North Central New Mexico

Look, most people think New Mexico is all Breaking Bad and tumbleweeds. But up here in the north-central high desert, you'll find something completely different. Ancient Puebloan cliff dwellings carved into pink sandstone. Art galleries tucked into adobe buildings that are older than the United States. And a landscape that shifts from piñon-studded mesas to the Sangre de Cristo peaks in the span of an hour's drive.

This isn't your typical Southwest experience. Santa Fe's Canyon Road has more galleries per square foot than anywhere else in America. Los Alamos sits on a mesa where scientists split the atom and tourists now hunt for petroglyphs. And scattered throughout are pueblo communities that have called this land home for over 700 years.

The high desert here sits at 7,000 feet, which means cool mornings even in summer and snow that actually sticks in winter. It's a place where you can browse Native American pottery in the morning, hike to ancient ruins in the afternoon, and catch a world-class opera performance under the stars.