Experience the best of Albuquerque

Albuquerque lies at about 1,600 metres in the high desert, along the Rio Grande, with the Sandia Mountains rising on its eastern edge. Old Town, founded in 1706, is a plaza of adobe buildings around the church of San Felipe de Neri, now home to craft shops, galleries and courtyard restaurants. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center presents the history and art of New Mexico's nineteen pueblos, and neon-lit motels along Central Avenue recall the days of Route 66.

The Sandia Peak aerial tramway climbs to the crest of the mountains at over 3,000 metres, where the view stretches across the desert, and the mountains glow pink at sunset, which gave them their Spanish name for watermelon. Petroglyph National Monument, on the west mesa, protects thousands of images carved in volcanic rock. Every October, hundreds of hot-air balloons rise at dawn at the International Balloon Fiesta. Santa Fe lies to the north and Acoma Pueblo to the west.

New Mexican food is built on red and green chile, served on enchiladas, burritos and stews, with blue corn, sopaipillas, puffed fried bread drizzled with honey, and carne adovada. In autumn the smell of roasting green chile drifts from roadside stands. The weather is dry and sunny, winters are cold with occasional snow, and afternoon storms arrive in late summer.