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Southwest Native Trails End Albuquerque with Balloon Fiesta
Operated by Trafalgar
Tripcode: DPTBAM20
Overview
Destination:
United States,
United States Of America,
Start:Albuquerque, United States Of America
Finish:Albuquerque, United States Of America
Finish:Albuquerque, United States Of America
Duration:12 days
Type:Group tour (max 45)
Travel Period
October 2025 - October 2025
This complete immersion in Native American Cultural Heritage will delight anyone who is interested in this rare opportunity to delve deeper into the captivating culture, traditions and history of the Ancestral Puebloans who once thrived in America's Southwest landscapes. This itinerary will include the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, the largest hot air balloon festival in the U.S., and end in Albuquerque.
Sightseeing highlights
- Explore Pueblo Bonito "Great House" and the North Rim scenic drive with a Local Specialist
- Visit Petroglyph National Monument, Chaco Canyon National Historical Park, Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, Hovenweep National Monument, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Monument Valley Tribal Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Durango, Taos Pueblo, Santa Fe, Tesuque Pueblo, Bandelier National Monument
- View Square Tower Unit at Hovenweep, Chaco Canyon's White House, Bandelier National Monument
- Scenic Drive along Colorado's Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway
- Visit the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, dedicated to the life, art, and legacy of Georgia O'Keeffe, one of the most significant American artists of the 20th century. The museum offers a comprehensive view of her work, which spans over 60 years and includes more than 3,000 pieces of art. The museum houses the largest collection of O'Keeffe's work in the world. This includes her iconic large-scale flower paintings, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. The Museum plays a vital role in preserving and promoting the legacy of an artist who significantly influenced American modernism. It also contributes to the cultural and artistic landscape of Santa Fe, a city renowned for its vibrant art scene.
Iconic Experience
- Albuquerque: Home to one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America, featuring designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers 400 to 700 years ago. These images are a valuable record of cultural expression and hold profound spiritual significance for contemporary Native Americans and for the descendants of the early Spanish settlers.
- Albuquerque: Visit the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, gateway to the 19 Pueblos. Learn about the pueblo from ancient times to modern day through the museum and art galleries.
- See the graceful red sandstone arch geological formation for which the capital is named Tségháhoodzání (Window Rock). The small Memorial Tribal Park is not only home to Window Rock, but also to the Veterans Memorial, built to honour the many Navajo people who served in the U.S. military.
- Canyon De Chelly National Monument: See an ancient community built into a sandstone cliff as you peer over the edge of the White House Overlook to see the mastery of Ancient Puebloan construction. Watch nature defy gravity when you encounter Spider Rock and hear the legend of the mythical Spider Woman who is said to live in this towering stone spire.
- Bluff: Visit Hovenweep National Monument, one of the most intriguing pre-historic settlements in the Southwest, known for its six major villages and more than 300 additional sites within the National Monument.
- Taos: Experience Taos Plaza, a Historical Landmark and artist colony in the heart of the Taos Historic District, home of 65 galleries, shops, restaurants, and 21 landmarks.
- Taos: Explore Taos Pueblo with Local Specialists who call Taos Pueblo home. Gain insight into the history of the pueblo and what it is like to live there today.
- Cross the Rio Grande Bridge, a steel deck arch bridge, roughly 600 ft above the Rio Grande and one of the highest bridges in the United States.
- Taos: Journey through arid landscapes as you travel along High Road, a cultural and geographical feast for the eyes. Arrive in Santa Fe, the 'City Different' and one of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network, as City of Design and City of Crafts and Folk Art.
- Albuquerque: Over nine days in October, the much-anticipated sight of colourful balloons punctuate Albuquerque's skyline. During this season, the sky is bluer, the days are gentler and the mornings crisper, and on the desert’s warm breath sails the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
Dive Into Culture
- Visit Trujillo's weaving shop and admire the New Mexico weaving tradition that dates back to Spanish Colonial times. Learn about the Trujillo family, whose members have been weavers in the Chimayo tradition for eight generations.
Standard inclusions
- 11 Breakfast (B)
- 2 Lunch (L)
- 3 Dinner (D)
- 1 Welcome Reception (WR)
Itinerary
Expand all 
Collapse all
Collapse allKick Start Your Trip at Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta
You're in for a wild time at Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta. Explore Old Town Albuquerque if you like before meeting your Travel Director and fellow travellers for a Welcome Reception at your hotel.
Uncover the History of the Ancestral Puebloans
Trace centuries-old stories etched in stone by Ancestral Puebloan peoples and early Spanish settlers at the Petroglyph National Monument. Marvel at the designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks 400 to 700 years ago, a valuable record of cultural expression and of profound spiritual significance for Native Americans and the descendants of the early Spanish settlers. Continue to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center as you appreciate insights into the pueblo from ancient times to modern day through the museum and art galleries. The rest of the day is yours to enjoy at leisure. Perhaps join an optional visit to Sandia Peak Tramway to ascend one of America’s most stunning urban peaks where an 11,000 square mile panoramic view awaits.
Explore Chaco Canyon Stays With Stories Make Travel Matter
You’ll love this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience along your Southwest Journey as you visit the Chaco Canyon inside Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Head on a field trip with your Local Specialist to Pueblo Bonito, an important “Great House” in modern day culture (should weather conditions render the dirt road to Chaco Canyon unsafe, your Travel Director will arrange visits to more accessible destinations of historical and cultural significance). Tonight, your Stays With Stories is historic El Rancho Hotel, home to many starlets in the 'Westerns' genre during the 1930s-40s.
Delve Into the Legacy of the Navajo Make Travel Matter
This morning, stop at Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation, where you'll see the Window Rock geologic formation and the World War II Navajo Code Talkers' Memorial and learn how Navajos helped the United States win WWII. Take a step back in time and visit the Hubbell Trading Post National Historical Site, and learn how the Navajo and settlers once traded. Delve into the story of Lorenzo Hubbell, who had a major influence on Navajo rug weaving and silversmithing. After a visit to the Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center, meet your certified Navajo Local Specialist and board your 6X6 vehicle to marvel at the stunning scenery with sandstone cliffs, canyons, and beautiful artwork in the forms of pictographs, petroglyphs and ruins in this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience.
Marvel at Canyon de Chelly National Monument Make Travel Matter
See an ancient community built into a sandstone cliff as you peer over the edge of the White House Overlook to see the mastery of Ancient Puebloan construction. Watch nature defy gravity when you encounter Spider Rock and hear the legend of the mythical Spider Woman who is said to live in this towering stone spire. Enter Monument Valley National Tribal Park, a symbol of the American West with its iconic landscape of enormous rock features, including mesas, cliffs, and buttes made famous as the location for dozens of films stretching back almost a century. Meet your Navajo Local Specialist for a private guided excursion of Monument Valley in this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Continue deeper into the valley while experiencing the sights of Monument Valley through the eyes of your Navajo guide. Travel along backroads and trails unavailable to the public while learning the history and local culture of the Dineh people.
Time Hop to Prehistoric Settlements in the Southwest Stays With Stories Make Travel Matter
Head to Hovenweep National Monument, an intriguing prehistoric settlement. As you travel through the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, stop at Southwest Colorado's leading archeological museum at the Canyon of the Ancients Visitor Center for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Then have an insightful viewing of the Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites at Mesa Verde National Park. From the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum, you can see the park's third largest cliff dwelling, Spruce Tree House. This evening your Stays With Stories is at the historic Strater Hotel in Durango.
Dive into Durango
Spend your day at leisure exploring the historic town of Durango. Choose to go farther afield taking an optional scenic drive on Colorado’s Million Dollar Highway (U.S. Route 550), from the town of Ouray, known as the Switzerland of America, to the historic mining town of Silverton. Enjoy the panoramic views of one of the most scenic drives in the U.S. as you reach the summit at Red Mountain Pass at over 11,000 ft. Take time to explore and have lunch in Silverton before heading back to Durango. You can even choose to book a ride back onboard the historic Silverton narrow gauge steam train, an unforgettable step back in time aboard a coal-fired, steam-powered train. Chug along rails originally laid at the end of the 19th century winding through a spectacular wilderness (dependent on availability and season). If you are feeling more adventurous, opt for a white water rafting trip on the Animas River.
Discover Taos Pueblo Dive Into Culture Connect with Locals
Make your way through the mountains and into New Mexico, arriving at the Rio Grande Gorge, a geological feature where the watercourse of the Rio Grande follows a tectonic chasm. Cross the Taos Landmark Site of the Rio Grande Bridge, a steel arch bridge that stands roughly 600 feet above the Rio Grande. This afternoon, Dive Into Culture in charming Taos beginning at Taos Plaza, a Historical Landmark and artist colony in the heart of the Taos Historic District, home of 65 galleries, shops, restaurants and 21 landmarks. Join a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience when you tour Taos Pueblo, a World Heritage Center and National Historic Landmark, with a Local Specialist. Connect with Locals who call the Pueblo home and learn about these iconic, multi-storied adobe buildings, built roughly 1,000 years ago. A piece of the past in the present, about 150 Puebloans still live within the pueblo today. Gain insight into life in the pueblo and leave with stories one can only hear from locals.
Uncover the High Road from Taos to Santa Fe
Start the day taking the High Road from Taos to Santa Fe and visit Trujillo's weaving shop. Dive Into Culture learning first-hand how these eighth-generation weavers use one of a kind handwoven techniques. Visit Nambe Village, an active indigenous community at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains along the Rio Grande River, for a traditional feast day meal prepared by elders at the Pojoaque Pueblo Seniors Center. During this Be My Guest experience, learn more about Nambe culture over lunch and conversation. Continue to Bandelier National Monument and delve into the history of the people that inhabited this area 1,000 years ago. These fascinating cliff dwellings have been designated as one of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network, City of Design and City of Crafts and Folk Art.
Savour the Culture of Santa Fe Make Travel Matter
This morning, we head to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum where you will explore the complex and inspiring world of an American modernist painter. This afternoon you’ll love the eye-opening MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience where you'll meet Emigdio Ballon, the agricultural director at the Tesuque Pueblo Community Farm. Learn about this Indigenous community and their efforts to achieve food sovereignty by preserving heirloom seeds and growing their own food.
Depart Albuquerque
Your journey through the desert landscape is at its end. Time to bid farewell to newfound friends and start dreaming of new adventures.
Departure dates
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Operator
Trafalgar
The best of the world unlocked for you. Imagine unmissable experiences you’ve always dreamed of, getting to know the locals and having everything taken care of every step of the way. Here's what you'll experience: Must-sees to local secrets: Visiting bucket list sites are a highlight of travelling, however, travelling on your own can make them hard work. Don’t queue with other sightseers for hours, with Trafalgar our experts unlock doors – think exclusive access to the Vatican out of hours or a tour of Versailles and its grounds with an expert. This, coupled with the intimate glimpses and hidden gems our local specialists show you, are the life-changing experiences that make you feel like an insider, not a tourist. One-of-a-kind experiences: Thanks to our global network you’ll unlock local access to communities and people around the world. Our 100+ Be My Guest experiences are a signature Trafalgar exclusive, where you will enjoy the hospitality of locals as you are welcomed into their homes to hear their stories and learn about their cultures. In every destination, you’ll also enjoy unique “Stays with stories” accommodation: more than just a place to rest your head, they are part of the heritage and fabric of the communities you visit. Responsible travel at heart: When you choose Trafalgar, you are choosing to make your travels a force for good and support our goal to MAKE TRAVEL MATTER®. We recognise our responsibility to ensure we make a positive impact on the planet we call home, the people we visit, and the rich wildlife we find. We ensure that the impacts of our business and your travels are positive in two ways: through our TreadRight Foundation, and our 5-year sustainability strategy How We Tread Right.
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