• 3 Dinner (D)
• 9 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Lunch (L)

• Rocky Mountain National Park: The Rocky Mountains may seem larger than life, but your journey to Rocky Mountain National Park will see you come face to face with this extraordinary mountain landscape which snakes along western North America.
• Rocky Mountain National Park: Covering the 48 miles between Estes Park on the park’s east side and Grand Lake on the west, Trail Ridge Road more than lives up to its advanced billing. Eleven miles of this high highway travel above treeline, the elevation near 11,500 feet where the park’s evergreen forests come to a halt. As it winds across the tundra’s vastness to its high point at 12,183 feet elevation, Trail Ridge Road (U.S. 34) offers visitors thrilling views, wildlife sightings and spectacular alpine wildflower exhibitions, all from the comfort of their motorcoach.
• Vail: Welcome to one of Colorado’s great playgrounds. While the winter attracts the ski crowds, the summer draws in guests to the European-style Vail Village. Surrounded by towering Rocky Mountain peaks, the pedestrian village offers a unique mix of shops, restaurants, pubs and cafes. Feel the friendly local vibe that makes Vail cosmopolitan and unpretentious.
• Aspen: Wind along country roads passing elk habitat and views of the Elk Mountain Range as you journey out of Aspen and up Snowmass Mountain. As you climb, you’ll venture off road, past small waterfalls and through open meadows, and aspen groves. When you reach Coney Glade Overlook you’ll be able to take in the amazing views as your local experts will explain the history and geology of the area.
• Aspen: A typical mountain lunch will be served, complete with bonfire, s’mores, and live western entertainment. Before lunch you can try your hand at horseshoeing, cornholing, and using a lasso.
• Aspen: This morning, head up Colorado’s Rocky Mountains to Aspen, renowned the world over as a resort for the rich and famous, with high-end boutiques, bars and restaurants. Join your Travel Director for a guided walk through the delightful center of town.
• Head for Palisade, known as the ‘Peach and Wine Capital of Colorado,’ perfectly nestled along the Colorado River. Stop at the Clark Family Orchards and ‘Connect with Locals’ as you meet with family members and learn about the history of this 7-generation farming family and their 7-generation orchards. You’ll also get an opportunity to sample fresh in-season produce, salsas, jams and preserves, pickled veggies, grilling sauces and salad dressings. In addition to ten varieties of the famous Palisade Peaches, a wide variety of other fruit and vegetables are also grown on property (production varies depending on seasons).
• One of the hidden gems in the Western USA, Colorado National Monument is a stunning section of land sitting atop the Colorado Plateau. The views offer dramatic panoramic photo opportunities of Monument Canyon (Independence Monument and Monument Canyon View Overlooks), the monument’s most prominent attraction and runs the entire width of the park. You’ll drive along Rim Rock Drive enjoying spectacular views all around you.
• Silverton: From Ouray, ride along the famous “Million Dollar Highway,” one of the most beautiful roads in America, designated as an All-American Byway of Colorado’s most spectacular views as it spirals over Coal Bank Summit, Molas Pass, and Red Mountain Pass. Arrive in the mining town of Silverton, once a bawdy mining town.
• Mesa Verde National Park: There’s no better place to learn about the ancient cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people than at Mesa Verde National Park. View the carvings in the sandstone of the canyon walls at the several hundred of these dwellings – astounded by the history presented before you. This UNESCO-listed park also features thousands of well-known preserved archaeological sites. Take in the sites of this protected area as you ride along the Mesa Top Loop and Cliff Palace Loop, where you can see the magnificent Cliff Palace.
• Great Sand Dunes National Park Preserve: Today’s highlight is the Great Sand Dunes National Park Preserve, a sandbox of epic proportions – 39 square miles (101 square kilometers) with the tallest dune towering 750 feet high (229 meters), making it the largest sand dune in North America. Your Travel Director will take you to the best place for picture taking from the bottom of High Dune, a towering sand dune about 699 feet (198 m) from base to top.
• Colorado Springs: Experience the beauty of the Garden of the Gods, where red-rock formations rise against Colorado’s blue skies with a Local Specialist. Visit the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center and watch the immersive Geo-Trekker film to uncover the park’s geological story. 
• Pikes Peak Cog Railway: Ride the world’s highest cog railway to the summit of Pikes Peak. Journey through alpine forests and past waterfalls aboard this iconic experience, recently restored for the modern traveller. At the summit, take in sweeping views and visit the new Summit House for a true taste of Colorado’s high country. 

• Selected hotel dinners plus a locally hosted meal
• 4-star stays
• Deluxe coach, and train travel

Explore Rocky Mountain National Park, where forests give way to exposed alpine tundra beneath the Continental Divide. Weather and seasonal conditions permitting, travel along Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous paved road in the United States, for wide views across the peaks.

The road climbs above the treeline to more than 12,000 feet. Look for the changing mountain vegetation and, with luck, wildlife such as elk in this protected high-country landscape.

Ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad from the former mining town of Silverton to Durango. The historic train follows tracks laid in the late 19th century, winding through San Juan Mountain wilderness that is inaccessible by road.

Originally built to serve the mining region, the railway now preserves the experience of travelling through its steep valleys by rail. Watch the mountain scenery unfold from a perspective distinct from Colorado’s scenic highways.

Trafalgar

Share an included local dinner in Colorado Springs with your fellow travellers. Raise a glass and exchange stories from the national parks, mountain roads and historic railways encountered across Colorado.

This hosted gathering is a chance to reflect together rather than a meal taken independently. The setting in Colorado Springs, close to Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods, provides a fitting backdrop for conversation about the state’s varied landscapes.

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over an included dinner in Denver, the Mile High City. It is a hosted opportunity to get acquainted before exploring Colorado’s mountains, canyons and historic towns.

Denver sits at the meeting point of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain foothills. Its long-standing role as a gateway to the West gives the gathering a fitting sense of place.

Tour Growing Gardens, an 11-acre urban farm in Boulder, on a guided MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience. Learn how its community-focused work connects organic growing, regenerative agriculture, land conservation and access to food.

Discussion of water availability and animal husbandry brings Colorado’s agricultural challenges into focus. The visit supports responsible consumption and production while offering a grounded look at how a working urban farm serves its local community.

Walk Vail’s pedestrian village beneath the surrounding Rocky Mountain peaks. Its cobbled streets, cafés and alpine-style buildings offer a close-up look at a resort town designed as much for strolling as for skiing.

Vail grew into a year-round mountain destination after opening as a ski resort in the 1960s. The village’s European-inspired streetscape contrasts with the rugged Colorado landscape visible just beyond it.

Join your Travel Director for a walk through Aspen, taking in the mountain town’s streets, shops and lively centre. The setting offers a chance to see the contrast between its present-day resort culture and the peaks that frame it.

Aspen began as a silver-mining town before becoming an internationally known mountain retreat. Exploring on foot reveals a more immediate sense of its scale and character than its glamorous reputation alone suggests.

Ride by 4WD jeep into the Snowmass backcountry, passing aspen groves, small waterfalls and open meadows with views across the surrounding valleys. Local experts share the area’s history and geology, including discoveries of Ice Age animal remains near Snowmass.

At historic Burlingame Cabin, settle in for a mountain lunch with live music and s’mores. Horseshoes and other outdoor games add to the relaxed cabin atmosphere.

Meet members of the Clark family at their Palisade orchards and hear about generations of fruit growing in Colorado’s peach-growing heartland. A horse-drawn carriage ride offers a view of the orchard landscape, with a chance to sample seasonal produce.

Palisade’s warm days, cool nights and Colorado River setting have made it especially well known for peaches. The orchard visit is seasonal, so the produce available will depend on the time of year.

Discover Colorado National Monument on Rim Rock Drive, a winding route above sheer-walled red-rock canyons. Take in views of the plateau, towering stone formations and Monument Canyon’s broad desert panorama.

This protected landscape lies on the northeastern edge of the Colorado Plateau. Its overlooks reveal layers of rock shaped over immense spans of geological time; bighorn sheep and soaring birds of prey may also be spotted.

Meet the owners of Maison La Belle Vie Winery in Palisade for an included Be My Guest evening. Tour the winery, taste estate-grown red wines and sit down to a three-course dinner paired with wines beside the vineyard.

Palisade’s sunny growing conditions have helped establish it as a centre of Colorado wine production. The locally hosted meal pairs that regional story with conversation and al fresco dining under the Colorado sky.

See Ouray, a mountain town set among steep San Juan peaks, and travel the celebrated Million Dollar Highway through southwestern Colorado. The scenic drive brings rugged slopes, high passes and traces of the region’s mining history into view.

Ouray’s dramatic setting has earned it the nickname “Switzerland of America.” The highway forms part of the San Juan Skyway, a route known for its expansive mountain scenery and historic communities.

Visit UNESCO-listed Mesa Verde National Park to view the sandstone cliff dwellings built by Ancestral Pueblo people. Scenic park routes offer views of archaeological sites, including Cliff Palace, among the best-known dwellings in the park.

Mesa Verde protects hundreds of cliff dwellings and thousands of other archaeological sites. Seeing these structures within their canyon setting offers insight into a community that lived on the mesa and in its sheltered alcoves for centuries.

Explore the setting of Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, where a vast dune field rises against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Your Travel Director takes you to a viewpoint near the base of High Dune for photographs and an explanation of this unusual landscape.

Wind and water have gathered sand here over thousands of years, forming the tallest dunes in North America. The meeting of pale sand and mountain slopes makes the scale of the dunes especially striking from below.

Ride the Pikes Peak Cog Railway through pine and aspen forest toward the 14,115-foot summit. At the top, take in the far-reaching views and visit the Summit House, with the high-altitude landscape spread around you.

Pikes Peak’s commanding outlook helped inspire the lyrics of “America the Beautiful.” The cog railway makes that celebrated summit accessible by train, turning the climb itself into a distinctive part of the experience.

Walk among the red-rock formations of Garden of the Gods with a Local Specialist in Colorado Springs. Learn how geological forces shaped the towering sandstone features and see their striking contrast with the surrounding mountain backdrop.

This registered National Natural Landmark is also presented through the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center and its Geo-Trekker film. Together, the walk and interpretation reveal why the formations look so different from the nearby Rockies.

Stroll through Manitou Springs, a foothills town known for its historic buildings, local artisan shops and natural mineral springs. Its compact centre invites a closer look at the character of a community set just below Pikes Peak.

The springs have long been central to the town’s identity. Walking its streets offers a contrast to the nearby summit and red-rock landscapes: Colorado’s mountain heritage expressed through a lived-in townscape.

Take to the Animas River on an optional rafting experience in Durango. It offers a more active way to see the town’s mountain surroundings from the water, with the river providing a different perspective from its streets and historic railway.

The Animas flows through Durango from the San Juan Mountains. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; availability and the nature of the rafting will depend on local conditions.