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r/Albuquerque•
allforumer

Things to do in ABQ/NM for 2 guys on a budget

Hi Albuquerque redditors

I have a friend who is flying in from Europe to Albuquerque for a physics conference. I said I'll meet him there (I live in Minnesota) and do fun things for 2-2.5 days. We're on a tight budget ($300/person or so), so I'm trying to figure out what to do during that time.

Both of us like outdoorsy stuff/physically challenging things, if that helps. I am very ignorant about NM, so my first thought was a road trip to Vegas (the Nevada one), but it doesn't seem practical with our constraints.

This trip will be in June. Any ideas/tips for me?

Posted Apr 26, 2012, 8:57 PM UTC · edited

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mneptok•

Drive up the crest road or take the tram to the top of the Sandias. Hiking up there on a non-windy day offers fantastic views.

Petrogylph Monument and the volcanoes are an hour or two of activity combined, and somewhat close together.

There's hiking and biking in the Bosque, the wooded area on the banks of the Rio Grande.

Caliber's rents guns for use in their indoor range. From experience, many Europeans like to go shooting, as it is far less common there.

See Santa Fe. Great day trip by car or RailRunner.

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haylobo•

To add on to mneptok's post:

Our zoo is pretty enjoyable and costs only $7 to get in I believe. There is also the aquarium and biopark, natural history museum, and atomic museum. You guys could walk around Old Town. If you guys are of age, we have a lot of great breweries - Tractor, Marble, Chama River, Kelly's, La Cumbre...and the list goes on.

I hope you guys have a great time here!

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allforumerOP•

Thanks! Your options could easily take up a day or two. We are well past 'of age' - approaching 30 here. Neither of us are huge beer fans, but I'll keep the breweries as options - it's pretty cool to watch the process.

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allforumerOP•

Thanks - that's a lot of good ideas. The conference is actually in Santa Fe (he's flying out of ABQ), so that's a definite possibility.

Does Caliber's allow non-citizens to use the range?

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TiltedPlacitan•

Yes. I've taken a European friend to Calibers. Enjoy!

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mneptok•

Shouldn't be a problem. They care about liability. That's age, not citizenship.

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allforumerOP•

I'm a sucker for pies and puns - thanks for the info! Bandalier looks interesting - I must check out the bean canyon (if I got my spanish right).

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adricm•

Things to remember we are a pretty high altitude, and very dry, While you both may be experienced in outdoorsy stuff, watch out doing things like climbing the La Luz Trail. (up the sandias from Albuquerque).

I think seeing the things that make NM unique is the way to go, perhaps go visit Zuni or Jamez pueblos, visit the bosque (the forested areas along the rio grande river), Don't expect to be impressed by the Rio Grande, its shallow thin and muddy, but its what we have and what coaxes life out of this desert. Chaco Canyon ruins are within a daytrip,

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allforumerOP•

Thanks - I'll read up on high-altitude precautions. Looks like hiking shoes and a water bottle are what's needed for most activities.

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adricm•

and expect to be winded (out of breath) much more easily than you are useto.. ABQ is about 5,000ft the Sandia mountain crest is about 10,000 feet above sealevel.

Water, and good sunscreen, and knowing you are not going to be at top performance.

Another thing that sometimes gets people in trouble here is that you can see so far away, folks useto hiking in more humid lower altitudes think if you can see that ridge over there its just 5-10 miles, where it can actually be 60+

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allforumerOP•

O_o

They should have an 'objects in your vision might be farther than they appear' warning.

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aequitus•

If you'll be here June 8th-10th, there's the Albuquerque Comic Expo!

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CogitoNM•

Screw Calibers, go hiking. Drive from Santa Fe thru Cerrillos and hike up in them hills. Or go up to the Crest and hike around.

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allforumerOP•

Yeah - hiking is definitely on the plan. I'm taking all options in case we aren't able to hike as much as we think we can.

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