Breaking Bad Tour: Culture and Travel Context

The Breaking Bad Tour will take you past many of the most important filming locations for AMC's highly acclaimed television series, Breaking Bad. Set and produced almost exclusively in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the show follows the rise and fall of Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with lung cancer and turns to cooking meth.

The show, along with its spin-off series Better Call Saul, make extensive use of Albuquerque's scenery, so much so that you're likely to happen across a familiar vista or location from the show just by passing through town. This tour focuses on the most prominent filming locations, which are scattered across the city. Expect to spend a full day to see all of them, or better yet work them into a longer trip to Albuquerque.

The obvious first step is to watch all five seasons of Breaking Bad. This tour guide will contain major spoilers in the descriptions of its stops, so be forewarned.

Because Albuquerque is in the high desert, take the normal precautions for the climate: drink lots of water, don't exert yourself before getting used to the high altitude, and wear the appropriate clothing. In the summer, wear sunscreen and sunglasses, and don't be surprised if a thunderstorm occurs in the afternoon. Winters are chilly, with temperatures frequently falling below freezing at night, so bring an extra sweater.

Other than that, the only other thing you really need is a car with a full tank of gas. You might want to take timing into consideration to avoid heavy traffic: though Albuquerque doesn't have traffic jams nearly as bad as many other Western cities, the weekday morning and afternoon rush hours still involve some congestion, with Saturdays being another high traffic time. The freeways and the river crossings are the most prone to congestion. For the less adventurous, you can pay $75 to have a guided tour in an RV.

Detailed information on getting into and around Albuquerque is located on the respective city page. If you're flying into town, the 1 Albuquerque International Sunport, the city's major airport, has been used as a filming location, with the entrance and the parking garage just across from the front doors used in a number of scenes.

For this tour, you will need a car, as the locations are spread too far out to make other options feasible, save for the handful of private tour operators who will drive you around (a far more expensive option, and generally reserved only for those who really want to leave the driving to someone else).

There are three clusters of filming locations: one in the Northeast Heights, one in the Nob Hill/University area, and one in the Downtown area, with plenty of other locations scattered throughout the city. Despite the sprawling nature of the city, the good news is that it's hard to get truly lost in Albuquerque, thanks to the looming presence of the Sandia Mountains: just remember that the mountains are east and you'll be able to work your way around. Street addresses contain a NE/NW/SE/SW suffix that denote where in the city they are located, with the quadrants split by the railroad tracks and Central Avenue, which run roughly parallel to the two interstate highways, I-25 (which runs north-south) and I-40 (east-west).

We'll start our tour—where else? Where it all began: 1 Walter White's house at 3828 Piermont Dr NE, home of Walter, Skyler, and Walt Jr (and, eventually, Holly). This is a private residence; though the owner has been a good sport about gawking tourists, don't enter the premises or, God forbid, try to throw a pizza on the roof.

From here it's a quick ride to 2 Saul Goodman's office in a strip mall at 9800 Montgomery Blvd NE, at the corner of Eubank and Montgomery. The place has changed hands a few times since the show aired, so Saul's inflatable Statue of Liberty is no longer present, but the storefront windows with Saul's name on them have been saved by the current occupants.

This cultural overview is an excerpt of a community travel guide. Confirm current access, schedules and prices with the venue before planning a visit.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Breaking Bad Tour by Wikivoyage contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.