Like nothing on earth -Vail & Lionshead, Colorado

Vail Village; image from flickr by lietmotiv

Lionshead, Co; imagefrom flickr by randomduck

While Aspen may have started it all, Vail, thanks to President Eisenhower’s interstate system, is now the mecca for skiers.

What we did:

She said:

These are two wonderful towns located within a mile of one another. Those are VERY lucky people who live right in between the two. The towns have just completed renovations, and I was amazed at what has happened in Lionshead! It reminded me of a small European town. I love the gondola that takes people up the mountain into never, never land. It’s hard to believe that when you look up the mountains, you are really only seeing a tiny percentage of what is really there.

I used to ski, and, in my former life, we would drive out to Vail with our daughters during spring vacation to ski at Vail. There was a large contingency of families that would caravan from Michigan. We had the best time! We had our rituals of skiing in the morning, meeting for a hot chocolate break at 11:00 in Mid-Vail, and then for lunch at 1:00 and then apres-ski at 3. For dinners, we were a large enough group that we would take over the Minturn Saloon in Minturn. But I digress….. and I was a lousy skier!!

Bill and I wandered the streets in both towns and looking for the perfect place for lunch. We ended up in Vail Village at the Wildflower at the Lodge at Vail. We sat outside and had a very nice lunch.

He said:

Since my first visit to Vail was amid a very busy winter weekend and we couldn’t even find a place to park, this stop in the summer was a great opportunity to stroll through the villages. Never having skied here, I can’t really comment on the skiing, but I trust the testimonials that rate this area #1.

The villages of Vail and Lionshead are much like one would expect to find in the Alps. The shops and restaurants are in chalet-style buildings that mimic a European heritage. And, like Aspen, eating and shopping here is not for those light in the wallet! Maybe it was just my mood, but the Vail experience lacked the charm I found in Aspen.

Category: United States, Vail, Colorado, West, what we did, where we ateTags: dining in vail, lionshead village, vail village |