So many stops on our 6.5 week road trip around the U.S. deserve their own posts. I’m not sure if we’ll ever get a chance to cover all our travels, but today we’re spilling about Albuquerque, NM!
As a Florida girl through and through, I was surprised how much I loved experiencing the Southwest. I’ve never spent any extended time on that side of the country and it really is amazing. It’s fierce and beautiful. And parts of Arizona and New Mexico just took my breath away!
At nearly the very end of our trip, we stopped for two nights in Albuquerque and it was the kids first time visiting New Mexico. We tried to give them a taste for the Southwest even though it wasn’t a long trip! We kept everyone in sunscreen and sunglasses, and drank plenty of water because it is DRY, folks.
Old Town
We started out by visiting the historic Old Town. The kids loved exploring and checking out the distinctive architecture.
In the plaza’s gazebo they got their wiggles out by racing around before we attended the gorgeous historic church of San Felipe de Neri for Mass.
The church was built in 1793! And it’s just stunning. The inside is even more beautiful, but I always feel weird taking photos inside churches. So, you’ll have to use your imagination.
While you’re in Old Town, be sure to stop by the Church St. Cafe for lunch!
The Albuquerque BioPark
We took a siesta before heading to the BioPark for the afternoon. There was more than enough to do, so we started in the Aquarium to escape the midday heat.
Then we strolled the Botanical Gardens. The kids are still talking about the gardens which look like they’re right out of a fairytale!
We highly recommend the BioPark if you’re traveling with children. You could spend the whole day there!
The Flying Star
After it was suggested by a few readers, we tried the Flying Star Cafe and it was delicious!
Lots of great options for food allergies, too, including gluten-free pancakes which made our kids so happy.
Nativo Lodge
We stayed at the Nativo Lodge which has tons of southwestern flare and offers several rooms that have been painted by artists. We stayed in one and it was stunning.
Our kids were obsessed with the decor.
The hotel included it’s own restaurant which is a blessing from above when traveling with small children.
The Indian Fry Bread was amazing and they had red chili and green chili sauce for everything.
I wish we’d had another full day spend in Albuquerque because there were bunches of things we couldn’t cram in to our visit! The kids were really disappointed that we didn’t have a chance to take the summer chairlift ride up to Sandia Peak. Next time 😉
Have you ever been to Albuquerque? What are your recommendations for food and fun there?
A big thanks to the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau for helping us set up this trip!
We took an extended family vacation to ABQ this past summer. We live in Denver so it is a great driving distance location with little ones (seven kids, seven and under to be exact). People thought it was the craziest vacation spot they had ever heard of but we absolutely loved it and would go back for sure! The Biopark alone is worth the trip!
Wow! People said we were brave for road tripping with our three. 7 under 8? You’re a rockstar!
All the photos are beautiful! Adding this to my list of must-visit places.
Thanks, Hannah! It’s a cool place 😉
We are planning to take a trip to Albuquerque soon to hear Richard Rohr speak. We’ll be traveling with a newborn and a toddler, so the Biopark sounds perfect. Quiet enough for the little one to enjoy, with lots of things for our rambunctious girl to explore. And Old Town sounds like it’s right up this Momma’s alley. Thank you for your helpful advice!
Yes! The BioPark will be perfect for that! Hope y’all have a blast.
We live here! The Balloon Fiesta, which is going on right now, is a lot of fun (but crowded!); it’s always during the first part of October, and is worth a special trip. The Sandia Peak Tram is really neat–it’s too bad you all missed that. We live in the far north of Albuquerque, so we rarely venture down to Old Town, but it is something special, as is the Old Town/Plaza area in Santa Fe. Santa Fe has some truly ancient (for North America) Catholic churches, all very beautiful. Our cathedral is up there.
Yes! We were so bummed to miss Sandia Peak. And I’ve always wanted to visit Santa Fe! Maybe that’ll be next on our list 😉
I’m so glad to see that I’m not the only one who feels weird about taking photos in churches. I was in Madrid for WYD ’11 and it got kind of hard for me to see everyone taking photos of everything and not just soaking it all in and enjoying the moment. The photo rarely does it justice anyway!