niamholly

Hi,
i am looking for some suggestions for my three week trip to California and New Mexico in late August / September 2014.

I am an elderly lady, travelling alone, using public transport and local airlines.
My travel style as a retired person tends to be clean, safe and central, with the occasional splurge.

I intend to spend my first six days in San Francisco ,and after that am open to all suggestions please.

I like slow travel, and would prefer less places and more time in each.

i really want to go to Santa Fe and Albuquerque and realise that I may fly there or take Amtrak.

I would really appreciate all suggestions, especially in relation to places to stay that are very close to public transport, which I realise is a big ask. And itinerary thoughts for after my San Francisco days and before my last week in new Mexico.

Thank you in advance

Niamholly

BigRuss

No need to take Amtrak for Santa Fe - the New Mexico Rail Runner goes from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. Just fly from California to New Mexico.

NewbE

BigRus is right. The last time SO and I were in Santa Fe, we realized that one could fly into ABQ, take the RailRunner to Santa Fe, take a taxi from the Railyard District, where the RailRunner stops, to the Plaza area of Santa Fe, and be perfectly happy without a car. (The taxi ride wouldn't be long, it's just too far to walk with luggage, IMO. There may be a bus--I'm sure there is.) Central Santa Fe, around the Plaza, is easily walkable, chock full of museums, shops, galleries, restaurants and historic sites.

janisj

Have you been to California before? What sorts of things do you want to see/do during the middle week?

A lot of CA is difficult by public transport. But San Diego is very doable without a car. So something like SF / fly to SD / fly to New Mexico.

tomfuller

If you do decide to take Amtrak from San Francisco (Fisherman's Wharf) going to Albuquerque, you have to take the San Joaquin from Emeryville to Bakersfield and a 2 hour bus ride into Los Amgeles to get on the same day Southwest Chief (6:45PM).
The Coast Starlight arrives in Los Angeles at 9PM (sometimes later). I would not want a 21 hour layover in Los Angeles.
The bus to EMY leaves Fisherman's Wharf at 6:50AM every morning to connect with the San Joaquin which goes down through the Central Valley.
From the San Joaquin you can also get off in Merced and get YARTS bus ride to Yosemite if you can get lodging in Yosemite or in El Portal.

janisj

tom: >>I would not want a 21 hour layover in Los Angeles.

tenthumbs

What do you like to do? Museums? Plays or concerts? Local history? Hikes? Shopping? Knowing what you like to do will help with recommendations.

ElendilPickle

As others have said, you can easily fly from California to Albuquerque, then take the RailRunner to Santa Fe. Your only challenge would be if you want to do anything outside of those two cities, as public transportation is extremely limited.

Lee Ann

DebitNM

Rail Runner service is aimed at commuters; so you need to be careful if you plan to use it to get from ABQ to Santa Fe. Weekends have only a couple of runs, and weekdays they are centered around rush hours in a.m. and p.m.

DebitNM

Southwest has some good deals on flights between CA and ABQ, but you do need to book at least 2 weeks ahead to get best ices. They often have short, quick sales, so sign up for their email alerts for sales.

tomfuller

With a week between your departure from SF and arrival in Albuquerque/Santa Fe, you could take Coast Starlight to Santa Barbara. Scheduled arrival is 6PM. Yes it could be late but they have passengers transferring to the Sunset Limited at 10PM in Los Angeles.
There is good public transport in Santa Barbara at least as far as the mission. The Amtrak station is at the foot of State St. within walking distance of the pier which has some good restaurants.
To get into LA from Santa Barbara, take an early afternoon Pacific Surfliner to catch the Southwest Chief to Albuquerque.