can you help me plan a trip?
 

I have some friends visiting from London in sept and they want to see the beauty of New Mexico and Arizona but we don't have a lot of time, probably 10 days at most. we will probably fly into Albuquerque spending the night and a part of the day there.
I was thinking that we could pick up a car in Albuquerque and drive to Santa Fe. We would like to see the surrounding area, possibly including Taos, Canyon De Chelly and other sights that would be recommended.
we need to leave for Sedona the 9 or the 10th and from there go to Williams and the Grand Canyon.
what I am hoping is that some of you who know this area well can help me with this adventure and tweak this wonderful experience for us.
Any comments would be appreciated ever so much
Thanking you in advance
Helaine

What time of year is this trip?

Are you wanting 10 days in NM and then your time in AZ or do you want some of those days in AZ?

>>What time of year is this trip?<<

>>I have some friends visiting from London <u>in sept </u><<

I am also a bit confused -- you say you have to leave for Sedona by the 9th or 10th -- but not when you are starting in NM.

Also, are you interested in any of the Utah parks as well?

Thanks. Missed it.

9th or 10th might have meant 9th or 10th day of trip, not calendar dates??

>>9th or 10th might have meant 9th or 10th day of trip, not calendar dates??<<

Oh I agree it isn't all that clear -- all we know for sure is Sept . . .

Santa Fe and Taos are both best with a minimum of two nights each.

While in Taos, take the tour of the Taos Puebla--very interesting.

At Canyon de Chelley take a tour offered by a Navajo guide. We brooked our tour at the Holiday Inn, which is a good place to stay and which has a good restaurant.

As others have noted, it isn't clear how many days you have between the time you land in Albuquerque and need to be in Sedona.

HTtY

And Albuquerque is worth more than a day...

I think 4 nights in Santa Fe with day trips to Taos and surrounding areas would suffice for New Mexico; I do not agree that a whole day in Albuquerque and 2 nights in Taos are necessary when the OP only has 10 days total. The remaining time should go to Arizona, but I'll be darned how exactly... hope others can pick up that part of the itinerary.

How much time you need in each of these places depends on your interests. For instance, I suggested two days in Taos because the town is delightful and because it is home to several very interesting attractions, my favorite two of which are the Taos Puebla and La Hacienda de los Martinez.

Also, when we go to Taos we make time for scenic drives, including The High Road and the Enchanted Circle Drive.

HTtY

I really liked Santa Fe and would like to get back there again, and Albuquerque was nice as well. Taos I did not like so much, our guide was not very friendly.

The Rail Runner will get you from Albuquerque to Santa Fe and even Belen without a rental car. http://riometro.org/

Rail Runner is more a commuter train than one geared for tourists. Very limited trains on weekends; mostly early morning and late afternoon trains during rush hours.

Once you get to each town, public transit makes it hard to get around except for Santa Fe. Albuquerque does have buses but it isn't all the great for tourists who want to get to sites.

This sounds like a "sampler" trip to me, so you probably want to spend it pretty much half in New Mexico and half in Arizona.

I would stick with your plan for Albuquerque and do three nights in Santa Fe, or two in Santa Fe and one in Taos.

After that head to Arizona, with a stop at Canyon De Chelley.

I am not sure whether you have enough time for Sedona and Grand Canyon without being on the road too much of the time. Both are great but I would pick Grand Canyon since your friends probably have never been. Stay in the park if at all possible (get reservations now!)

When are you planning your trip?

September.

We need clarification from OP, who has not returned to thread.

Just a suggestion that you remember to include time for driving. I have visited the areas you mention except for Taos and driven to/from all of the locations. A day for Santa Fe to Phoenix, for example. In terms of Phoenix to the Grand Canyon, try to fit Sedona in on your way up! Maybe you want to consider flying from ABQ to PHX to maximize your time...

If you’ve only got 9 or 10 days, and if your guests are from Europe, then I would concentrate on three main things: Santa Fe, Sedona, and the Grand Canyon.

Albuquerque is not without interest, but it’s not nearly as interesting as Santa Fe. I would head on up to Santa Fe as soon as you can.

Remember that while Santa Fe has a lot that’s of interest, it’s also quite small. If you stay somewhere close to the square, you can cover the high points on foot in a day (maybe a little longer if you spend time in the museums). The galleries are open late, so you can do a lot of your browsing in the evenings.

There are a number of good side trips you can take from Santa Fe. The trip to Taos is a must. You can do it as a long day trip, driving up on the High Road and back on the Low Road. You might want to continue on out to see the Rio Grande Gorge, just west of Taos. I wouldn’t stay overnight in Taos with as little time as you have.

Another nice day trip from Santa Fe is to drive up to Los Alamos; visit the Bradbury Museum there; perhaps see the Valdes Caldera (huge extinct volcano) a little further west; and then stop by Bandelier National Monument (Indian cliff dwellings) and/or the Tsankawi unit of Bandelier (mesa-top Indian community) on the way back. I recall that there’s a large Indian flea market (calling it that hardly does it justice) that’s open at least certain days a week on the west side of the highway leading north about ten miles outside of town. (One vendor specialized in selling ceremonial Ethiopian church crosses.)

Canyon de Chelly isn’t close to Santa Fe. If you do that at all, you would do it as a detour on your way to Sedona.

Once you leave Santa Fe, it’s a 415-mile, 6-plus drive straight through to Sedona on I-40 if you don’t stop. The challenge is that there’s a succession of things of interest along the way – Acoma Pueblo and Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico, and then the Petrified Forest, the Meteor Crater, and Walnut Canyon National Monument near Flagstaff. But you won’t have time to do them all. Acoma is much closer to the road than Zuni; the Petrified Forest and the Meteor Crater are likewise pretty close to the interstate.

Canyon de Chelly, on the other hand, is a 75 mile/1 hour-plus detour north of I-40. I’ve been there, I think it’s well worth a visit, but it would probably require an overnight stay if you do it on the way to Sedona. One bonus, though: the Hubbell Trading Post at Ganado is right on your way there, is historic, and has a great collection of Navajo rugs and art. Still, I'm not sure I would recommend this given your limited time.

I love Sedona. I recommend the Pink Jeep Tour of the Broken Arrow Wilderness Area. For a pleasant, not too challenging hike, try the West Fork of Oak Creek. If you can stand the bone-chilling water, go swimming at Slide Rock State Park. I love having breakfast or dinner at L’Auberge de Sedona’s restaurant by the banks of Oak Creek. Watch the sunset from the Airport overlook. And there are some wonderful galleries of Arizona photography there – I like the one of Greg Lawson in the Hillside Sedona galleries on Highway 89A just south of the bridge over Oak Creek.

There are three ways to get to the Grand Canyon from Sedona: through Williams, as you’ve proposed; by means of US Highway 180 northwest out of Flagstaff; or up US Highway 89 and then cut west at Cameron on Arizona Highway 64. Personally, I strongly recommend the latter. The route through Williams is pretty nondescript. Going up Highway 89, however, there are several points of interest – Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument (another extinct? volcano with a short nature trail); Wupatki National Monument (some interesting Puebloan structures about 5-7 miles east of the highway),; and another classic Indian trading post at Cameron. Plus, if you come in on Highway 64, you get to cover all of the eastern vantage points of the Canyon along the Colorado River on your way in.

I have one recommendation for the Grand Canyon itself. It’s worth it to take one of the helicopter rides, and worth it to take one of the longer 55-60 minute ones. It takes about 8-10 minutes of choppering from the airport even to get to the South Rim of the Canyon, so as if you take a 25-30 minute tour, that doesn’t give you all that much time over the Canyon. Take one of the longer tours, and you can go up to the confluence of the Little Colorado and the Colorado, and also fly over the different landscape of the North Rim. It’s costly – probably around $900 for four persons – but in my view, it was well worth it.

I’ve posted some photo albums on Flickr from past trips to this area that may be interesting or helpful to you. Here are the links. First, Santa Fe itself:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/276859...7624927451776/

The High Road to Taos:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/276859...7625233943358/

Bandelier National Monument:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/276859...7625109026981/

Sedona:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/276859...7632778236402/

And the Grand Canyon (many of these were taken on the helicopter tour):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/276859...7632560721363/

thank you all for your comments. i'm sorry it has taken me so long to reply but i was dealing with illness in my family and had to put this trip on the back burner, so to speak.
our friends are coming the 1 of sept and would like to leave on this trip about sept 4. i suspect it will be VERY warm but there is nothing we can do about the time of the trip.
i appreciate your suggestions very much and now have time to give them some consideration.
again, thank you
helaine

The comments you've had so far cover the many options you have nicely. You now need to nail down which ones are "must sees" for you and get your lodging arranged.

I totally agree that the trip into GC from 40, north on 89 then west on 64 is the best approach to the park. If you can't get lodging in the park, then check Cameron Trading Post right near the junction of 89 and 64.

You can tour an interesting home at the Cameron Trading Post.

HTtY