Need help with trip planning (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: moving, eat, vacation)

[skaternum]

Greetings! I'm planning a vacation out to the southwest in the Fall. I've done lots of research online and google-mapped stuff, but I want to get some input from the folks who know the state and surrounding areas best. I'm particularly concerned about driving distances and allowing time to sightsee without feeling really frantic.

Is the following a reasonable itinerary, in that context?

Day 1: Fly into Albuquerque. Do some sightseeing and stay overnight.
Day 2: Drive to Carlsbad Caverns area. See the obvious sights. Stay overnight (any suggestions?).
Day 3: Drive to Santa Fe. Do some sightseeing and stay overnight.
Day 4: See a little more of Santa Fe. Drive to Monument Valley. Stay overnight (probably at The View).
Day 5: See Monument Valley. Drive to Grand Canyon. Stay overnight.
Day 6: See the obvious sights. Stay overnight again?
Day 7: Drive to Hoover Dam. See the obvious sights. Drive to Las Vegas for a late check-in. 3 nights here.

Does that seem too frantic? I can easily see the driving distances, but it's hard to get a feel for what the roads are like, how hard the drive is, etc. If this seems too frantic, I'm thinking about cutting out the southern jaunt to Carlsbad Caverns and allowing more time for the Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Monument Valley-Grand Canyon-... stuff.

Or would I be better off driving straight from Monument Valley to Vegas, then taking one of the tours to the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon?

Thanks in advance.

[songinthewind7]

That does seem a bit rushed. Can you allow yourself a little more time?

[skaternum]

Originally Posted by songinthewind7

That does seem a bit rushed. Can you allow yourself a little more time?

Thanks for responding. Nope, I can't allow any more time. I only have 10 nights. I'll probably have to cut something out. That's why I was thinking about skipping the caverns.

[Mike Horrell]

Originally Posted by skaternum

Thanks for responding. Nope, I can't allow any more time. I only have 10 nights. I'll probably have to cut something out. That's why I was thinking about skipping the caverns.

If there is one thing that you could skip, that would be it. Considering drive time
back and forth from the ABQ / SF area to Carlsbad, you'd be saving yourself almost
two days to spend elsewhere. It's 5-6 hours from ABQ to Carlsbad and at least
an hour more from Carlsbad to SF. That's a lot of time looking at semis...

I'm also not sure that you are allowing enough travel time for Monument Valley
and to get to the Canyon and see what is there. The time "lost" in driving
back and forth to Carlsbad would be better spent in those two areas.

FWIW

[rybert]

How about...

Day 1: Fly into El Paso. Drive to Carlsbad. Stay Overnight
Day 2: Drive to Albuquerque. Eat some Green Chile. Stay overnight.
Day 3: Drive to Santa Fe. Do some sightseeing and stay overnight.
Day 4: See a little more of Santa Fe. Drive to Monument Valley. Stay overnight.
Day 5: See Monument Valley. Drive to Grand Canyon. Stay overnight.
Day 6: See the obvious sights. Stay overnight again?
Day 7: Drive to Hoover Dam. See the obvious sights. Drive to Las Vegas for a late check-in. 3 nights here.

[skaternum]

Thanks, Mike. Very good to have that confirmed.

Which is a better way to see the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam -- by ourselves in a car or from one of the tours that leaves out of Las Vegas? Are there helicopter tours that you can book on sight at the canyon?

[skaternum]

Rybert, thanks for the El Paso suggestion. If I decide to keep Carlsbad in the mix, I'll definitely do that!

[BRMan]

To give you a little context, we did an Arizona/New Mexico vacation last year. We drove, and (including driving days) it took us 8 days. Where (IMO) we burned a lot of time was traveling between Arizona/New Mexico and from Santa Fe, NM to the Texas line - in those legs of the trip, you'll spend a LOT of time in transit which means less time to enjoy the sights during the daylight (one of the trip legs involved stopping at the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert between Tucson and Santa Fe and we didn't get to Santa Fe till 9PM). So I'd recommend keeping it confined to Albuquerque/Santa Fe/Taos and NOT try to go to Carlsbad, Grand Canyon, and/or Hoover.

Originally Posted by skaternum

Greetings! I'm planning a vacation out to the southwest in the Fall. I've done lots of research online and google-mapped stuff, but I want to get some input from the folks who know the state and surrounding areas best. I'm particularly concerned about driving distances and allowing time to sightsee without feeling really frantic.

Is the following a reasonable itinerary, in that context?

Day 1: Fly into Albuquerque. Do some sightseeing and stay overnight.
Day 2: Drive to Carlsbad Caverns area. See the obvious sights. Stay overnight (any suggestions?).
Day 3: Drive to Santa Fe. Do some sightseeing and stay overnight.
Day 4: See a little more of Santa Fe. Drive to Monument Valley. Stay overnight (probably at The View).
Day 5: See Monument Valley. Drive to Grand Canyon. Stay overnight.
Day 6: See the obvious sights. Stay overnight again?
Day 7: Drive to Hoover Dam. See the obvious sights. Drive to Las Vegas for a late check-in. 3 nights here.

Does that seem too frantic? I can easily see the driving distances, but it's hard to get a feel for what the roads are like, how hard the drive is, etc. If this seems too frantic, I'm thinking about cutting out the southern jaunt to Carlsbad Caverns and allowing more time for the Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Monument Valley-Grand Canyon-... stuff.

Or would I be better off driving straight from Monument Valley to Vegas, then taking one of the tours to the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon?

Thanks in advance.

[songinthewind7]

Originally Posted by skaternum

Thanks, Mike. Very good to have that confirmed.

Which is a better way to see the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam -- by ourselves in a car or from one of the tours that leaves out of Las Vegas? Are there helicopter tours that you can book on sight at the canyon?

I enjoyed it in a car but that's just me. I didn't know anything at the time about tour groups.
Both places are great to see.

[mortimer]

skaternum on help with trip planning :

> Is the following a reasonable itinerary, in that context?

No. Just because you _can_ doesn't mean you _should_.
Listen to the BRMan. He is wise.

Day 1: Fly into Albuquerque. ... overnight.
Day 2: ... Carlsbad Caverns area. ... overnight ...

OK to here.

Day 3: Drive to Santa Fe. <<<< no. Stop and smell the chile.

Instead:

[Day 3] Drive to Las Cruces via Roswell -> Lincoln ... overnight.

[Day 4] Drive to Santa Fe and walk around and relax

[Day 5] Drive to Taos and do the same thing

[Day 6] Drive back to Albuquerque via the North route through Red River
.......... and Cimmaron. Take your time. Take the back road when you
.......... get to Santa Fe (Turquoise Trail).

[Day 7] you can still drive to Las Vegas for your three nights if you want.

See Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon. some other time.

You can see the N Rim of the Grand Canyon and Bryce and Zion
canyons over the space of a few days.

Monument Valley is best done with Canyon de Chelly which is nearby.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned that.
------------------------
The drive should be part of your vacation. You should enjoy the actual
act of seeing the scenery go by even if it sometimes gets kinda boring.

Just going from destination to destination, stopping a bit and moving on
will leave you empty with a feeling of not having really "seen" it.

Stop a lot. Stop at the stupid stuff. It's not a marathon.
If you have put over 100 miles on without stopping, make plans to stop.
Then stop. Check the scenic views. Visit the museums.