Looking for Rocky Mountain skiing or summer fun within about 2 hours of both Denver and Aspen? A money-saving Vail vacation rental is an excellent home base for area exploration. A Bavarian style ski resort village, Vail also has plenty of beginner ski trails, snowmobiling, and a renowned ski school. Summertime Vail has golf, mountain biking, river rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, horseback and pony rides. Plus Vail is family-friendly, with a child care center and plenty of nature activities to keep the kids busy.

Vail Ski Resort at Vail Mountain came first. Then the city of Vail was founded in the 1960s. So there is not the silver mining history of Telluride or nearby Aspen. Vail winter life is a more concentrated ski experience, revolving around seven mountain bowls. Though snowmobiling and snowboarding also figure big these days. Vail Ski Resort is among the largest in the USA, 7 miles wide with 5,289 acres in three terrain parks: Front-Side, Blue Sky Basin, and the Back Bowls. This means wide open spaces, with 34 lifts, almost 200 trails, and an average of only 2-4 skiers per acre ensuring plenty of fresh tracks.

A money-saving Vail vacation rental chalet, home, townhouse, condo, or apartment is the perfect home base for family fun. Golf 18 holes at Vail Golf Club or Eagle Ranch Golf Course. Ride the gondolas up the mountain, and hike or mountain bike back down. Drive through small towns with grape vineyards and sample Colorado’s wineries. Summer family sightseeing excursions to nearby Aspen, Beaver Creek, and Glenwood Springs are less likely to encounter winter’s high winds, black ice, and white outs.

Vail has day camps, parks, playgrounds, and a child-care center to help out with the kids during those extra long days of glades, chutes, Front-Side cruising runs, Blue Sky Basin cornices, and Northwoods moguls. Alpine plants and wildflowers abound at the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, which have a Mountain Meditation Garden, Children's Garden, and waterfall. Also visit Vail Nature Center in Ford Park. The kids will also enjoy Adventure Ridge for ski-biking, tubing, and snowmobiles.

The Vail International Dance Festival has featured everything from ballet and tango to Chinese dance. Vail America Days on July 4th include a parade, concert, and fireworks. Time your visit for soul music and jazz festivals, or the Vail Film Festival. Don’t end your money-saving Vail vacation rental stay without a visit to the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum and Hall of Fame.