Flying to Telluride - How to get there?

[SimpleAsCouldBe]

Hi all!

My friends and I are very excited about Telluride, have never been, and want to know the best way in.

The options we've considered are:
* flying into a nearby airport, renting a car, driving in.
* driving across country in the camper van, sneaking downtown somewhere to park

What I'm wondering is if there's a good cheap bus from a nearby big city airport to take.
Or if there's some other solution we haven't thought of.

Help us get there!

We're totally worth your help. We play instruments and generate good times when we're not passed out!

Thanks,
Eric.

[Auntie Hope]

The options are.....

Flying into Telluride proper... if you don't moind the downward dog in-flight feeling at landing. Spooky to say the least, or so I've heard.

Flying into Albuquerque, NM or Denver, Grand Junction or Montrose, CO and driving up to Telluride. Yummy... VERY secenic and recommended from either of these airports.

Driving the camper van across country and parking in any of the free lots, BUT NOT SLEEPING IN THE CAMPER VAN because it is SOOOOOO not cool to do in that in Telluride, and against the law, as a matter of fact. If you're caught it could cost you a wonderful time at the FESTIVVVAAALLL!!! and ruin any chance of making those great memories.

Driving the camper van across country after you've secured a vehicle pass from another Festivarian that has already bought said vehicle pass and is now no longer in need of said vehicle pass. Your best bet would be to look for a vehicle pass in either Lawson Campground or Mary E. Campground, 'cause the vehicle passes for Town Park are WWWAAAYYY gone or spoken for at this stage of the game.

I REPEAT: "FREE" camping in the camper van is not going to happen inside the town limits of Telluride.

Busses available to Telluride.. last we heard....

GO GREYHOUND!!!  GO GREYHOUND!!!  GO GREYHOUND!!! 



Now, what would I do?
Gather the gang. Pile them all in the camper van with tent camping gear. Make the epic drive. Park in the free lots available in Telluride or Mountain Village. Camp with the rest of us Festivarians that don't have a medical need for our own camper on site. Make those memories! 

You will not regret one minute of this trip. Trust me on this one! 

Just curious... do you folks have tickets yet? How many are in your group?

Auntie Hope 

[Mark of Bloomington]

I would recommend flying into Denver and renting a car.  The larger airport will give you cheaper airfares and a larger choice of car rentals.  I have flown my daughters into Grand Junction and Montrose over the years for TBF.  If you fly into Montrose just use the Telluride Express shuttle.  That would be about $100 a person.  I did this for my daughter just so I would not have to drive down from Telluride twice.  Since there is more than just you, renting a car would be the cheaper route.  It will take about six or seven hours to drive from Denver to Telluride, but one of the nicest drives around.  My wife and I drive out from south central Indiana each year.  I like to drive so we can take more stuff.  It's a two week trip in the Rockies for us.  We are in Telluride Tuesday to Tuesday.  Then we drive somewhere else for a couple of days so that I can get skunked flyfishing.   Once we park the SUV in Telluride it does not move until we leave.  Which is why I pay to have my daughter(s) take the shuttle.  If you are bringing a lot of instruments, driving may be your best choice.  I travel with a mandolin.  They travel well.

 Listening to: Our fireplace, with an ice storm/blizzard outside.

[UselessJo]

Mark, which route do you take to Telluride from Denver? Any interesting stops along the way? We will drive into Denver from St. Louis and then onto T-ride. I'm thinking we will probably stop a couple of hours outside of Denver for the first night. Any suggestions of a place to stay would be great. Dont really want the No-tell Mo-tel if you know what I mean!

[Hooch]

Just remember that, if you rent a car and then park the car and camp for the festival, then you are paying money for a parked car.  Sometimes it's necessary but not driving a rented car just seems downright silly.  Check out the "rides" section of the forum to possibly hook up with another festivarian to hitch a ride from an airport.

[Mark of Bloomington]

Useless,

We generally leave Bloomington and drive to Topeka, Ks.  From Topeka we drive to Boulder for two nights.  We like Boulder.  We enjoy college towns and we have some friends there.  From Boulder/Denver we take US285 to Salida.  Eat lunch then back in the car on US50 to Montrose, US550 to Ridgeway, C62 to Placerville and C145 to Telluride.  And Bob's your uncle.

Finding a nice motel east of Denver would be slim pickings.  I would press onto the west side of Denver.  There is a Courtyard, by Marriott there that we have staid when we drove from St. Louis by passing our friends in Boulder.  There are several other motels of the same quality to choose from in west Denver/Golden metro area.  Others on this forum who actually live in Denver may help out here.  St. Louis to Denver is a long boring day of driving, but in June the days are long and if you have a couple of drivers it is not too bad.  By staying on the west side, you wake up in the morning and immediately hit the mountains.  You can almost hear those Yonder Mountain boys as you start up into the pass.

[FaceOnMars]

Plenty of lodging options in Summit County (Frisco, Dillon, Breck) -- which is about 1.5 hours from DIA.     You could drop down to 285 via 9 ... especially from Breckenridge if you're set on taking the southern route.  You could also head west on I-70, in which case I'd suggest cutting south at Glenwood Springs toward Aspen on 82 then & heading out over McClure pass via Carbondale.  I'd personally check the cdot website to see where the construction is not.

[3-Fan]

We flew into Durango last year from Ohio.  It was only about $40 more per person round trip than flying into Denver.  Check Frontier Air.

We rented a mini van and did a tour of Utah before hitting the festy.  But found there is a shuttle from Durango airport right into Telluride.  I think it was a little pricey ($75 one way or $150 Roundtrip) per person.  But it is an option.

Telluride Shuttle