Albuquerque

Albuquerque needs 2 days: touring the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Smithsonian-affiliated and dedicated to the atomic age since the Manhattan Project, on one, and riding the Sandia Peak Tramway, one of the longest aerial trams in the world, to see the city from 3,160 meters up, on the other. September-October coincides with the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the world's largest hot air balloon event. It's inexpensive for a major Southwestern city. It's New Mexico's most populous city, and its proximity to Los Alamos and White Sands -where the first atomic bomb was developed and tested- made it a key hub of US nuclear research since the 1940s.