southwest area
 

We are planning a trip to Sante Fe , Durango Tellurideand possibly driving to Vegas, we have 2 weeks. Does this seem to be too much ?
Also can someone suggest some nice places to stay. (WE do like luxury but not too fancy)Can be B&B. Also are there any areas in that region that have some nice lakes?
Any suggestions would be appreciated thanks
Joan

Hi Joan,

Are you driving to the Southwest or will you be flying in? That will make a big difference in whether or not two weeks is enought time.

If you are flying into New Mexico will you have to drive back from Las Vegas?

Will you want to do some siteseeing on the trip from Colorado to Las Vegas?

Lake Powell (Glen Canyon National Recreational Area) on the Utah - Arizona border is the most beautiful lake IMHO. The boat tour out to Rainbow Bridge National Monument is a wonderful experience.

Utahtea

Actually our itenerary will be fly into Denver, make our way to the million dollar highway, durango, sante fe and then drive to Vegas and fly home from there. Very open to any suggestions
Joan

Driving from Durango to Las Vegas will take you through some of the most beautiful country anywhere. I would leave Santa Fe for another time because it will pull you too far south and the drive from New Mexico to Las Vegas is not as interesting as the drive from Colorado through southern Utah to Las Vegas.

Lake Powell is stunning with the red rocks, deep blue water, and clear blue skies most of the time. Water levels are down this year in the lake (check out today's front-page story in the online SLC newspaper (sltrib.com)). Some parts of the lake, particularly around Page, will still have good boating though.

I agree with eliminating Santa Fe or Las Vegas. If you eliminate Las Vegas, you can fly out of Albuquerque, only an hour or so from Santa Fe.

Given the fact that you have 2 weeks, you could do just about anything, including both Santa Fe and Las Vegas. If you decide to keep both cities in your itenerary, it might be worth driving down I-25 from Denver directly to Santa Fe, then up to Pagosa Springs, Durango, Million Dollar Highway, Telluride, then on to Las Vegas via Utah national parks.

It would prob. be better than to start in Sante Fe and avoiid Denver area all together. I am very fexible
Joan

You might check to see if flying into Alburquerque gets you cheaper rates than Santa Fe. I would start in Alburquerque, visit Santa Fe, then work my way to Durango and make a side trip to Mesa Verde before driving up the Million Dollar Highway. Take a side trip to Telluride then go north to Montrose and take a side trip to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Continue north to I-70 and take that west to Utah. At Cisco take Hwy 128 into Moab, Utah. Spend a few days at Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Go back up to I-70 until just past Green River and take Hwy 24 down to Capitol Reef National Park and Torrey, Utah. From Torrey take scenic Hwy 12 down to Bryce Canyon National Park. From Bryce make your way down to Zion National Park and from there Las Vegas.

Utahtea

Joan,
I am also planning a two week trip for this summer, flying into Las Vegas and out of Denver. We considered starting in Denver and ending in Las Vegas, but the price of the car rental was much less out of Las Vegas.