Travel
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Albuqueque and Santa Fe
Planning a long weekend trip.
I am thinking a car is mandatory.
Please rec, hotels, B&B's, restaurants and things to do.
I am particularly interested in horse back riding and a ballon ride so if you have any experience with these excursions please share.
Thanks
Re: Albuqueque and Santa Fe
I stayed at the Inn and Spa at Loretto in Sante Fe. The location was excellent, but I didn't find the service to be anything remarkable. It was ok, but not above and beyond. Next time I go I think I'll stay at La Fonda. Restaurants are everywhere, and so good. Seriously, you won't have trouble eating in Sante Fe.
The Georgia O'Keefe museum is totally worth it. I had a great time there. There are a ton of other galleries and museums too. Really just wandering around downtown Sante Fe and exploring for yourself is easy and fun.
I have never been to ABQ so no advice on that.
I visited New Mexico and SW Colorado about 4 years ago with my ex-husband and wrote about it on my old travel blog: http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-272552.html
A car will definitely be required. In addition to visiting the sights within Santa Fe and Albuquerque, I would also recommend Bandelir National Monument, the Taos Pueblo, Chimayo, and Ten Rocks National Monument.
I live in Albuquerque so I can give a few suggestions for staying here.
First, like everyone else said, you need a car. We have a train that runs between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, but within the city you'd have to rely on the bus system.
Albuquerque Hotels:
Hotel Parq Central is a new boutique hotel.
The Hyatt Tamaya is also gorgeous.
Sandia Casino is supposed to have fiarly nice rooms and sits at the foot of the Sandia Mountains.
You could also look at Hotel Andaluz. It's pretty trendy and has a great bar and restaurant. It's in Downtown.
This B&B always gets great Trip Advisor reviews. Corrales is in the north part of Albuquerque. http://www.chocolateturtlebb.com/the-inn.html
Things to Do:
Rainbow Ryders is the biggest balloon charter company.
You should also look at taking the Sandia Peak Tramway up to the top of the mountain. There's a restaurant up there called High Finance. The food is ok and it's pretty pricey, but it's nice sitting up at the top of the mountain. Book a reservation and ask for a table along the windows.
If you drive between Abq and Santa Fe, I suggest taking a side trip out to Madrid. It's a cute little town with shops and a few restaurants. It's where they filmed part of the movie Wild Hogs (where they meet Marisa Tomei).
The Balloon Museum is cool and pretty interesting. I think admission is pretty reasonable as well.
I'm not on here often, so feel free to email me at melissainabq at gmail if you have other questions.
Ditto on everything that the poster above recommends. (I grew up in NM)
Definitely rent a car, the area is pretty big and NM definitely does not pride itself in public transportation, so it's best to be able to rely on yourself and not some bus/shuttle. Also, I would be sure to go to the Sandias and experience the tram.
Second, I see a couple people recommend Taos however just know that is a couple hours north of Santa Fe. You would really have to plan for that since it is so far.
I personally would spend more time in Santa Fe. I was traveling through by myself so was not looking for any luxury accomodations. I stayed at the Pecos Trail Inn. I loved the SW decor and it was clean and comfortable but is a motel. One reason I stayed there was it is near Harry's Roadhouse restaurant - a must (my DH's favorite - he is a foodie). also recommend Tecalote (great for breakfast - get the bakery basket!), Tomasita and Maria's for margaritas.
I also recommend Bandalier National Monument (like pp). I enjoyed the cultural museum in Santa Fe and the town square for shopping. There are numerous parking lots near the town square.
http://www.thepecostrailinn.com/
http://harrysroadhousesantafe.com/
http://www.tecolotecafe.com/
In Albuquerque, I like the indian jewelry store called Indian Treasures in old town. I find they have the best deals and nicest jewelry. Also look at the stuff for sale from the Indians on the square. From day to day it is not the same people.
I also recommend the flea market in both cities for finding indian jewelry and other items of interest. They have nice stuff for the most part - not junk.