Vail Mountain plans to open Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, weather permitting. The Town of Vail lists the start of winter parking a week later, on Friday, Nov. 20. That same Friday, Pepi's reopens after its fall break.
So in Vail Village, the lifts start a handoff rather than ending the off-season. For seven days the mountain runs while the Village still keeps most of its fall rules. Several kitchens are still closed, parking is free, and construction crews are finishing work they set out to complete before the snow guns started. If you treat Nov. 13 through Nov. 19 as its own short season, your calendar from now to Thanksgiving gets simpler.
The Free-Parking Week Overlaps Opening Day
The Town's parking information page lists fall parking as free in all town-operated lots from Sept. 28 through Nov. 19. It also says any lot may close for maintenance or events. Winter parking runs Nov. 20 through April 18, 2027.
Set those dates against the opening date and the overlap is easy to count. From Friday, Nov. 13 through Thursday, Nov. 19, the lifts are scheduled to run and town lots are scheduled to stay free. That includes the Vail Village Parking Structure at 241 S. Frontage Road E., the closest town-owned structure to the Village. Opening weekend, Nov. 14 and 15, falls entirely inside the free window.
Two dates come before that week. Winter 2026-27 pass sales begin Oct. 22. As of Oct. 7, the Town says detailed pass information will be posted in mid-October. Pass types and prices aren't public yet, so anyone weighing a pass for this winter will have about a week between the release and the start of sales.
The weather caveat applies to the lifts, not the parking. Vail Resorts calls its opening dates "subject to change based on weather and conditions." Vail Daily's Oct. 2 coverage repeated the Nov. 13 date with the same "weather permitting" qualifier. If opening slips, the free-parking week gets shorter. If it holds, the week stays whole. No public source has named the lifts or terrain planned for opening day. Vail's operations page lists Mid Vail at the top of Gondola One and Eagle's Nest Marketplace at the top of Eagle Bahn as opening Nov. 13.
Village Restaurants Reopen in Stages
The most useful document for the next six weeks is the Town of Vail Welcome Centers' Fall 2026 Restaurant Guide. It covers October and November 2026, lists 101 establishments across Vail, and counts 64 of them in Vail Village. Most restaurant websites don't post their off-season closures, which makes the Town's compiled list the most complete source. The guide carries its own warning:
Information is subject to change — we strongly recommend checking each establishment's website or calling ahead before you visit.
Read the guide against opening day and the Village falls into three groups. Some places are already back by Nov. 13, some are still dark during the free-parking week, and some never close.
| Restaurant | Fall 2026 closure, per the Town guide | Status on Nov. 13 |
|---|---|---|
| Cucina | Wed, Oct. 28 – Tue, Nov. 3 | Back |
| Loaded Joe's | Mon, Oct. 26 – Wed, Nov. 11 | Back |
| Avanti F&B | Mon, Oct. 26 – Thu, Nov. 12 | Back |
| La Nonna | Sun, Oct. 11 – Sun, Nov. 15 | Closed through opening weekend |
| Chasing Rabbits | Sun, Oct. 11 – Wed, Nov. 18 | Closed |
| Deca + Bol | Sun, Oct. 11 – Thu, Nov. 19 | Closed |
| Pepi's | Closes after lunch Sat, Oct. 31; reopens Fri, Nov. 20 | Closed |
| Up The Creek | Tue, Oct. 20 – Thu, Nov. 26 | Closed |
| Almresi | Listed as "currently closed," no date given | Unclear |
La Nonna's own website gives the same window, "October 11 - November 15." So the Italian dinner room on the Village side reopens Nov. 16, three days after the lifts start. Chasing Rabbits is the one kitchen on the list that comes back inside the free-parking week, on Thursday, Nov. 19. Deca + Bol and Pepi's both return on Friday, Nov. 20, the first day of winter parking. Up The Creek stays closed through Thanksgiving.
La Brasserie is the French restaurant that opened July 14 in the former Fall Line space on Bridge Street. Its address is 232 Bridge Street. Its website posts its own closure, Oct. 25 through Nov. 12, with Thursday-through-Sunday service from noon to 8 p.m. until then. That makes Nov. 13, the same day the lifts open, the first day it could reopen. Its winter hours aren't posted yet.
Some places simply stay open. The Town guide lists no fall closure for:
- Mountain Standard, with lunch, après and dinner daily
- Vendetta's, open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight. Its website links to an off-season menu.
- Yeti's Grind at Solaris, open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Matsuhisa, which lists itself on OpenTable as open seven days a week from 5 p.m. and closed Thanksgiving Day
Root & Flower is open most of the fall but closes on scattered days. Its website lists closures on Sunday, Oct. 11; Thursday, Oct. 15 through Monday, Oct. 19; and the Sunday-Monday pairs of Oct. 25-26, Nov. 1-2 and Nov. 8-9. None of those fall in opening week.
The pattern is a staggered return. The kitchens that reopened before Nov. 13 cover breakfast, coffee and a few dinner rooms. La Nonna and Chasing Rabbits come back during the free-parking week, and Deca + Bol and Pepi's return the day winter parking starts. For a dinner reservation during opening week, start with the places that never closed.
Crews Are Racing the Snowmaking Schedule
The third part of the handoff is construction. The Town's Oct. 5 construction update lists several Vail Village projects. Their deadlines all fall in the same few weeks.
- 298 Hanson Ranch Road, Base Camp. The new deck and exterior work are done. The team hopes to finish everything by the end of October, though vehicles may still need access for final work. The Sept. 28 update had targeted mid-October, so this one has already slipped about two weeks.
- The 62, 278 Hanson Ranch Road. This is the former Los Amigos space, which we covered when it split into a walk-in restaurant and a private club. The Town says the team is "pushing to complete the remaining work before snowmaking operations begin on the mountain," with completion projected for early November. Deliveries come in at the top of Bridge Street on Hanson Ranch Road during morning hours, and some dirt work is expected to use the bike path.
- 17 Vail Road, the PNC Bank/Prima Residences project. Underground boring started Sept. 28 and could run up to two weeks. Demolition of the existing building is expected in mid-to-late October and should take about 10 days. FedEx, UPS, Amazon and other package deliveries are expected to shift from Vail Road to W. Meadow Drive, with signs directing drivers. Starting Nov. 12, all work is expected to stay inside the construction fence, with temporary ADA-compliant crosswalks and pedestrian rerouting near the Fire Station and Chapel as needed.
- 281 Bridge Street, a condo building. Exterior work continues, with completion projected for late December.
- 292 E. Meadow Drive, the Mountain Haus entry. Exterior work has been pushed to spring.
The Nov. 12 date at 17 Vail Road matters for opening week. It's the day before the lifts open, and it marks the shift from active demolition to fenced work with marked detours. Anyone walking between the Village and the Vail Road side during the free-parking week should expect a different route near the Chapel. Package deliveries on W. Meadow Drive could last longer than the demolition. The Town publishes these updates weekly, and every date in them is a projection.
A Working Calendar From Now to Thanksgiving
Here are the dates above in order:
- Oct. 11: La Nonna, Chasing Rabbits and Deca + Bol begin their closures.
- Mid-October: The Town plans to post winter parking pass details, and demolition at 17 Vail Road is expected to start.
- Oct. 22: Winter 2026-27 parking pass sales open.
- Oct. 25 to 31: La Brasserie closes on Oct. 25, and Pepi's closes after lunch on Oct. 31.
- Early November: The 62 is projected to finish.
- Nov. 12: Work at 17 Vail Road moves inside the fence. It's also the last closed day for La Brasserie and Avanti F&B.
- Nov. 13: Vail Mountain's planned opening day, with Mid Vail and Eagle's Nest dining also scheduled to open. Parking is still free.
- Nov. 15: La Nonna's last closed day.
- Nov. 19: The last day of free town parking. Chasing Rabbits is back, and Deca + Bol's closure runs through today.
- Nov. 20: Winter parking starts, and Pepi's and Deca + Bol reopen.
- Nov. 26: Up The Creek's closure runs through Thanksgiving, and Matsuhisa is closed for the holiday.
Beaver Creek runs on a different schedule this year. Its planned opening is Nov. 25, almost two weeks after Vail's. Our look at Beaver Creek's opening-day track record explains why that date deserves the same caution. For Lionshead restaurants, the same Town guide lists them in a separate section, and several have their own off-season windows.
If you own in Vail Village and want to know how the opening-week calendar, the reopening dates and the projects finishing around Hanson Ranch Road and Vail Road affect your plans for this winter, whether you're there for the season, hosting guests or renting your home, Jeff McAbee can walk you through it. Schedule a consultation.
