2. ALBUQUERQUE

FROM THE ALBUQUERQUE International Sunport, it's a 10-minute cab ride to Old Town, the crossroads of the Southwest for three centuries. More than 150 shops, galleries, and studios surround the historic central plaza. Visitors can watch traditional Native American dances performed daily at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and eat native-fusion cuisine -- from Jemez enchiladas and Tewa tacos to authentic Pueblo Indian fry bread -- at the center’s newly opened Pueblo Harvest Cafe & Bakery. Find sanctuary in the unmarked Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel; located in a shaded courtyard, it's Albuquerque’s best-kept secret. Its adobe-brick walls were hand-formed by six nuns in the 1970s at the behest of the Vatican.

Natives might consider Old Town to be a bit touristy, but the village is authentic and rich with history and information. It’s home to the Turquoise Museum as well as to the American International Rattlesnake Museum, which contains everything from a kitsch Cobra Woman movie poster to serious conservation information.

If you’re looking for something more glamorous, see if you can slip into the background of a movie shoot. Thanks to tax incentives and inimitable scenery, “Albuquerque is rising quickly to the top of the list for best places to film,” says Lexi Petronis, editor in chief of Albuquerque: The Magazine. “Lionsgate is even opening a studio here, not to mention the new Albuquerque Studios [soundstages].” The New Mexico Film Office stays on top of who’s filming what, where, and when.

Albuquerque is also famous for its stellar New Mexican food, which is neither Tex-Mex, Mexican, or California Mexican. Petronis recommends Sadie’s, which is known for its exceptionally hot red- and green-chile sauces and its large portions. For people-watching, try Frontier Restaurant, a diner-style restaurant near the University of New Mexico. Want something faster? Pick up a drippy grilled chili-cheese dog from the always crowded Dog House.

3. SAN ANTONIO

TAKE A 12-MINUTE TAXI ride downtown, and then take your pick from a range of attractions. At the Menger Hotel, you may run into the ghosts of Sarah Bernhardt, Babe Ruth, Mae West, Ulysses S. Grant, or one of the many other guests who have stayed here since the hotel's founding in 1859. Have a Scotch in the bar where Teddy Roosevelt recruited Rough Riders for the Spanish- American War (and where his ghost is said to still linger today); then, grab a meal in the hotel’s gracious Colonial Room.

From there, walk to the nearby Paseo del Rio, better known as the Riverwalk, a 2.5-mile curving strip of San Antonio’s best hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, galleries, and shops. Have a prickly-pear margarita and guacamole -- prepared table side -- at locally owned Boudro’s Texas Bistro.