I’m going to a conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico this weekend. I’m arriving by plane in Albuquerque in the early afternoon on Thursday, but the conference only starts on Friday evening, so I’ll have a day and a half to visit. Do any Dopers have suggestions of things that I should be doing? Museums, natural spaces, etc.; any suggestion is welcome, but as I’ll be on foot or using public transportation, it should be relatively accessible.
I recall that the trip up to Sandia peak on the tram was rather scenic and there was hiking and views at the top. Don’t remember the cost offhand. It’s not far from downtown, but I don’t know about public transportation.
You could make a left turn in Albuquerque.
In Albuquerque, the N.M. Museum of Natural History was pretty good. It’s just a bit northeast of Old Town Albuquerque, which was nice to wander around and has good restaurants. Both of those are to the west of downtown. The zoo was pretty good too, but the aquarium was mediocre. I’ve no idea where the airport is (I drove through on vacation a few years ago.), so can’t help with transportation ideas.
In Santa Fe, the Palace of the Governors was a good history museum. Apparently they’ve built a new museum next to it since I was there, and I can’t say what’s changed. The Palace is supposedly the oldest continually occupied public building in the country.
East of Santa Fe is some stunningly beautiful mountain country, but it doesn’t sound like you’ll have time for that.
Albuquerque has a nature center although the bus that goes there only runs once an hour and its a 1/3 mile walk from the bus stop to the center. There are other areas easily accessible by bus where one can get out and just walk along the river–my favorite is near Coors/Montano in the North Valley.
If you want to do some shopping Nob Hill on Central just east of the University has some unusual stores. The express bus stops right in the middle of that area. For that matter the area directly across from UNM, while a bit skeevy, has a few unusual stores and the Frontier Restaurant which is reknowned for its cinnamon rolls.
We also have a zoo which has some unusual animals such as koalas and komodo lizards. I think a bus goes by there. Anyway, here are the bus schedules:
If you tell the bus drivers where you are going they are pretty good about informing you when you’ve reached your destination.
Oh, and bring a raincoat–this is our monsoon season.
If you’re still going to be around Labor Day weekend there is a rugby tournament in Santa Fe on the 6th.
Besides that I don’t know the towns very well.
Mini-hijack here:
is there anything within 2-3 hours driving of Albuquerque or Santa Fe that is a “must see”
I’ve got Malpaís down, but other than that…
There are a good many shops and eateries (albeit somewhat high end) in the Santa Fe plaza, plus various historical markers, art galleries, and just plain oddities (there are statues of mountain lions on the benches outside one of the galleries.) Santa Fe is also home to the Chapel of Loretto, famed for its “miraculous” spiral staircase:
http://www.lorettochapel.com/history.html
For activities within the 2-3 hour range outside Santa Fe or Albuquerque, there is Bandelier National Monument with its odd “Swiss cheese” cliffs and Indian ruins:
The Jemez Area, with its mineral springs and odd rock formations is also worth seeing. Some people go skinny dipping there.
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll try to make a plan of things to see tomorrow.
Isn’t it a “wrong turn”?
Odd, I thought it was a dry area. Thanks, I’ll remember the advice.
It is, most of the time. July through August we get our rain.
As for things to do in Santa Fe, there’s tons of art galleries both in the immediate area around the Plaza and on nearby Canyon Road. A lot of the art does tend to be repetitive IMO (“oh, look, it’s another gallery full of paintings of the sunset over the desert”), but it’s a good introduction to the city, and there’s certainly some unique stuff to be seen. Pretty much everything is either within walking distance from the plaza. There’s a couple museums a ways out, but there’s a bus that goes right there. The bus system is actually fairly decent here.
If you’re looking for good places to eat, all you have to do is turn around in downtown Santa Fe. Del Charro is right downtown, apparently has great burgers, and their margaritas are really good. If you’re a breakfast person, Santa Fe Baking Co. is a local favorite, very chill, free wifi, and makes an awesome (and huge) breakfast burrito. If you want something a bit more upscale, I can’t help, because I’ve been an impoverished student my entire time here.
The Botanic Garden in Albuquerque is a nice way to kill an hour or so with a nice stroll.
Originally posted by Hypnagogic Jerk: “What do do in Santa Fe and Albuquerque”
I am not really familiar with the do-do in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, but I went to New York once in the winter. The dogs all do-do in the snow. Then the do-do, while still warm from the dog’s body. melts its way to the bottom of the snow. Then it freezes and then (I conjecture, because I wasn’t there then) it all thaws out at the same time sometime in spring.
What do-do in New York !
O’Keefe
Somebody else on this board once said it: “Albuquerque, the poor man’s Mos Eisley”.
There’s the Very Large Array to the Southwest, and a cool ghost town on the way out to it.
Another hijack - I will be in Albuquerque in October. Like Hypnagogic Jerk, I won’t be driving, and am interested in museums. I am there on a university research grant to look at Native American oral tradition, especially as it relates to science. Any suggestions? I will have already been to Chaco Canyon and sites around Farmington.
I was in NM for about a week this spring. The best time I had was at Tent Rocks, which is maybe 30 miles outside Santa Fe. I went based on recommedations in this forum, BTW.
For what not to do, don’t eat at Los Mayas in Santa Fe. It’s fairly pricey, and it sucks.
If you are arriving this afternoon they you probably won’t get this. There are quite a few museums, tourists shops and the like not far, only a few blocks, from the freeway that runs between the airport and almost everything else. The zoo is near there too I think. I once spent a few hours watching the people who were watching a young elephant sodomizing a truck tire. The people were a riot.
Albuquerque:
Atomic Museum
Old Town
Nob Hill
Sandia (if you can get to it)
Santa Fe:
Georgia O’Keefe Museum
Downtown
Pueblos between Santa Fe and ABQ?
:smack: 
So it is. I thought I remembered Bugs Bunny saying “looks like I made a wrong turn at Albuquerque”, but I guess I remembered wrong.
It’s probably not exactly the same place you’re talking about, but KRC mentioned “unusual stores” in Nob Hill, which is actually not too far from the airport by bus. I took an hour or three to go take a look, and there are in fact a few unusual stores there (off the top of my head, a leather goods store, a fair trade store, a few import stores and something that might have been a high-end sex shop, but I didn’t investigate further). I didn’t buy anything, but it was a nice walk. I couldn’t stay long in Albuquerque though, since my hotel is in Santa Fe and I had all my bags with me.
Again, thanks for all your suggestions! I’ll probably visit a few museums in downtown Santa Fe tomorrow.