Well I ended up booking a few nights in both towns. I got some very good rates from the Tivoli and the Limelight and I think we will have a wonderful opportunity to really enjoy that part of Colorado. Thank you for the information and help!

We've stayed at the Tivoli during the ski season. It's a beautiful property with lovely views of the mountain. Have dinner at Sweet Basil (splurge), Blu's (moderate) and Bart & Yeti's (bargain, in Lionshead).

I second the recommended drive to Leadville. We enjoyed the Mining Museum. Take the Leadville train up into the mountains. (Last ride of the season is on either Oct. 3rd or 4th.) We bought a picnic lunch in town and ate it on the train. Between Minturn and Leadville, stop at the site of Camp Hale where the 10th Mountain Division trained during WWII. You can drive on the camp's roads and read informational signs at many points. Very interesting. There's a memorial to the 10th Mtn. Div. at the turnoff to Ski Cooper.

If the weather's holding up, rent bikes in Lionshead, take them up on the gondola and ride/coast (no pedaling) down. Or just take the gondola up and have lunch at Eagle's Nest. You can buy a gondola ticket with $$ credit toward lunch. We thought it was a good deal.

Stroll through the Betty Ford Alpine Garden just east of the Vail Village core.

Sounds like a great trip. Can't wait to see the pictures :-)
Have you been to Rocky Mountain National Park. Not to confuse the issue, but I'd go there first.

May you have beautiful blue skies, golden aspen, and great hiking on you trip!

Thank you for the good wishes and the advice about Leadville. DH is most intrigued by it so I am quite sure we will visit there.
Starrs, we did RMNP a couple of years ago and wanted to see more. We still have Telluride and the SE corner on our target list. So many places...........

You may be interested in hiking the Shrine Mountain Trail on the way to Vail.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/nm7l9t

I'll keep my fingers crossed for good weather.

Thanks, wtm003. The hike looks great. And keep those fingers crossed!!!

We returned Monday from a few days in the area. The Aspens are glorious. We drove the Shrine Pass Road to get from Leadville to I-70, and that is worth doing even if you don't have time for the hike. Enjoy.

As to my original question, I am glad I saw both. It snowed one of the days we were in Vail and we weren't properly equipped for hiking in the snow. So we made a trip to Breckenridge. Of the three Breckenridge was our hands down favorite. It had some of the Western character and didn't seem quite so over the top as the other two.

A happy accident is how I refer to a situation like that! Breckenridge is where we prefer to ski--we love it there, too. Hope you enjoyed a great trip.

Right you are, AnnMarie. We had a marvelous visit to Breckinridge and a very nice lunch at Amazing Grace cafe. I also bought a gorgeous Peruvian made sweater (looked all over Peru for them and never found them). A good day, all in all! I'll get my trip report done soon, but it was the perfect place to be at the perfect time to be there.

Oh, I'm so glad. Will look forward to reading your report! BTW, too funny on the sweater--go figure!