Durango

Deb from NC said:

I've been reading this thread with interest, because we have booked 3 nights at Wyndham Durango, followed by 4 nights at Wyndham Pagosa for this fall.
Please forgive me if I'm hijacking the thread a bit (!) but if anyone has any additional suggestions on things to do in the area, good places to eat, shopping, etc. I would appreciate it! And thoughts on weather in late September ?
(We have never been to that part of Colorado before....)
Deb

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It will be warm during the days and cool at night, so bring a light jacket. You might even hit the changing of the Aspen leaves that time of year.

The Wyndham in Durango is right next to the train station. Depending on which way the wind blows....there is a chance (pretty good chance) you will get the smell of coal smoke from the train.

As others have stated and have hit the highlights of the area: The Durango Silverton train (there is a museum at the train station worth checking out), Trimble Hot Springs and Mesa Verde. It would also be worth the drive to Silverton, Ouray or Telluride ...you might even see Oprah!

Good restaurants in town. The Wyndham is downtown, so walking to main street is as easy as can be, which has restaurants and little shops. Eat breakfast at Oscars or the Durango Diner for a true diner experience. Lots of local beers made in Durango worth having (if you are a beer drinker).

There are also numerous hiking and mountain biking options for those who are looking for some outdoor type stuff to do. You can rent mountain bikes in town.

Thanks! We went ahead and made our reservations for the train...so it sounds like we can walk from the Wyndham Durango to catch the train ? How far away is Trimble Hot Springs ?

OK. Well, what we decided to do was to book at Hilton Homewood Suites in Durango for June 2017. Not a resort, of course, but has what we need and convenient, as well as a bit less expensive than Home Away rentals, especially considering the meal inclusion.

It is 15 minutes from the airport. Yes- it is in a business/industrial area, but it is only a couple of miles to town and it has everything we need since we really will only be there for 6 days (2 days are just traveling to and from).

The kitchen will do us fine. They include a hot breakfast every day and a complimentary happy hour with food Mon-Thurs. They have an indoor pool and hot tub and gym and washer dryers for guests, a restaurant, a convenience store/vending area, a barbecue/patio area.

We will be out sightseeing every day so we think this will suit us just fine.

Plus, did not have to pay anything on Hotels.com and can cancel right up until the day before for free! Can't beat that, as my husband can't get work vacation approval until March.

Excellent reviews on Trip Advisor.

At that time I can start to search out airfares and car rentals. Booking a place to stay at least will get me to propel forward as I hate flying and tend to procrastinate in my travel planning when we are going somewhere by plane.

I missed this thread the first time around, but I can provide a few suggestions by mentioning what we were able to easily accomplish in 10 days.

We had previously made multiple two week trips to the Rocky Mountain area, so when Southwest had some decent fares, we booked a direct flight from Hartford, CT to Denver to revisit.

We picked up two hours because of the time zones, so we drove from Denver to Grand Junction for one night, stopping at Vail for lunch/dinner on the way.

The next day we drove the CO River road to Moab, Ut, visited Arches for the third time and hiked to Delicate Arch again. Checked into the Super 8 for two nights, went to Canyonlands the next day.

Drove to Mesa Verde, went on one tour, then drove to Durango. Checked into the Best Western Plus for 3 nights. High cost for BW, but in-town location. We each had 2 tokens for free happy hour drinks which we drank while sitting on a bench out front and watched guests check into the Wyndahm across the street.

The next day we took the last train to Silverton, about 9:30AM. We sat in the open gondola car at the rear of the train in the last seat, Excellent view of the scenery and the train on the curves. We had a late luch in Silverton and had a happy hour snack dinner after we returned.

When we left we drove the Million Dollar Highway north and stayed in Glenwood Springs for one night. Then drove over Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park to Estes Park for 3 nights in the Comfort Inn.

I am figuring flying in on Saturday from NY so will get settled and play it by ear. Monday check out Durango and environs, second day Mesa Verde, third day Silverton Train, 4th day Telluride. Leaves 2 days to be spontaneous or come up with a couple of more sites as recommended here on this thread. Then it will already be time to leave.

Would love to have more time there but we have jobs and 3 other vacations planned at our home resorts (which we can drive to thank goodness) for the year.

mpumilia said:

4th day Telluride.

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I went thru Telluride once in June. It's a nice town but mainly a ski area.

If you haven't been to Monument Valley, I would suggest that as an alternative.

You can drive to the four corners and take photos sitting on 4 states, then drive to kayenta, AZ. Then go north, the entance is just over the UT border. After MV continue north, then east thru Mexican Hat, a neat rock, then back to Durango.

Monument Valley was filmed multiple times by John Ford and others. John Wayne in the Searchers was done there. You can drive on the dirt roads without a tour.

Roger830 said:

I went thru Telluride once in June. It's a nice town but mainly a ski area.

If you haven't been to Monument Valley, I would suggest that as an alternative.

You can drive to the four corners and take photos sitting on 4 states, then drive to kayenta, AZ. Then go north, the entance is just over the UT border. After MV continue north, then east thru Mexican Hat, a neat rock, then back to Durango.

Monument Valley was filmed multiple times by John Ford and others. John Wayne in the Searchers was done there. You can drive on the dirt roads without a tour.

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Thanks for the tip. How far is Monument Valley from Durango? I guess I had better get my maps out.

Goggle has it at 186 going and 166 miles coming back. Coming back doesn't go thru 4 corners. Both of the roads are scenic so it's worth the extra distance to go to 4 corners. When you're not in town, there's hardly any traffic.

Roger830 said:

Goggle has it at 186 going and 166 miles coming back. Coming back doesn't go thru 4 corners. Both of the roads are scenic so it's worth the extra distance to go to 4 corners. When you're not in town, there's hardly any traffic.

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Ok. Thanks. Will have to check into it further and see how much driving hubby is willing to do. Monument Valley looks awesome.