Things to do / Travel Guide
Flying to El Paso
El Paso International Airport (ELP) is the only reasonable sized airport serving this far western corner of Texas and the southern strip of New Mexico. ELP is served by most major United States airlines with non-stop flights mainly to their hub cities of Dallas, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Denver and Phoenix. Southwest Airlines offers non-stop service to many of its destinations in the Southwest.
Could be that the folks in El Paso don't have much use for people in Washington and other East Coast cities – flying to El Paso from the Eastern Seaboard will require a plane change, as no non-stop flights are available.
As far as the “International” bit, the only thing international about El Paso International Airport is the cab and bus stand. The Mexican border at Ciudad Juarez is about 5 miles away.
Driving Distance to El Paso, Texas and Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
El Paso, Texas is located on I-10, just about halfway between Los Angeles and Houston, basically making it a long drive from just about everywhere. I-25, to the north of El Paso, puts Albuquerque and Santa Fe within a reasonable 5 hour drive.
- Driving Distance from Santa Fe to El Paso, Texas: 328 miles, 5 hours 10 minutes
- Driving Distance from San Antonio to El Paso: 552 miles, 8 hours 45 minutes
- Driving Distance from Houston to El Paso: 747 miles, 12 hours
- Driving Distance from Los Angeles to El Paso: 803 miles, 12 hours 45 minutes
Driving across New Mexico on US-285 from Santa Fe to Carlsbad Caverns is a 5 1/2 hour trip passing through Roswell, New Mexico. Let us know if you see anything unusual.
Taking the Train to El Paso
If Amtrak's Sunset Limited service seems to spend most of its time in Texas, that is because it does. The route serves San Antonio, Houston and beyond, to New Orleans, where the route abruptly ends. The trip from Houston takes 19 hours. Bear in kind that the train just sits in San Antonio for almost 3 hours, so unless you have comfortable sleeper cabin, you may be slightly annoyed.
From the west, the Sunset Limited starts in Los Angeles in the afternoon and arrives in El Paso by the following morning, less than 18 hours later.
Airports Serving El Paso, Carlsbad, Big Bend, Western Texas and Southern New Mexico
Getting-There
El Paso International Airport (ELP)
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