kawh

Hi... we will have one night in Vail in mid-September, along the way to several hot springs. Will have a car. Need feedback on what to do, eat, and where to stay for a quick 1-nighter.

In a previous post, someone said "take the lif to the top.' -- but i see lots of lifts on the map.

Also, " The path along Eagle River" but i only see Gore Creek on my map search.

They mention wandering "the Village"... and I wonder where the best base is for any of the above?? Thanks much for any help!

Jean

"Where to stay" encompasses an enormous price range. What do you want to spend? Do you want lots of amenities or just a simple hotel room?

"Take the lift to the top" would be the gondolas from both the Village and Lionshead. At the top of the Lionshead gondola are "Adventure Ridge" activities like zip lining, rope courses, disk golf, etc. There are lots of walking/hiking trails on the mountain. You can also rent bicycles, take them up on the Lionshead gondola with you and then ride/coast down to the bottom of the mountain.

But after Sept. 1st, the gondolas operate only on weekends.

It's Gore Creek that runs through the town.

The Village and Lionshead are about 1 mile apart. It's an easy walk between the two areas, but there is also frequent, free bus service. We like to stay in the Village, but it really doesn't matter which area you stay in.

http://www.vail.com/

kawh

jean-- thanks so much. lost of good information here. we want to keep the room at about 150.00 if we can... would love to be near the river walk. (thanks for clarifying the name.)

sorry to hear about the gondolas closing, as we will be there on a week day.... a big disappointment to miss going up on the mountain.

i looked at tivoli lodge, which has a rate of 129. for our dates... good reviews but maybe on the outskirts of where we want to be?? thanks again for any input.

martym

Sweet Basil is my favorite place to east in Vail. We try to get there at least once every summer. https://sweetbasilvail.com/about/history/

Jean

The Tivoli is great. We used to stay there on ski trips until the rates got too high.

We've stayed at Pepi's Gasthof Gramshammer for the last several years. It's smack-dab in the center of the village (the Tivoli is 3 blocks away), but Pepi's doesn't have the pool or wonderful mountain views that the Tivoli has. Have sundown drinks on Pepi's patio.

We also try to go to Sweet Basil every year. It has a "sister" restaurant in the same building, one floor below, facing the creek, called Mountain Standard. In the summer, it's hard to beat the views of Gore Creek while you're eating. Ask for a table near the windows.

https://mtnstandard.com/

fmpden

You are catching Vail at a downtime between summer ending and ski season beginning. That is great for hotels as they will be cheaper. Just use hotwire or hoteltonight for a quick deal. One night is not going to make that much difference to you. Not so great for restaurants since some of the better ones close for rehab, cleaning, etc., during this period. But also good deals on early bird dinners for those that are open. You could rent bikes and the bike rental people (for a fee, of course) will haul you to the top of Vail pass so you can nearly coast back into Vail. It is not all downhill but close. Really very pretty and far better than a chair lift and single track down a ski slope.

kawh

thanks all for the great tips. glad 'tivoli' gets a thumbs up and i made a reservation this morning.

with the lifts closed, i think the bike ride sounds amazing and think i will do that. (**about how long does this take? we have to get on the road the 2nd day by 2:00)

the restaurants mentioned sound great... i looked up 'mountain standard' and they don't mention that they have a view of the river.. but i do love a view at dinner!

lastly, we love a good happy hour. any restaurants at the top of the happy hour list? (i wish there was a happyhour.com website so i could easily look up happy hours when i travel!!!)

Jean

kawh, I don't know what you're looking for in a restaurant happy hour (food? drink prices? ambiance? views?), but I don't think you can beat the patio at Pepi's. Click on the link below for a photo taken during the summer. The Clock Tower to the right is an iconic landmark in all of the postcards of Vail. The road between the Clock Tower and Pepi's patio is Bridge Street. Going to the right in this picture takes you to the Village gondola and to the left to the Covered Bridge over Gore Creek, another iconic landmark of the town.

http://hotels-fairy.com/files/2011/1...l-colorado.jpg

Both Sweet Basil and Mountain Standard are half a block from where this photo was taken.

I was surprised that the Mountain Standard website doesn't play up the view of Gore Creek, but if you click on "Find Us" and scroll down to the google map, you can zoom in, switch to satellite view and - voila! - there's Gore Creek at the top of the screen. This link is to a photo of the Up the Creek Restaurant which is about 40 feet from Mountain Standard.

http://www.vailupthecreek.com/images...-the-creek.png

kawh

thanks very much jean! as for happy hour... more prices for great food and drinks. was thinking of a recent trip to san antonio, where oysters at 'luke' on riverwalk were gorgeous and delicious and 50cents each during happy hour... that and another app and some good bread and some happy hour alcohol made a fine dinner!

fmpden

With that time schedule the bike ride is out. There is a network of paved bike paths that connects all of the Summit County ski areas and Vail. From the top of Vail pass to Vail probably is 12 maybe 15 miles as it wonders down the side of the mountain. It is not as direct as the road for obvious reasons. I would view it as a several hour trip in part to just enjoy the scenery. If you road straight down at max speed, you could probably do it in 2 hours.

Jean

We've never sought out that type of happy hour in Vail, and I don't know what deals might be on offer in September, but try the Red Lion at the top of Bridge Street, opposite the fountain. Or The Sebastian near the Vail Road traffic circle. The Sebastian would be a bit more upscale, but the Red Lion has mountain views from its patio.

In Lionshead, try Garfinkel's. For an inexpensive dinner of burgers, ribs, etc., go to Bart & Yeti's also in Lionshead.

cmcfong

We got a fantastic rate at the Tivoli in Sept. Had a very nice dinner at Up the Creek. Tivoli has free bikes, so we took a lovely ride.
http://www.vailupthecreek.com

kawh

thanks again, all. have this all in my notes and will use all wisdom.