My boyfriend and I (I'm mid 20s and he's early 30s) are planning a trip to New Mexico this September. Even after looking at a ton of threads here, I still don't know where to start.

He's really into the Roswell thing where I'm more into seeing the White Sands Monument, Tent Rocks, etc. We will be flying in on a Wednesday (morning) and flying back home to Boston on the following Sunday (evening). We will have a car to drive around, but don't want to spend the entire trip in a vehicle. I'm big on taking pictures of everything, so I like to site see and explore

Any help would be appreciated, even with places to eat as that's one of our favorite things to do. We especially enjoy little hole in the wall places.

Thanks in advance, you're all always so helpful here!

Sante Fe is a great artist's town - and then head up to Taos and take the Ring of Fire drive around/above Taos - and there are a couple little western themed holes in the wall on that road.

Here's a little info: http://www.onroute.com/drives/drives_enchantedcir.html

Well Roswell and White sands are south of Albuquerque and Tent Rocks is north. If your flight gets into ABQ fairly early you could head down to Roswell ( 3-4 hrs drive) spend a little time in town, find a place for the night, head for White sands spend a couple of hours and head back to Albuquerque for the night. Then head up to Tent Rocks spend a few hours and then on to Santa Fe.

Driving in New Mexico is very different from driving in the east and we find the ride is part of the fun of being in the area. By driving, then visiting, then driving again you break up the trip a bit, which works for us. This might be too much driving for you, but there is so much to do/see in the area that the time just flies by.

The route emalloy recommends is pretty scenic, so if you aren't jetlagged you could do that.

Personally, I wouldn't spend much time in Roswell; there is a UFO museum but it shouldn't take long to visit. Since you want to go there, are you planning a visit to Carlsbad Caverns? It's about an hour away. You could do Roswell in the morning, drive to Carlsbad, and spend the afternoon at the caverns. www.nps.gov/cave

In the morning, you can drive to White Sands, spend some time there, then start heading toward Albuquerque.

Tent Rocks is about 45 minutes north of Albuquerque and would be nice in the morning. From there it's not far to Santa Fe.

There are a couple of restaurant threads for Albuquerque and Santa Fe in the New Mexico folder. What is your food budget?

Lee Ann

Thank you all for the help! I think we might take your route, emalloy. We don't mind driving at all, especially when there's lots of awesome scenery.

ElendilPickle, thanks for reminding me about Carlsbad! I definitely would love to check that out, so I'll add that into the itinerary. As far as food budget, we're big foodies so unlimited, but neither of us are really into fine dining. Tshirts and jeans types

You'll find plenty of restaurants in the threads I mentioned, then. Debit NM started the Albuquerque thread, and BeachGirl247 started the Santa Fe thread.

Lee Ann