mgtturr

My husband and I are making plans for our 5th anniversary to travel to the 2016 Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque and also spend a day or two in Santa Fe. We are looking for recommendations about best days/events to visit festival, any restaurants, other local events/activities in these areas. How many days would be ideal for each city? We are also interested in collecting vintage turquoise jewelry and other Native American antiques. Any recommendations for local shopping (not tourist/expensive shops)? Thanks in advance!

DebitNM

The best days, even though they are the most crowded, are the weekends and of that - the first weekend. The majority of balloons go up on the weekends; the weekdays tend to have less go up. Also, a number of pilots don't stay all the way through the second weekend.

Be sure to allow a few days in ABQ for the mass ascension because there are usually days that the balloons don't launch. The weather conditions have to be perfect and that means no to minimal winds and no precipitation. And those are conditions on the fields which can be different than in other parts of the city. It would be a shame to come here for only 1 or 2 mornings and miss out seeing a mass ascension.

You need to be at the park EARLY - like o'dark hundred because they balloons go up as soon as the sun comes up. It will be cold - hat, gloves, jackets kind of cold. Dress in layers, it will warm up and you can remove layers as needed.

You need to make reservations NOW, it is already late. Consider staying near a park and ride location because the lines to get in are really, really long.

You don't need to stay IN Santa Fe really as it is a 45 minute ride from the park. Easy to do day trips there, to Taos and other spots.

You need to be careful buying turquoise as there is a lot of imitation stuff around.

http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/ar...urise-lie.html

tomfuller

Use the local public transportation including the Rail Runner to Santa Fe. http://www.nmrailrunner.com/
The bus service along Central Avenue (old US 66) is crowded but cheap.
Without a doubt, there will be a memorial for the 16 people who lost their lives in Texas yesterday in the worst hot air balloon accident in US history.

DebitNM

While the railrunner is available; it is mainly a commuter line so that the trains tend to be infrequent from mid morning to afternoon commute time.

ABQ is spread out, there is much more than Central. The bus doesn't begin to get you where many tourists want to go - especially not to Balloon Fiesta Park.

A car is really helpful here.

BigRuss

Oh boy, here comes Tom Fuller trying to infect everyone with his railroad enthusiast disease.

Rent a car for the love of G-d and travel at your leisure. Buses in Albuquerque are inconvenient and are NOT tightly scheduled - miss one and you're sitting around for 30 minutes or more. And the Rail Runner takes about 66% more time to Santa Fe than driving yourself and will leave you with a long walk to the Plaza or whatever turquoise shop at which you consent to get ripped off.

>

Coronado Mall is one and has a bargeload of buses deploying morning and evening for the festivities, and there are a ton of hotels in the region, many of which are family-friendly lower-level offerings from major chains (Hyatt Place, Homewood Suites, etc).

jamie99

You really need a car for Santa Fe if you want to get out and do any exploring, like visiting some of the local Indian pueblos, driving to Taos for a day, or seeing Bandelier. Can't help with turquoise jewelry, I did get two nice Navajo quality rugs.

jayne1973

I would stay at least one night in Santa Fe, preferably two. It's a fun and relaxing place.

You didn't ask about Santa Fe Lodging, but if you want to stay near the historic plaza, look into Hotel La Fonda. It's very well located and unique, with a nice bar that has some good live music and dancing on weekends.

The Native Americans who sell their handcrafted jewelry and other items on the plaza daily should have authentic turquoise, but prices can certainly be steep.

Marcos1

We recommend that everyone try to see at least one morning "Dawn Patrol" session and one "Evening Glow" session. Parking can be a bear as well as the traffic in and out of the park on any given day. Santa Fe is a solid hour from the park. However, you will find better hotel accommodations there. Whether you find a place in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. Reliable private transportation to and from the park can be found here.

http://wtmllc.com/
http://wtmllc.com/balloon-fiesta-transportation/
http://www.santafegroundtransportation.com/

Marcos1

So DEBITNM, "A car is really useful here?" I thought public transportation was what you recommended for Balloon Fiesta? "The busses have special access to the commercial lane?" If the bus doesn't always get you where the tourists want to go?" What do you recommend? Walking?

Its clear you have no valuable insight to this subject.........

Melnq8

Marcos1, please refer to the Fodor's guidelines regarding advertising.

ElendilPickle

A car is useful for visiting New Mexico, yes - not so much for getting to the Balloon Fiesta if you can do the park and ride easily.

Lee Ann