Looking for a good itinerary to take in most of New Mexico including Four Corners, Santa Fe, Taos, Carlsbald Caverns, White Sands, Mesa Verde in Colorado, etc. Would probably be flying though Albuquerque. How many days would we need? (Also, we are not interested in hiking). Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

We did a similar trip in April, but only visited some of your sites. Hopefully, some of the following will help.

First, I was really disappointed in renting a car in Albuquerque. The taxes and fees were too much in my opinion.

We flew in to ABQ and went to:

Day 1 - ABQ to Window Rock, AZ
Day 2 - Explored Window Rock
Day 3 - Stayed on the Hopi Reservation
Day 4 - Canyon de Chelly
Day 5 - Canyon de Chelly
Day 6 - Mesa Verde
Day 7 - Chaco Canyon
Day 8 - ABQ and home

You can see my pictures and trip report at: www.mikehoneycutt.com

Let me know if you have questions.

Mike Honeycutt

I think that 7-10 days would be about right in order to visit the places on your list. If you have less than 7 days, you might want to eliminate White Sands and Carlsbad, in order to concentrate on the northern half of the state. When I have a list of places like you do, I've found it helpful to go to mapquest.com and use their itenerary planner to figure out the most efficient route.

What time of year are you going to be traveling? What things do you like to do? Some of the places that are really nice to visit require short walks, but some might consider it hiking, for example, Mesa Verde, Chaco, and Bandelier. Is this going to be okay?

Hope to go late September/early October. Walking is fine... am not interested in any day long hikes. I'll check Mapquest. Thanks for the input.

You're going at a GREAT time! The colors will be changing between Durango and Mesa Verde then. I assume the same will be true for the area around Santa Fe. I'd start with the northern areas first, to catch the color change, then work my way south.