Guide to Attending ACTC Affordably

LODGING, TRANSPORTATION, FOOD, ENTERTAINMENT & NIGHTLIFE

Telluride is a beautiful and inspiring location for ACTC, but it can be expensive if you are not careful. Below are tips for anyone who wants to be budget conscious.

Lodging

Choose the “Student/Other” option for lodging on the ACTC registration page. The cheapest is to share a bedroom with another participant. But for another $90 for the week, you can have your own private bath and bedroom.

Transportation

You should check the airfares into nearby towns if the rates to Telluride are high: Montrose (1.50 hours by car to T-Ride), Durango (2 hours), Cortez (1.75 hours). But you must consider the cost of booking a shuttle services from these outlying towns into Telluride. The prices of shuttles can be expensive to so be sure to weigh the time/expense ratios when booking travel arrangements. Check the Getting Here page on this website to connect to Telluride Express shuttle service or get driving directions to Telluride.

If you have more time, the cheapest route may be to fly into Denver, Salt Lake City, or Albuquerque, rent a car there and drive to Telluride with a few other folks. These three cities are each about a seven-hour drive to Telluride. The drives are each beautiful, although in winter the driving can be treacherous.

Try flying in and out on Saturdays. The fares can be cheaper. The ACTC condos are rented on a weekly basis, so stays from 5, 6, or 7 nights are the same price.

Food

ACTC will provide two breakfasts and three dinners as part of the conference fee. For your other meals, cooking in your condo is the cheapest way to go, but groceries are (naturally) also expensive in Telluride. If you can stock up in Montrose, Durango, or Cortez, do so before coming to town. If you are going to be renting a car this becomes much easier.

When locals want to eat out, they tend to eat at or take out at these more affordable spots:

Street food is the cheapest. There are usually two or three stands by the Court House on Main Street for lunch (hot dogs, gyros, and sometimes crepes), and a local favorite, the Taco Stand (aka La Tapatia) near Ace Hardware on Main Street.

The Steaming Bean, new ownership, expanded menu, better food, now serves alcohol (breakfast, lunch, and evening fair)

Butcher and the Baker, new nice place for most sophisticated quick fair (breakfast and lunch)

Merle’s Brown Bag, mostly take out soups, salads, sushu, sandwiches (lunch)

Corner House Grill, classic bar food, (lunch and dinner)

Fat Alley BBQ, cajun style BBQ, cheap beer (lunch and dinner)

La Cocina de Luz, a bit more expensive, but organic and delicious, loved by locals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)

Maggie's, okay food, unfriendly service, cheap enough (breakfast and lunch)

Brown Dog Pizza, loud sports bar, greasy pizza by the slice, bar food (lunch and dinner)

Shanghai Palace, typical Chinese, big servings (lunch and dinner)

Baked in Telluride, bakery plus, traditionally the least expensive of all Telluride restaurants (breakfast, lunch, dinner) NOTE: BIT burned to the ground February 2010, but is being rebuilt, hopefully reopening by summer 2011

Smugglers, brewpub and bar menu, okay food, big servings (lunch and dinner)

Nightlife and Entertainment

Every Wednesday night in summer in the Mountain Village is a free outdoor concert called the Sunset Concert Series. Bring a picnic, some beer, or a bottle of wine. The bands are great, the setting is beautiful and there is no admission fee.

The cheapest bars are the Last Dollar Saloon (known locally as “the Buck” and recently cleaned up) on Main Street and O’Bannon's, Telluride's truest dive bar, located just south of Main on Fir Street.

Fly Me to the Moon Saloon usually has some great late night music scene. Check out the Calendar pages in the local paper to find out who's playing.

The Sheridan Bar is one of town’s oldest and most established drinking holes and a long-time favorite of TSRC scientists. Food is available occasionally from the fabulous Chop House restaurant located in the same building. The Sheridan is a classic Telluride experience. Not cheap, but not expensive. The atmosphere varies by the hour, sometimes dominated by local real estate tycoons, sometimes by tourists, sometimes locals ski bums and dirt bags (we use this language affectionately). There are pool and foosball tables in the back room.

NOTE: Colorado law does not allow smoking in any bar or restaurant

Telluride Science Research Center

TSRC is dedicated to being an environmentally sustainable organization.

P.O. Box 2429

Telluride, CO 81435

970.708.0004

info@telluridescience.org

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