Best day trip from ABQ? (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: rental car, rental, hotel)

[jrod2828]

Ok,

So the itenerary is coming together. Airline tickets purchased, hotel booked, rental car booked.. things are coming together for our 4-day end of May trip to ABQ.

EnjoyEP and others have given us great ideas for our trip. We are going to do/see the Sandia Tram, Mid-town, Uptown, Downtown, UNM/Nobb Hill, The wine festival at the balloon park and the rio grande.

I'm starting to plan stuff out and it looks like we might have time for a good day trip. Where would be the best place to go? Santa fe, Taos, Las Cruces, Eastern Mountains? Somewhere else?

We are game for anything. If anyone knows of a good day trip out of ABQ to get an even better experience of NM as a whole please shoot me your ideas.

Thanks!

[ABQSunseeker]

Taos and Las Cruces are rather long drives for a day trip but are doable.

I'd really consider Santa Fe, just an hour away, or Acoma Sky Pueblo, the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the U.S. About a 1,000 yrs old. It sits on a mesa and the surroundings are outstandingly beautiful. Acoma is about an hour west of ABQ.

Have fun.

[jrod2828]

Thanks for the info.

I read on some older posts about the hot springs in the Jemez Mountains. Is that place worth checking out?

[CWG]

There are some great day trips around Albuquerque. The hot springs are Ok but pretty crowded these days and I'm not sure how clean. Chaco Canyon is great if you make a whole day of it with an early start.(June, July and August can be really hot) The East fork of the Jemez river is wonderful (take shoes you can wade the shallow stream in) Also Bandelier National Mounument area near Los Alamos is really nice too especialy when the streams are running in late May and June.

[casden]

I suggest a drive from ABQ into the Jemez Mountains through to the Valles Caldera (a ten mile wide extinct volcano crater), then to Los Alamos and Bandelier National Monument.

Another suggestion would be to go to the Pecos Ruins (near Santa Fe) then into Santa Fe and watch a great Flamenco show at the El Farol Restaurant, then stroll Canyon Road in Santa Fe and peruse the art. Although, the art can be a little too expensive, it's nice to see what's coming out of Santa Fe - whether it's likeable or not.

[LRUA]

From I-40 go north on RT 14 to Santa Fe ...you'll pass some great scenic areas ...Cedar Crest ....Madrid ...Cerrillos ....then after Santa Fe ..head over to Los Alamos then take RT 4 and check out Jemez Springs ..connecting up with hwy 550 at San Ysidro....then I-25 Bernalillo to ABQ .....

[Devin Bent]

If you do either of these last two suggestions (or some combination) then make sure you take 502 west up to Los Alamos -- you'll see spectacular views. If you wish, do it both ways -- the effect is different going up and down.

Los Alamos itself can be passed up unless you are interested in A-Bomb history. Or want to see an amazing likeness of a mid-western town plunked down in New Mexico.

[desert sun]

Santa Fe would be a great day trip and you would get to experience a city unlike no other in the country its about an hour drive.

Las Cruces is kind of a long day trip but I go often about 3 hours away but I usually go to El Paso to about 3 1/2 hours from Abq.

[InTheDesert]

Hands down what LRUA said. The drive is awesome, if you hit Madrid around lunch or dinner you can hit up the old Mine Shaft Tavern:

The Mine Shaft Tavern

Santa Fe is a great trip and you could easily walk around the plaza, check out some architecture or music, grab something to eat and head back on I-25 straight to Albuquerque in the evening. The Santa Fe Brewing Company and The Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Santa Fe always have live music on the weekends:

Santa Fe Brewing Company ~ New Mexico's oldest microbrewery

[InTheDesert]

Cruces would be long AND boring drive, at least if you head up through Madrid, Cerrillos, and to Santa Fe the drive is nice and then just take I-25 on your way back.