but easy/slightly moderate hikes only as we will have our 16 month with us.

- Hoping to spend <$275 for the night, so no Ritz.

- We would love to keep in mind the beauty of the drive from Telluride (not interested in making our way to I-70 until we have to)

- The only reason why we are on this trip in the middle of a pandemic at all is to help a family member who just had/is recovering from brain surgery. We have gloves ready to use at gas stations, hand sanitizer, masks, etc, and intend on respecting locals through social distancing and sanitizing as often as needed. Given that we have a 16 month old with us, we are trying to keep driving days shorter and have plenty of stops along the way to get out and stretch our legs/baby's legs.

THANK YOU in advance!

Well, not Vail just for charm sake. LOL

+1. It's not a "town" per se, rather it's a purpose-built ski village (which is really fun in the winter, but I've also been there in the summer and it wouldn't be my first choice based on your criteria). Aspen is lovely and fairly large compared with Breckenridge. Breckenridge is a nice old town, essentially one main street. IMHO, the hiking near Aspen is better than the hiking near Vail. I've only been to Breck in the winter, so no hiking knowledge.

I'd even suggest Frisco and drive to places where you might hike.

I haven't been to Vail but I know what it is, it's a manufactured resort. I have skied a lot at Aspen and Breckenridge over the years and neither one has a "quaint" town square. These are all some of the most famous and expensive US ski resorts in the world. You don't get quaint with that. Not to mention, Aspen in particular attracts rich people, many of whom actually walk around town in fur coats and for some reason, even though they are rich and live elsewhere, shop in dumb designer shops in Aspen, I have no idea why (like JCrew). Now I can see it for ski apparel, but not just for regular clothes which you can buy anywhere and have better selection of stores in NY, LA, etc.

Breck doesn't even have a town square, if so, I'm forgetting it. Aspen does but it isn't what I'd call quaint. It isn't really a town square though like you are thinking. I mean Rubey Park which is just in the center of town and the bus center.

Having said that, I like Aspen better than Breckenridge, which I don't particularly care for. Breck is a town of a zillion sports bars by my take. But some people do like it, so you never know. I've just never got any charm out of it myself, I just go for the skiing. I think Aspen is more scenic too from town. If I had to choose, I'd go to Aspen, I guess, but as I said, I don't like Breckenridge as a town so I'm probably biased.