Albuquerque Travel Forum

I will be traveling at the beginning of march and am wondering what the weather is like, where to go for fun, i will have a rental, like wine tasting, like easy hikes, like nature.

What is the suburban extended stay like?

Is walking alone going to be a problem for me?

Do a side trip to Santa Fe via the Turquoise Trail (Route 14). Stop in Madrid, a funky little artsy town along the way.

Wine Tasting: There are a few wineries north of the city around Bernalillo. There's actual an annual wine festival. I've never been, but it's a big deal there. It's over, but you can use their site as a portal to the wineries: http://www.newmexicowinefestival.com/. Make sure that they're actually open though. Not exactly high season.
Weather: Fairly chilly. Snow should be mostly gone, but there's always a chance it may pile down again (it did last year).
Fun: Nob Hill and Downtown both have nightlife areas. Downtown (Central from 8th to the railroad tracks) has clubs and bars while Nob Hill (Central east of University) is mostly bars, restaurants and a little more college. There are other bars scattered throughout town and a few cool coffee shops, if you're into that.
Easy Hikes: You'll be unfortunately limited to the lower regions in early March, although the best hiking is in the mountains north of the city, closer to Santa Fe. You could drive out to El Malpais and hike the lava fields, or the city itself actually has some pretty nice greenways including one along the Rio Grande.
Nature: There's the Rio Grande Nature Center (http://www.rgnc.org/) and the ABQ Biopark (http://www.cabq.gov/biopark/), which is a zoo/botanical gardens/aquarium in one. The aquarium is a little disappointing though.
I actually stayed at the Suburban Extended Stay last time I was there. It's an old Homestead Suites. I liked it, but it's not in a great neighborhood, although it is convenient and a really good value.
Don't walk around the Menaul area too much, especially alone. There's a supermarket virtually caddy-corner to the hotel, but it's just kinda sketchy around there. There's a police station there also, but it's only somewhat reassuring. You should be okay Downtown and in Nob Hill on bar nights, but don't walk west of 8th or east of the tracks too late.
hth

Jessica, southyrngirl recently asked a very similar question here in the Albuquerque forum. You have the advantage of a rental car though. With a car and four days, you can do both the Turquoise Trail (as suggested in a previous reply) and a loop through the Jemez area, which has plenty of opportunities for easy hikes, then on up to Los Alamos and Santa Fe. I even suggested some possible wine tasting stops. You may even want to try a couple of the hot springs in the Jemez forest. Actually March is a very pleasant time of year in Albuquerque; however, it will still be cold at night. Walking alone in rough or remote terrain is in general not a good policy, but otherwise the areas mentioned here are pretty safe.

We have a great open space in the foothills and the River for hiking in Albuquerque. And also Sandia Mountains on the east side is a short drive.
The west side has a great short hike on the volcanos. You might like the petroglyphs also on the east side. All are very close to the city and easy hikes and you can hike as far as you like.

Sorry the petroglyphs are on the west side. And as all the other places I talked about this is a short hike.