4 Day Itinerary for Albuquerque

My husband and I were finally able to attend one of our bucket list trips to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the International Balloon Fiesta. This year marked the 50th year for the fiesta! Did you know it all started in a mall parking lot with 13 balloons by the balloon pilot Sid Cutter?

Here is our 4 day itinerary:

Day 1: Bow & Arrow Brewing, Balloon Fiesta (for evening glow), dinner at El Pinto

Day 1

This was our driving day. Albuquerque is 9 1/2 hours from our home in Oklahoma. We left at 5:15am central time and arrived to Albuquerque around 2:45 mountain time. Since we couldn’t check into our AirBnB until 3, we decided to stop at a local brewery and sit outside. Bow & Arrow Brewing was the perfect stop! After enjoying a beer, we headed to our place. Once we got our bags unloaded and our pups settled in the little casita, we headed out for the balloon glow. Unfortunately, the wind speeds picked up and the balloons did not light up. We went to dinner at El Pinto to enjoy some mexican cuisine.

(Note: There are also a number of homes on VRBO if you are looking to stay in Albuquerque.)

Day 2: Balloon Fiesta (mass ascension), Golden Crown Panaderia, Sandia Peak Tram, Balloon Fiesta (evening glow), dinner at Frontier Restaurant

Day 2

We started the day very early, leaving our AirBnB at 4:15am to head to Sunday’s Mass Ascension at the International Balloon Fiesta. The balloon park was 10 minutes from our place, and with traffic we arrived around 5:00am to the general admission parking lot. Once we arrived in to the gates of the balloon park, we walked around and bought some hot coffee and cinnamon roll from one of the vendors. Shortly after 6am, the aerial drone light show began. The weather was a little windy so there was no dawn patrol show or morning glow. However, at 7:15 many of the balloons started to inflate and the national anthem followed. Before we knew it, the first balloon was in the air! Many others followed. We witnessed hundreds of balloons go up into the sky. The mass ascension was magical! At 10:00 there were still balloons getting ready to take off. It was simply amazing to see!

Upon heading back to our place, we stopped at the Golden Crown Panaderia for lunch and fruit filled empanadas. The panaderia bakes their own breads, pastries, and cookies. Everything was delicious and we highly recommend a stop here if you are in the Albuquerque area!

The next part of our day was spent at the Sandia Peak tram. We purchased tickets the day prior for the 1-3pm arrival time. We arrived right at 1:00 and joined the line to wait to ride the tram. The wait was about 45 minutes, as there are only 2 trams and each one holds 42 people counting the employees. The journey up the mountain on the tram was not only beautiful but also a learning experience. The tram operator shared history along with stories and geographical information about the area. We arrived to the top of the mountain, where the weather can be as much as 30 degrees cooler. Thankfully, we dressed in layers. We enjoyed the amazing views from the lookout deck, then stopped in the Ten3 restaurant for a drink. Afterwards, we took the tram back down the mountain.

Since we didn’t see the balloon glow on Saturday evening, we were able to take our tickets and re-enter the balloon park on Sunday evening. We arrived at the park around 5:30, walked around and waited to see the glow. Again, the weather was not cooperating. Wind speeds were increasing and the balloon glow was cancelled. After a long day, we picked up dinner to-go from the Frontier Restaurant.

Day 3: Gondola Club at the Balloon Fiesta, St. Clair winery & bistro, Gruet wine tasting, dinner at Farina Pizzeria & Wine Bar

Day 3

Our final morning at the Balloon Fiesta was more laid-back. We had passes to the Gondola Club. This is the way to go if your budget allows, but you must purchase tickets well in advance! Your Gondola Club ticket purchase includes a parking pass, all you can eat breakfast buffet, private restrooms, private souvenir shop, and plenty of tables/seats to watch the balloons take off! Since it was a Monday morning and traffic was light, we left our casita around 4:45. We arrived to the parking area by 5:15 and were shuttled via golf cart up to the Gondola Club entrance. Once inside, we grabbed a hot beverage and found some seats at a table. Then we had breakfast and enjoyed visiting with the volunteers. We learned about the history of the balloon fiesta and other attractions to visit while in Albuquerque. The yellow flag was in place so the balloons were on hold to go up. Instead they did a static balloon hold. This is where the balloons inflate and just stay tethered to the ground. Again, a very neat experience to see!

Later in the afternoon, we had lunch and wine tasting. One of the volunteers at the balloon fiesta recommended the St. Clair winery and bistro (it’s now called Les Combes) so we stopped in for a quick bite and to purchase some wine. Afterwards, we had wine tasting reservations at Gruet winery. My husband and I had wine flights. At Gruet, you may pick any wines from their menu for the flight, even the reserved selections! Concluding our tasting, we went to Rude Boy Cookies for a sweet treat!

We enjoyed a nice dinner at Farina Pizzeria & Wine Bar. We began with a salad, which was one of their daily specials. Next, was the Salsicccia pizza for our main course. And of course we had to try their well-known Butterscotch Budino for dessert!

Day 4: Breakfast at Campo at Los Poblanos ranch, Petroglyph National Monument and park, Old Town Albuquerque, lunch at Church Street Cafe, Tractor Brewing

Day 4

Knowing this was a busy time of year in Albuquerque, I booked reservations online for breakfast at Campo weeks in advance of this trip. On our drive here this morning we saw many hot air balloons in the sky. Just incredible! At Campo, we were seated inside their beautiful dining room. I enjoyed a Lavender Latte and Kevin had a Bloody Mary. For breakfast, I had the Farm breakfast and Kevin had the Chilaquiles. Both meals were delicious! We will definitely return here when we are back in Albuquerque. Afterwards, we stopped in the gift shop on site. I purchased their lavender hand soap, lotion, and lip balm. Then, we drove to see the petroglyphs at the Petroglyph National Monument. We arrived at the visitors center where park employees assisted us in with the trails to see the petroglyphs. We walked through two trails and were able to see many petroglyphs.

The afternoon was spent in historic Old Town area of Albuquerque. It was crowded! There was a mariachi band playing in the gazebo in the center park of Old Town. We strolled through the area, then stopped in Church Street cafe. Since there was about an hour wait, we visited several shops where we bought New Mexico Piñon coffee to take home. (By the way, I love their pinon coffee!) Once our table was ready, we headed back to Church Street Cafe for margaritas, chips and salsa, and fajita chicken salad. I had the Prickly Pear margarita and Kevin had a classic margarita. To date, these are the best margaritas we have had!

Later in the day, we went to Tractor Brewing.

Day 5: On our drive home we picked up donuts from Bristol Doughnut Co.

More recently, we were able to visit Albuquerque on our way to Arizona. Noisy Water Winery has a wine tasting room with a gift shop in Old Town. This was on our list to stop from our previous trip, but they were closing on the evening we made it by. Luckily, we were able to stop in for wine tasting on this trip!

Afterwards, we dined at Antiquity, which is a little hidden gem in Albuquerque’s Old Town. It is fine dining and is definitely worth it if you can snag reservations. Tip: make reservations about a month in advance.

While in Old Town, we enjoyed morning coffee and quiche at the Blackbird Coffee House. The weather was beautiful so we sat outside on their little patio area in the courtyard surrounded by a lovely garden.

We also enjoyed going through downtown Albuquerque, where we stopped at Boese Brothers Brewery. They have a cute mural on the wall outside (which makes a great background for photos!)

Sixty Six Acres was near our VRBO so we chose to dine inside there on our last night before our return trip home. They have a really nice patio area, as well as cold drinks and great food!

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