Albuquerque to Denver
 

We would like to have comments on our itinerary please:
We have been to Santa Fe and Taos, but are traveling with a 24 yo daughter who has not.

Day 1--Albuquerque - arrive noon
Visit Sandia Crest
Drive to Santa Fe and stroll around and have dinner
Drive to Taos - stay 2 nights
Day 3--Drive to Mesa Verde and stay 2 nights
Day 5--Drive to Telluride and stay 1 night
Day 6--Drive to Ouray and stay 4 nights
Day 10-- Drive to Kremmling
Day 11--Drive across Rocky Mountain National Park and go to Denver
Day 12 Denver
Day 13 fly home

When is the trip?

I assume you are taking the Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe? Maybe a stop in Madrid to stretch your legs, get a drink at Mine Shaft Tavern and check out a few of the shops.

2 nights in Taos is too many. 4 nights in Ouray is also too many.

I would stay at least a night in Albuquerque and visit Acoma Pueblo. {Take a night from Taos}

I would spend a night or 2 max in Ouray. Use those nights to stay in Santa Fe.

Thank you, DebitNM. We like your suggestion for AP and will spend a night in Albuquerque and visit there, taking a night off of Taos. Any suggestion of where to stay in Albuquerque? The reason we will be in Ouray is that we have family friends there and we love to hike and want to rest there and take in the beautiful scenery and relax. We are taking the Turquiose Trail and the Tavern sounds great.

Have you calculated the distance from Ouray to Kremmling ?

Depending on your budget -
Embassy Suites; Hyatt Regency Doubletree, Marriot are all good bets.

Interested in B&B, inns?? Let me know.

Still not sure when the trip is but again assuming summer. Be sure to see Box Canyon Falls and the hotsprings in Ouray.

Place to eat in Ouray - great dinners at Tundra Restaurant and a nice ones at Buen Tiempo. St. Elmo's B&B is nice if you need a place in Ouray.

{I lived in the Durango area for 5 years and have a second home there, so let me know if you have any other questions. I live near ABQ/Santa Fe now, so ask away on that front.}

historytraveler: yes, we have calculated the distance and know it will be a long driving day.
DebitNM: interested in B&B or Inn suggestions, also. We will be coming Aug. 6th. Luckily, can stay with family friends in Ouray. Thanks for your offer. I am sure we may have more questions.

Any thoughts about Acoma Pueblo?

Why the big effort to get to RMNP? You will be in country every bit as pretty as there, especially around Telluride and Ouray.

I suggest in CO, that you focus on the southwest, and leave RMNP for another trip.

You could explore Crested Butte, Gunnison, and another town or two on your way to Denver.

In North Valley of ABQ - Los Pablanos. There are quite a few on Tripadvisor that get consistently great reviews.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...new-mexico.cfm

For Mesa Verde, try to get rooms at Far View Lodge in the park. Basic but great sunsets and sunrises. Keep calling if they are full,daily, for possible cancellations. Eat at Metate Room. If not you can stay in Cortez, closer to MV with a decent Holiday Inn Express and a few decent places to eat. Or stay in Durango, but have a 30 minute drive.

Durango - Has your basic hotel/motels, all areas are ok to stay. In town, The Strater, General Palmer are historic old places. Outside of town, closer to MVNP is Blue Lake Ranch. Kennebec Cafe in Hesperus, on the way into Durango on SR 160 is our favorite place to eat.

Apple Orchard Inn is excellent, but on the far side of Durango and would be a long ride to MV.

In Telluride, Victorian Inn = great location in town, decent place, nothing fancy, best prices.

In Taos = Adobe and Pines.

[I think I have to reverse my recommendation of Apple Orchard Inn. The new owner seems to have dropped the ball, reviews on TA not all that good. Too bad, previous owners Celeste and John were the best.]

Wow! Thanks all. We did get a reservation at for 2 nights at Far View Lodge. We hear what you are saying about RMNP. Will definitely reconsider.

Acoma Pueblo is really interesting. I'll second DebitNM's suggestion to go there.

Lee Ann

We went to the Taos pueblo couple years ago. Interesting hour or so, but didn't find a reason to actually stay in that town, but maybe we missed it (and it wasn't ski season). Acoma Pueblo has a little more to it due to its perch.

I highly recommend the nice hike and views at "Tent Rocks" (Kasha Katuwe) not really between Albuquerque and SF, but can be worked in.

http://www.nm.blm.gov/recreation/alb...sha_katuwe.htm

Lots of good advice above. If you wanted to see more of the Rockies, go only as far as Glenwood Springs and then south 41 miles to Aspen.
Return the car where you rented it in Albuquerque to avoid a large drop off fee.
It is possible to get from Albuquerque to Denver without flying by taking the Amtrak SW Chief to Raton and an Amtrak bus from there to Denver.

Thanks, all! good advice. Would have never have known about Tent Rocks. Tomfuller:believe it or not, the one-way car rental was less than the round trip rental from Denver, but thanks for your thoughtfulness. Guess they are trying to get cars back to Denver... Will definitely going go as far as Glenwood Springs. In fact, new beginning itinerary is as follows:
Day 1: arrive and sleep in Albuquerque (Acoma Pueblo, Sndia Crest)
Day 2: visit Tent Rocks, Santa Fe plaza, sleep in Taos
Day 3: drive to Mesa Verde & sleep 2 nights
Day 5: Drive to Ouray and stay 5 nights-hike, relax, visit Telluride on day trip
Need to flesh out the rest a little more, but with visit Crested Butte, Black Canyon, and Redstone to Aspen (visit Maroon Bells) over Independence Pass along the Top of the Rockies Scenic Byway and back to Denver.

If there are any other thoughts about that leg, please chime in.

Glad you are going to Tent Rocks. I love it there. Didn't think it would work if you were heading right up to Santa Fe. There are a few different routes, and since you like to hike, you'll likely to do the more challenging of the 2 trails "Slot Canyon" Trail. It is up and back and really nice.

Since you are coming from sea level, do be very careful about altitude. It is HOT, DRY here and you do not sweat. It is very easy to get dehydrated and not realize it and feel sick. Normally, you should take a few days to acclimate, but you are heading up at Tent Rocks on second day.

LOTS of water, way more than you think you'll need. Sunscreen, chapstick, hat for sure. Hiking poles are a maybe for Tent Rocks. Helps some places, others they are a bit of a pain [in the slot part of trail, which isn't too big].

There are no service at, near or around Tent Rocks or along the route from I25. Last populated area is Exit 242 - Bernalillo. So if you need gas, water, food etc, that is the place to do so.

Will you be able to spend some nights in Aspen or thereabouts? I might take away a night from Ouray, in order to stay in/near Aspen. The Redstone Inn is a cool place to stay the night on your way. Basalt is a tiny town outside of Aspen with inexpensive lodging, if you can't find a good rate in Aspen proper. Try The Gant for a good condo complex near the center of Aspen.

Thanks for all the sage advice. Will do! Since we can't carry poles on the plane anyhow, I think we will ship them to our friends in Ouray, so we won't have them for Tent Rocks.