The distance from Tulsa to Albuquerque is 650 miles, with a 9h19m driving time. The best road trip stops on the Tulsa to Albuquerque drive are Oklahoma City, Fort Reno and Amarillo.
Planning a Tulsa to Amarillo road trip itinerary
The Tulsa to Albuquerque drive connects Oklahoma to New Mexico, as well as two classic stops on Route 66.
Tulsa’s big ticket attraction is Philbrook Museum of Art, but you’ll get more of a local cultural education at the Woody Guthrie Center and the kids will love Tulsa Zoo.
Alternatively, the Tulsa Air and Space Museum has a decent planetarium and Gathering Place is a great park with play areas on the Arkansas River. The classic photo stop, though, is at the enormous Golden Driller statue.
Top experiences in Tulsa include art deco architecture tours and history tours that enter an oil baron’s special tunnel.
5 great Albuquerque experiences to book
- 🎈 Admire the sunrise on a hot air balloon ride across the desert.
- 🌅 Alternatively, take your balloon ride at sunset.
- 🎬 Get on the trail of Walter White with a Breaking Bad filming locations tour.
- 🚴 Take a bike tour – and see Albuquerque’s top natural sights.
- 👻 Listen to spooky historic tales on an Old Town ghost tour.
In Albuquerque, the must-dos are the Sandia Peak Tramway cable car and Petroglyph National Memorial. Explora and the ABQ BioPark are good bets with kids in tow, while the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum explores one of the greatest places in the world for hot air ballooning.
Fabulous Albuquerque experiences include a sunrise hot air balloon flight, old town ghost walks and nature tours by bike. You can also pay a visit to the castle-like Turquoise Museum and old town food tours focusing on New Mexican flavours.
Great Albuquerque accommodation choices include the historic, adobe-style Casas de Suenos and the old town’s art-filled Hotel Chaco.
Tulsa to Albuquerque distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Tulsa to Albuquerque is 650 miles. That makes for a driving time of around nine hours and 19 minutes. The quickest route is along the I-44 and I-40.
The best stops between Tulsa and Albuquerque are Oklahoma City, Fort Reno and Amarillo.
For more suggestions, see the individual guides for the Tulsa to Oklahoma City drive and Oklahoma City to Amarillo drive.
Tulsa to Albuquerque drive: Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City provides a touch of big city life on the plains. The big attraction is the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, which delves into multiple aspects of cowboy culture. It’s a large, detailed, multi-pronged museum.
The sight that’ll probably stick in the memory, however, is the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. This commemorates the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 – the deadliest homegrown terrorist attack in US history.
Great Oklahoma City experiences include craft beer tours by bike, indoor skydiving and art and architecture tours.
Best stops between Tulsa and Albuquerque: Fort Reno
Established in 1874 during the Indian Wars, significant chunks of Fort Reno are still intact, and a big money refurbishment project is underway.
Fort Reno is about as historic as Oklahoma gets, and it marks the start of the transition from largely forgotten territory to a state. The Visitor Center tells Fort Reno’s complex history – including its World War II incarnation as a Prisoner of War camp, and its appearance in Forrest Gump.
Tulsa to Albuquerque road trip attractions: Amarillo
Amarillo is a classic stop on Route 66. Highlights include Cadillac Ranch, an art installation featuring 10 brightly-painted Cadillacs buried nose-first in the ground. You’ll also find the Texas Air and Space Museum here, and the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. For the great outdoors, Palo Duro Canyon State Park is just to the south-east of the city.
For high quality Amarillo accommodation, try the historic Barfield or the spacious Embassy Suites Amarillo Downtown.
More New Mexico travel
Other New Mexico travel guides on Planet Whitley include:
- Getting to Albuquerque: The best stops on the Amarillo to Albuquerque drive, Houston to Albuquerque drive, Lubbock to Albuquerque drive and Austin to Albuquerque drive.
- Guides to visiting the Albuquerque Museum and what to see at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
- What you need to know before visiting Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos.
- Plan your visit to Valles Caldera National Preserve and Aztec Ruins National Monument in north-western New Mexico.
- Guide to visiting El Morro National Monument in western New Mexico.
