It’s the grandfather of ski resorts. It’s huge, it’s varied and it’s fabulous. Visiting Vail, Colorado enables you to immerse your family in a full ski town experience
Let’s start, as one should when reviewing a ski resort, with the skiing. Vail has it all. Miles of groomers. Bowls full of bumps. A few cliffs for the jumpers. The recently opened “Blue Sky Basin” providing a back woods experience accessible to immediate skiers. Beginner trails at the top of the mountain, enabling everyone in the family to experience the incredible high-mountain vistas. Epic annual ski fall averaging 350 inches. 31 lifts. More than 5,000 acres of skiable terrain. Lots of grooming … but not too much grooming. It is no exaggeration to say that Vail offers something for every skier.
Ah, but you are a skiing family, right? So what about the ski school and child care? No surprise, both are top notch and offer oodles of options. Childcare is available for little ones from two months to six years, with children separated by age. The Micro Mice program takes kids 20 months and older for a 30-minute real skiing experience.
Once the little ones are ready for a full day on the hill, the Vail ski school offers a number of options and we’ve taken advantage of many of them. The Ultimate Four offers intimate group lessons with only four kids per instructor. Adventure Sessions offer a less structured teaching environment for intermediate and advanced skiers and riders to explore the mountain the way the locals do. And, of course, the Vail Ski School classic Ski and Ride school offers top notch instructors for all.
What? Sometimes you like to have non-skiing fun on vacation? Vail offers up quite a bit starting with Adventure Ridge where you’ll find tubing, trampoline, ski biking, kids’ snowmobiling and snowshoe tours. Vail Village boasts a fabulous new bowling alley and a marvelous movie theater, an outdoor ice skating rink and shopping galore.
Wondering where to stay? The options are vast and could border on overwhelming. First, decide which base area you’d like to call home. Vail has four.
Right in the center is Vail Village. This is the heart of Vail with dozens upon dozens of shops, boutiques, restaurants and people watching. The lodging options feel almost endless. Our current favorite? The very luxurious Sebastian (the subject of an entire feature below). Literally dozens of other choices include the classic Sonnenalp, Tivoli Lodge, the Lodge at Vail, Mountain Haus at the Covered Bridge, just to name a few.
Just to the East, a ten-minute walk or two minute ride on Vail’s frequent, free bus, is Golden Peak. Golden Peak offers a key advantage for families: the Vail ski school and day care facilities are located there. So, if your kids will be in ski school and you don’t mind a short stroll to the village for dinner, Golden Peak offers several excellent lodging options. Check out the Manor Vail for great accodations.
A ten-minute bus ride in the other direction will take you to the Lionshead base area. Lionshead is a community on to itself, with hotels, restaurants and shops. A second outpost of the Vail Ski School makes Lionshead a great alternative for families looking for a more low key village feel. Once again, lodging options are vast and varied. At the heart of Lionshead is the Arrabelle, a large, traditional style hotel that provides an old world ski experience and easy, easy access to ski school and the lifts. Just down the street, you will find the recently opened Ritz Residences with the level of service you expect from the Ritz and condo style accomodations (with kitchen areas) that are a tremendous help when traveling with kids. The Marriott at Lionshead is terrific as well, and more economical options include the Lifthouse, the Lion Square Lodge and the Lionshead Inn, both of which offer value and convenience.
Just a bit past Lionshead you will find Cascade, home to Vail Cascade resort. With its own ticket window and connecting lift, it is yet another way to enjoy all that Vail has to offer while being somewhat removed from the hubbub.
Vail claims to be “Like Nothing on Earth.” I have to say, I agree.
Lots of info is available on the Vail website at www.vail.com
