West - Santa Fe and Four Corners suggestions

I am looking at a quick 4-5 day trip:
Flying in and out of ABQ.
Would like to spend one or two nights in Santa Fe, NM. Will visit a couple of the Pueblos around there.
I don't want to stay in one place and "relax";
Where do you suggest I go the other 2 nights? Durango, Farmington ????
I will be driving so would like to limit it at 200 or so miles from Santa Fe.
I am open to any suggestions in the area.
I like nature, hiking and get dizzy at high altitude/driving in mountains.

Disclaimer: tried to search and could not find. Links are greatly appreciated.

If you like trains (if not, skip the next two)
Chama NM between Santa Fe and Durango http://www.cumbrestoltec.com/
Durango http://www.durangotrain.com/

Aztec NM ruins http://www.nps.gov/azru/index.htm between Durango and Farmington
Shiprock NM http://www.newmexico.org/learn/geology/shiprock.php
Chaco Canyon http://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm (if you have time)
Cuba (the NM one) just to say you've been there :)

Thank you
Where would you sleep for 2 nights?
which town is better.

If it were me, I'd be tempted to go for two nights to Bluff, Utah (good point for Monument Valley touring) and get an Executive Cabin or Cabin Suite at the Desert Rose Inn (http://www.desertroseinn.com/bluff-utah-accommodations.php)

This would be much, much, much more charming than staying Farmington

Thank you
Where would you sleep for 2 nights?
which town is better.
Not many choices really, Durango and Farmington are the only major centers. I've stayed at the Doubletree in Durango (it's OK) but know nothing about Farmington.

The Doubletree in Durango in my experience is not just okay, but wonderful.

If you are going to be on the move...... I once stayed at a casino/hotel near four corners. If I remember correctly there was not much else around. It was a very simple and inexpensive place to stay.
If you are deciding to stay in Farmington or Durango - I think there is more to do in Durango.

The day you arrive it might be nice to take the Turquoise Road rather than the interstate to Santa Fe and stay at a B&B in a town along the route. Sorry that I don't have any names to suggest.

In August I had a good stay at Casa Cuma B&B in Santa Fe. About a 10 minute walk to the main square in downtown (maybe 100yds without a sidewalk). At that time, they were part of the B&B program that Costco sells discounted gift cards for. When I went looking, the options in Santa Fe looked much better, which was also the recommendation of my sister who had visited both.

In Durango there is an older hotel downtown near the train station that gets a fair amount of press. I have seen it but not stayed there and cannot remember the name.

If you're at all a science geek, be sure to visit the following:

Los Alamos, about an hour nice drive from Santa Fe IIRC. Federal atomic research site, famous for the development of the atomic bomb. There's a museum in a sort of strip mall on the way into town, then some preserved historic buildings showing how the rearly researchers lived. You can drive around some of the facilities but there are a lot of restricted areas in town.

Museum on military base next to ABQ. IIRC you need to make an advance reservation to get a gate pass: Free and free parking. Focus on atomic power/weapons and aircraft.

Also next to ABQ is Sandia National Labs, but AFAIK there's no way to enter as a "tourist."

In Durango there is an older hotel downtown near the train station that gets a fair amount of press. I have seen it but not stayed there and cannot remember the name.Strater. Old-world, quaint or pokey depending on your viewpoint.

Museum on military base next to ABQ. IIRC you need to make an advance reservation to get a gate pass: Free and free parking. Focus on atomic power/weapons and aircraft.


You probably mean The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History (http://www.nuclearmuseum.org/) It is no longer located within Kirtland Air Force Base, but it is (again) nearby.

The Doubletree in Durango in my experience is not just okay, but wonderful.

Yea people in Farmington told me I should stay in Durango. I've been to Farmington for work a few times, always stayed at the Hampton...and that place is certainly only OK.

I found the National Radio Astronomy Observatory to be a fascinating visit: http://www.vla.nrao.edu/

New Mexico has (arguably) the oldest place of continuous habitation in the United States' present borders, a Native American pueblo village named Acoma -- claimed to have been settled in 1150. http://sccc.acomaskycity.org/history This village may also have had Anglos living there continuously for longer than Anglos have lived in St. Augustine, FL, thus perhaps making Acoma also the oldest place in the United States of permanent Anglo settlement.

Regarding the Four Corners, due to a surveying error, the monument that tourists visit allowing you to squat down and have parts of your body simultaneously in four states is actually in the wrong spot. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705298412/Four-Corners-marker-212-miles-off-Too-late.html

Thank you
Where would you sleep for 2 nights?
which town is better.

While all of these places are interesting, Santa Fe (IMHO) is truly unique - with its mix of Native American, Mexican, and US cultures - in so many ways and with so opportunities to experience it. Food, art, crafts, architecture, scenery, and most important, people.

Yes, the other places have some of this, but not to the extent that you find in Santa Fe.

I am looking at a quick 4-5 day trip:
Flying in and out of ABQ.
Would like to spend one or two nights in Santa Fe, NM. Will visit a couple of the Pueblos around there.
I don't want to stay in one place and "relax";
Where do you suggest I go the other 2 nights? Durango, Farmington ????
I will be driving so would like to limit it at 200 or so miles from Santa Fe.
I am open to any suggestions in the area.
I like nature, hiking and get dizzy at high altitude/driving in mountains.

Disclaimer: tried to search and could not find. Links are greatly appreciated.

Frankly I found Farmington a bit dull when I visited. Not a lot to see or do out there. Were it me, I'd spend those couple of days around Taos, Chama and maybe over to Eagle Nest especially if you want hiking and great views. All of those places are no more than a couple of hours from Santa Fe.

In the opposite direction, I second amaneuensis' idea of visiting the VLA.

Bandeleros (spelling?) park is also worthwhile. There's a historic major boy scout camp in the area too, with a gift shop filled with genuine local craft items.

Aztec Ruins National Monument (http://www.nps.gov/azru/index.htm) is just east of Farmington and is a fascinating site. If you're pressed for time you can do it in an hour.

Bandeleros (spelling?) park is also worthwhile. There's a historic major boy scout camp in the area too, with a gift shop filled with genuine local craft items.

It's Bandelier National Monument, I think, and it's very close to Los Alamos.

I'vd also stayed at the DoubleTree in Durango. It's a decent but not spectacular hotel, within walking distance of lots of stuff downtown. You might consider a side trip to Mesa Verde National Park, it's spectacular.

Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300. Today, the park protects over 4,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.
http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm

I'vd also stayed at the DoubleTree in Durango. It's a decent but not spectacular hotel, within walking distance of lots of stuff downtown. You might consider a side trip to Mesa Verde National Park, it's spectacular.

Fwiw and ime, I think you're underrating the Doubletree:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14465117-post10.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16306650-post12.html

Thank you all for your great comments and suggestions.
I think I will stay 2 days in Santa Fe and 2 days in Durango; will get a taste of the area; but I suspect I will have to return to spend a week or more
thanks; I can always count on fellow FTers to give me the best advice

In Durango, be sure to have lunch or dinner at Ken and Sue's (http://www.kenandsues.com/). Really, really good food and nice people (despite their unfamiliarity with the correct use of the apostrophe ;)) The potstickers are some of the best I've ever had.

... Were it me, I'd spend those couple of days around Taos, Chama and maybe over to Eagle Nest especially if you want hiking and great views. All of those places are no more than a couple of hours from Santa Fe.

...

I second this recommendation. Taos Pueblo is fascinating. We managed to get reservations for the Jan. 1 Turtle Dance a few years ago. A very cold morning but not as cold for us as for the shirtless dancers, including a very young boy. He was clearly learning from his elders and was determined to stick it out. We saw him later in the day and told him he had done a great job. Will never forget the smile on his face.

If you have any interest in photography, be sure to see the St. Francis Church in Ranchos de Taos. It is famous as a subject for Ansel Adams (http://www.hcc.commnet.edu/artmuseum/anseladams/details/pdf/stfrancis.pdf) and Georgia O'Keefe (http://www.cartermuseum.org/Inspiring_Visions/OKeeffe/okeeffe_art.html). I saw an Adams photograph and an O'Keefe painting side by side in a DC museum. Stunning.

It's Bandelier National Monument, I think, and it's very close to Los Alamos.
Thank you.