An alpine village.
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM· 4h
Vail Village & the gardensCities & MetrosAnchor
The Bavarian-style pedestrian village, Gore Creek, and the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens (a gondola ride for the views).
Bring: layers
Vail, CO2:15 PM – 3:30 PM· 1h 15m
The Colorado Snowsports MuseumSkiing & Winter SportsWorth it
Free, in the middle of Vail Village, and the answer to why this valley exists. The 10th Mountain Division trained at Camp Hale twenty miles south, learned to fight and ski at altitude, and came back after the war to build Vail, Aspen Highlands, Arapahoe Basin and half the resorts in the state. The Hall of Fame is upstairs.
231 S Frontage Rd E, Vail, CO4:00 PM – 6:30 PM· 2h 30m
Gondola One & the Back BowlsSkiing & Winter SportsAnchor
Ride up to Mid-Vail and walk to the back side, where the mountain drops into seven miles of open bowls with no trees in them — the terrain that made Vail's reputation and still makes it the biggest single ski mountain in Colorado. Green and wildflowered in summer, which is its own kind of strange when you know what it looks like in February.
Vail Village, Vail, CO