Travel

Things to Do in Aspen (Beyond Skiing)

The prices don't have to be as high as the peaks.

Chase Jarvis/Photodisc/Getty Images
Chase Jarvis/Photodisc/Getty Images
Chase Jarvis/Photodisc/Getty Images

You don’t have to ski to fall in love with Aspen. With mountains carpeted in wildflowers in the spring and practically glowing gold in the fall, some would argue (including yours truly) that the off-season is even better than the winter.

The high season in these Colorado peaks can get dizzyingly high with ritzy crowds and lavish expenses. Throughout the coldest months, “Billionaire Mountain” fills up with fancy apres-ski parties and Jeff Bezos-level celebrities. And summer brings the renowned Food & Wine festival and the chefy throngs.

But the low season brings you back down to the valley. In spring and autumn, Aspen returns to its local, small-town vibes that remind us the lofty destination has fewer than 8,000 residences. Big name art exhibits, hot air balloon rides, literary competitions, and four main mountains crisscrossed with trails sustain the locals throughout the rest of the year.

Either way, whether you want to go all out with fancy hotels and restaurants or get earthy with arts and hiking, Aspen is truly a year-round outdoor playground no matter the season.

Photo by Eliza Voss
Photo by Eliza Voss
Photo by Eliza Voss

Jet your way to the top

To get to Aspen, many drive four hours from the airport in Denver or take a scenic shuttle or bus over mountain passes. But you could skip all the inbetween and fly directly to Aspen’s smaller, pricier airport. You could also do as some of the locals do and fly private with a new, semi-private airline called Aero, which launched in 2020 and offers direct flights from LA in a snazzy, all-black luxury jet.

Downtown Aspen is only a few blocks long, so you can pretty much walk everywhere. Many of the hotels offer complimentary car services like The St. Regis Aspen Resort, where you can reserve a BMW X7 for up to four hours to explore the surrounding areas. There is also a free Aspen shuttle called the RFTA, which takes you to neighboring ski towns like Snowmass and Buttermilk Mountain.

During the peak winter season, hotel cars and rideshare services are limited (and hard to snag), so the Downtowner app will be your best friend. The free app is a service similar to Uber and Lyft that offers complimentary rides within the town; just make sure to tip your driver in cash.

Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection
Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection
Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection

Where to stay in Aspen

For prime location at the base of the mountain, consider the upscale chic resort The Little Nell, or try W Aspen, one of Aspen’s newer hotels. Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection is a historic landmark in town with a buzzing apres-ski scene and a famous $28 burger.

If you prefer the coziness of a home, VRBO also offers well-equipped condos in the heart of downtown Aspen that are within walking distance to the gondola, like this 3-bedroom condo or this 1,200 square-foot apartment.

Traveling with a posse? The Aspen Street Lodge is a new, ultra-luxurious property that sleeps up to 32 guests and is only available for a full-buyout.

Photo courtesy of Nakazawa Aspen
Photo courtesy of Nakazawa Aspen
Photo courtesy of Nakazawa Aspen

Dine with top chefs

Hailing from NY, Sushi Nakazawa is known for its omakase sushi, where all 20 courses are decided by the chef rather than the diner. If you opt for a la carte, the zuke king salmon oshizushi might be the best piece of nigiri you’ll ever have. Pro-tip: Ask for the special, which is a smaller version of the omakase menu for $100.

For the ultimate daytime party scene (read: champagne showers) Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro is the place to be. The alpine bistro is situated at the top of the mountain, so it’s a ski-in, ski-out only restaurant. For more casual fare, Clark’s is the go-to spot for seafood with $4 oysters and $5 oyster shooters at happy hour, as well as a stellar crudo plate.Aspen’s only microbrewery, Aspen Brewing Company, is where you’ll find the best craft beer in town. But if you prefer your alcohol in grape form, The Wine Bar at The Little Nell (formerly Chair 9) offers a special Coravin Wine tasting menu. A sommelier will guide you through a blind tasting of rare wines paired with cheese and a charcuterie platter that’s almost too pretty to eat.

Summer brings the annual Food & Wine Classic to Aspen with Top Chefs and culinary stars like Guy Fieri and Martha Stewart hosting events and cooking seminars all weekend long (and lots of booze). It turns out endless pours of wine make those mountains look even lovelier. In 2022, the festival will return June 17 to 19, and hotels get booked solid months in advance, so plan early. Actually, you should start planning now.

Tassanee Riebpadith/Shutterstock
Tassanee Riebpadith/Shutterstock
Tassanee Riebpadith/Shutterstock

Breathe in the thin refreshing alpine air

You can get your bunny hills, greens, blues, and triple diamond trails on Aspen’s four major ski mountains: Aspen Highlands, Snowmass, Buttermilk, and Aspen Mountain (also known as Ajax).

If you’re not into skiing but still want to experience outdoor Aspen in the winter, you could explore the Colorado backcountry with a Krabloonik Dog Sled Tour, where riders get pulled by 8-10 Alaskan Husky sled dogs through quieter snowscapes.

During the rest of the year, hiking or mountain biking will lead you into the gorgeous peaks surrounding the city. Maroon Bells is the most popular hiking trail in Aspen, and one of the most photographed mountains in North America. These twin peaks require a parking and shuttle reservation, unless you’re riding a bike. Alternatively, Smugglers Mountain offers an easy hike, while the more advanced Ute Trail traces a steep, 6.2-mile path once used by indigenous peoples for hunting.

But that’s just scratching the surface of the incredible trails and things to see near Aspen: Check out out full hiking guide to the Aspen area.

Photo by Eliza Voss
Photo by Eliza Voss
Photo by Eliza Voss

Catch some art, music, or a local festival

The Aspen Art Museum is worth visiting for the architecture alone. The building seems to sit inside a lattice box, looking like a giant woven basket that allows light to percolate through. And though you could gaze at the outside of the building for a while, going inside gets even better. Turns out all those celebrity regulars contribute to funding some big art exhibits, including an Andy Warhol collection to debut in December.

Twice a year, Aspen puts on the JAS Aspen Snowmass Festival, once in June and again on Labor Day weekend. What started as a jazz fest now hosts an array of musicians like recent headliners Jimmy Buffett and Sheryl Crow. Meanwhile, the intimate Belly Up is one of the best places to hear live music in Aspen. It’s welcomed notable names like Leon Bridges, Kygo, and Fitz and the Tantrums.

Other notable events in town are Aspen Words, a six-day celebration for bookworms and wordsmiths; the X Games on January 21-23, 2022; and the Hot Air Balloon Festival in September, which takes place in nearby Snowmass.Leila Najafi just got back from her first Food & Wine Classic and is convinced Aspen in the fall is way better than Aspen in the winter. Follow her adventures on Instagram at @LeilasList.

Travel

Ditch your Phone for ‘Dome Life’ in this Pastoral Paradise Outside Port Macquarie 

A responsible, sustainable travel choice for escaping big city life for a few days.

nature domes port macquarie
Photo: Nature Domes

The urge to get as far away as possible from the incessant noise and pressures of ‘big city life’ has witnessed increasingly more of us turn to off-grid adventures for our holidays: Booking.com polled travellers at the start of 2023 and 55% of us wanted to spend our holidays ‘off-grid’.  Achieving total disconnection from the unyielding demands of our digitised lives via some kind of off-grid nature time—soft or adventurous—is positioned not only as a holiday but, indeed, a necessity for our mental health. 

Tom’s Creek Nature Domes, an accommodation collection of geodesic domes dotted across a lush rural property in Greater Port Macquarie (a few hours’ drive from Sydney, NSW), offers a travel experience that is truly ‘off-grid’. In the figurative ‘wellness travel’ sense of the word, and literally, they run on their own independent power supply—bolstered by solar—and rely not on the town grid. 

Ten minutes before you arrive at the gates for a stay at Tom’s Creek Nature Domes, your phone goes into ‘SOS ONLY’. Apple Maps gives up, and you’re pushed out of your comfort zone, driving down unsealed roads in the dark, dodging dozens of dozing cows. Then, you must ditch your car altogether and hoist yourself into an open-air, all-terrain 4WD with gargantuan wheels. It’s great fun being driven through muddy gullies in this buggy; you feel like Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park.  As your buggy pulls in front of your personal Nature Dome, it’s not far off that “Welcome…to Jurassic Park” jaw-dropping moment—your futuristic-looking home is completely engulfed by thriving native bushland; beyond the outdoor campfire lie expansive hills and valleys of green farmland, dotted with sheep and trees. You’re almost waiting to see a roaming brachiosaurus glide past, munching on a towering gum tree…instead, a few inquisitive llamas trot past your Dome to check out their new visitor. 

To fully capture the awe of inhabiting a geodesic dome for a few days, a little history of these futuristic-looking spherical structures helps. Consisting of interlocking triangular skeletal struts supported by (often transparent) light walls, geodesic domes were developed in the 20th century by American engineer and architect R. Buckminster Fuller, and were used for arenas. Smaller incarnations have evolved into a ‘future-proof’ form of modern housing: domes are able to withstand harsh elements due to the stability provided by the durable materials of their construction and their large surface area to volume ratio (which helps minimize wind impact and prevents the structure from collapsing). As housing, they’re also hugely energy efficient – their curved shape helps to conserve heat and reduce energy costs, making them less susceptible to temperature changes outside. The ample light let in by their panels further reduces the need for artificial power. 

Due to their low environmental impact, they’re an ideal sustainable travel choice. Of course, Tom’s Creek Nature Domes’ owner-operators, Cardia and Lee Forsyth, know all this, which is why they have set up their one-of-a-kind Nature Domes experience for the modern traveller. It’s also no surprise to learn that owner Lee is an electrical engineer—experienced in renewable energy—and that he designed the whole set-up. As well as the off-grid power supply, rainwater tanks are used, and the outdoor hot tub is heated by a wood fire—your campfire heats up your tub water via a large metal coil. Like most places in regional Australia, the nights get cold – but rather than blast a heater, the Domes provide you with hot water bottles, warm blankets, lush robes and heavy curtains to ward off the chill.

nature domes port macquarie
Photo: Nature Domes

You’ll need to be self-sufficient during your stay at the Domes, bringing your own food. Support local businesses and stock up in the town of Wauchope on your drive-in (and grab some pastries and coffee at Baked Culture while you’re at it). There’s a stovetop, fridge (stocked as per a mini bar), BBQs, lanterns and mozzie coils, and you can even order DIY S’More packs for fireside fun. The interiors of the Domes have a cosy, stylish fit-out, with a modern bathroom (and a proper flushing toilet—none of that drop bush toilet stuff). As there’s no mobile reception, pack a good book or make the most of treasures that lie waiting to be discovered at every turn: a bed chest full of board games, a cupboard crammed with retro DVDs, a stargazing telescope (the skies are ablaze come night time). Many of these activities are ideal for couples, but there’s plenty on offer for solo travellers, such as yoga mats, locally-made face masks and bath bombs for hot tub soaks. 

It’s these thoughtful human touches that reinforce the benefit of making a responsible travel choice by booking local and giving your money to a tourism operator in the Greater Port Macquarie Region, such as Tom’s Creek Nature Domes. The owners are still working on the property following the setbacks of COVID-19, and flooding in the region —a new series of Domes designed with families and groups in mind is under construction, along with an open-air, barn-style dining hall and garden stage. Once ready, the venue will be ideal for wedding celebrations, with wedding parties able to book out the property. They’ve already got one couple—who honeymooned at the Domes—ready and waiting. Just need to train up the llamas for ring-bearer duties! 

An abundance of favourite moments come to mind from my two-night stay at Tom’s Creek: sipping champagne and gourmet picnicking at the top of a hill on a giant swing under a tree, with a bird’s eye view of the entire property (the ‘Mountain Top picnic’ is a must-do activity add on during your stay), lying on a deckchair at night wrapped in a blanket gazing up at starry constellations and eating hot melted marshmallows, to revelling in the joys of travellers before me, scrawled on notes in a jar of wishes left by the telescope (you’re encouraged to write your own to add to the jar). But I’ll leave you with a gratitude journal entry I made while staying there. I will preface this by saying that I don’t actually keep a gratitude journal, but Tom’s Creek Nature Domes is just the kind of place that makes you want to start one. And so, waking up on my second morning at Tom’s —lacking any 4G bars to facilitate my bad habit of a morning Instagram scroll—I finally opened up a notebook and made my first journal entry:

‘I am grateful to wake up after a deep sleep and breathe in the biggest breaths of this clean air, purified by nature and scented with eucalyptus and rain. I am grateful for this steaming hot coffee brewed on a fire. I feel accomplished at having made myself. I am grateful for the skittish sheep that made me laugh as I enjoyed a long nature walk at dawn and the animated billy goats and friendly llamas overlooking my shoulder as I write this: agreeable company for any solo traveller. I’m grateful for total peace, absolute stillness.” 

Off-grid holiday status: unlocked.

Where: Tom’s Creek Nature Domes, Port Macquarie, 2001 Toms Creek Rd
Price: $450 per night, book at the Natura Domes website.

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