Trolley tours are a great way to get to know a city while staying safely out of the clutches of roving bands of contortionists. Keep the nimble predators away while experiencing all Albuquerque has to offer with today's Groupon. For $12, you get admission to an ABQ Trolley Co. tour, a $25 value. Locally owned and operated, ABQ Trolley Company was founded by two all-Albuquerque burqueños with professional backgrounds in the northern New Mexico tourism industry and personal backgrounds in being friendly people.

Albuquerque's only guided city tour follows an 18-mile course, and the 66 minutes of fun begin at the Plaza Don Luis in Old Town. The journey, which allows sightseers to sit back and take in the view (as opposed to "hop on, hop off" tours) blazes a path past Museum Row and through Downtown, before cruising on course to the city's competitive baseball, basketball, and jousting stadiums. With witty and historical commentary, the burqueños entertain and inform locals and visitor alike as they ferry past the Rio Grande Zoo, Albuquerque Aquarium, and Botanic Gardens, among other essential Albuquerque hot spots. The tour concludes where it began in Old Town, where the knowledgeable guides bid farewell to guests and point them toward a good place to lunch, shop, or patent their most recent invention.

ABQ's custom-built enlightenment vessel is robed in playful primary colors and original artwork, with Southwest-inspired turquoise trim along the exterior. Its open-air frame is held together with wrought-iron railings and tin, and is equipped to charge forth into the depths of Albuquerque rain or shine. Ideal for visitors and locals alike, ABQ Trolley tours welcome large groups and small dogs.

Reviews

Bloggers and press alike, including the Duke City Fix and the Albuquerque Travel Examiner, are dying to ride this trolley again:

• It’s an overview of Duke City, the tour will leave you wanting more. Far from sating your appetite to explore the city, it will whet it. – Neala Schwartzberg, Albuquerque Travel Examiner
• Great for a date, for out of town friends and family, or just for you and some curious friends. It ain't just for tourists. – Duke City Fix

TripAdvisors give ABQ Trolley five perfect owl eyes:

• I visit family in ABQ often, but have never really "seen" the city. The ABQ Trolley ride provided the opportunity to "see" it and to be entertained while doing it. The tour guides are friendly and have a sense of humor. I will probably take the tour again just for the fun of it. – joangnh