Over an $8.50 pint of craft beer from Aspen Brewing Company, which is comparable to what I pay at home in Chicago, I realized that Aspen, Colo., is not expensive by big-city standards. It’s expensive by small-town standards.
The Economic Research Institute, which compiles financial data for public and private organizations, pegs the cost of living in Aspen at 51 percent higher than the average in the United States, a little less than a city like Seattle.
As a professionally penny-pinching traveler, I try to avoid paying urban prices in the mountains. In the summer in Aspen, apart from my weakness for microbrews, I didn’t have to.
For those who don’t care to shop for Prada or Gucci clothing, or don’t maintain elaborate second mansions here, Aspen’s essential appeal lies in the outdoors — mountains, wildlife, rivers — which, compared with winter, when you might need to rent ski equipment or pay for mountain access, is a steal. Hiking and city bus transportation are free. Cycling, if you can avoid expensive rentals, is a bargain. Parks beckon picnickers, and free cultural attractions abound.
Over the course of three days in Aspen, I spent about $600 before airfare, with most of that on lodging. Here’s how I cheaped out in a resort town synonymous with wealth.
Extra beds and free wheels
An annual winter visitor to Aspen, I touched down in July, astonished at how dramatic the mountains looked without fluffy layers of snow to soften their jagged edges.
From the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, nearly four miles from downtown, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority buses are free to and around town, saving more than $20 on a taxi and delivering the moral satisfaction of speeding by bumper-to-bumper traffic in a bus-only lane.
Within 10 minutes, I reached town and walked a few blocks to my Main Street accommodations at the Tyrolean Lodge, a relatively affordable, family-run hotel decorated in vintage ski gear and backcountry photos that the local Aspen Times once called “a dying breed in Aspen.”
“There used to be small lodges all over Aspen owned by families and not corporations,” said Pierre Wille, the general manager, whose family has owned the Tyrolean since 1970.
Fifteen of its 16 rooms accommodate five people in three beds, and all have efficiency kitchens with free coffee to help guests economize on meals. I paid $267 a night including taxes and fees, which, for budget travelers, is expensive for one person, but a find for families and…
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