X-Ray and Radio Connections

Santa Fe, New Mexico, 3-6 February 2004

xraydio@aoc.nrao.edu

Directions to the Hilton of Santa Fe and the VLA

Latest update: 26 Sep 2008 [11:49 MDT]

At the Albuquerque airport

After arriving in Albuquerque, proceed two stairways down to the baggage claim area. Directly in front of the staircase at this ground level you will find the visitor booth with all kinds of tourist information. To the left and to the right are the baggage areas. Furthermore, to the left are representatives of rental car companies, and to the right you will find representatives of shuttle services.

To the Hilton of Santa Fe by shuttle bus

There are several door-to-door shuttle services from Santa Fe and Albuquerque airports. They usually require reservations a day or so ahead, especially if you arrive late at night. If you arrive at a reasonable hour they may take you along anyway, charging you about USD 25 for a one way ABQ to Santa Fe trip. You can find ample information searching the web. These are several of the companies with phone numbers and/or email addresses and/or web pages in no particular order:

Roadrunner Shuttle Service from Sante Fe Airport: +1-505-424-3367, meets all arrivals after reservation
Sandia Shuttle Express, on-line reservations, +1-505-474-569 or toll free 888-775-5696, info@sandiashuttle.com, from ABQ till 10:45pm
Santa Fe Shuttle, on-line reservations, +1-505-243-2300 or toll free 888-833-2300, fax +1-505-243-1275, customerservice@sfshuttle.com, from ABQ till 10:45pm
Twin Hearts Express: +1-505-751-1201 or toll free 800-654-9456, from ABQ till 5:30pm
Faust's Transportation +1-505-758-3410 or toll free 888-830-3410, fax 505-758-1418, faustbus@laplaza.org, from ABQ till 1:30pm
Arriving in Lamy with AMTRAK's Southwest Chief, call the Lamy Shuttle for a reservation +1-505-982-8829
Arriving at the Santa Fe Bus Station, 858 St Michael's Dr, with TNM&O coaches (or Greyhound bus), it is probably easiest to take a taxi
Staying in Albuquerque first: Albuquerque Cab Company at (505) 883-4966

To the Hilton of Santa Fe by car

These are some useful maps of downtown Santa Fe in pdf format: this one is large, but when printed on standard paper you can still read the street names. In this map (you probably have to choose the 'shrink' option in 'print') we have put some directions and points of recognition. Unfortunately by doing so, the street names are less readable. Here are the driving directions from Albuquerque:

Drive away from the airport toward the West - do NOT exit using Gibson, Yale or University
You will hit the I-25 - take the right hand side entrance to the I-25 toward Santa Fe (I-25 North)
Drive about 60 miles North on the I-25 until mile/exit 278 - this is Cerrillos Rd (NM 14 North or Route 66)
Continue to follow Cerrillos Rd for ~8 miles and merge left between the railroad and Paseo de Peralta (at the 600/500 block)
At the fork, turn left (i.e. follow the left lane) into Sandoval St - the Hilton is at 100 Sandoval
Continue straight after crossing the (small!) Santa Fe river, the Hilton is at the left hand side
Merge/turn left after about 150ft/50m to enter the Hilton parking area - normal parking is $10 per day;
Hotel guests pay $5/day during the meeting including the bracketing days
If you are not staying at the Hilton or staying longer, it is cheaper to use the public parking on the right ($6/day)
The St Sandoval Municipal Garage has entries on Water St and San Fransisco St (turn right/East on Sandoval - both are one way streets from Sandoval)

To the VLA

The VLA can be reached by car only and is a three hour (!) drive from Santa Fe (about two hours from Albuquerque, and less than one hour from Socorro). We are organizing a guided tour of the VLA site and ALMA test antennas on Monday 2 February 2004 (sign up by Tuesday 20 January 2004). For those of you who are driving or are considering visiting on your own at another time, e.g, for the general public tour on Saturday 7 February 2004, below we describe the route to take. The site closes for the public at sunset, about 5:30pm in February; there is no food or lodging at the site!

Make your way to the I-25, Albuquerque - Las Cruses (from ABQ airport take the left lane: I-25 South)
Exit the I-25 near Socorro at mile/exit 147 (US 60 West) which takes you North on California St
Merge left and take a left at the trafic lights, just after the railroad crossing, into Spring St (US 60 West)
On Spring St, merge left and turn left toward Magdalena/Datil at the STOP sign (US 60 West)
Follow the US 60 West for about 40 minutes until you see a big green sign for the VLA and NM 52
This is about 25 miles past Magdalena, where you now have come out of the trees and hills onto the Plains of San Agustin - the VLA antennas show up as white mushrooms on the left
Take a left after mile 93 for the NM 52. Note that you entered an open ranch - watch out for cattle on the roads!
Just after crossing the railroad, take a right (NM 166) to the visitor center, park the car there only
Enter the visitor center for more information - if you end up anywhere on a dirt road you've gone too far!