This was the whole point of a trip, which I took to Arizona and New Mexico in February, 2026. You see, I am a big “Breaking Bad” fan, I think it’s one of the best things that happened on television ever, and I was always fascinated by the aesthetics of the series. By the New Mexico landscapes, picturesque reddish rocks and dry desert shrubs, by cacti in people’s front yards, and by wide, straight roads of Albuquerque, which never seem to have heavy traffic on them. So, since the series ended, I was thinking about going down there and visiting the filming locations. But life was always getting in the way. Then the prequel, “Better Call Saul”, came out. And it turned out to be even better than the original series! Now, I just HAD to go. Still took me a bit of time, but I finally did it. Since my trip was now about the both series, it should’ve been called “The Walter White & Saul Goodman Tour”, but I had it as just “The Walter White Tour” in my head for so long, it stuck. So be it.
An important disclaimer. I never post on my website anything but my own pictures. But here, I used screenshots from the shows to give a bit of perspective on the location. I tried to mark those images in a very distinct way, so I am hoping, I can be forgiven for this slight infringement of copyright.
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We start with the "main" location - the residence of Walter White, at 3828 Piermont Dr. Remember that iconic T-intersection, where Walter or Skyler (his wife) would spend a long time sitting in their cars and looking at the house they both had come to hate, but for different reasons?The poor people who own this place now, had to put up a metal fence (the only one in the neighbourhood), to ward off weirdos like me, who lurch around snapping pictures.Here′s that famous scene from the series, when Walter, in a fit of rage, throws a pizza onto the roof of the garage. This is such an iconic moment that a lot of fans would later come up to the house and throw a pizza onto the roof, to pay homage. Hence the fence (hey, a pun!).The next location (at 322 16th St SW)) is the residence of the second most important character in the series - Walter′s sidekick Jesse Pinkman. As you can see, it′s a very nice house, located in a very posh neighbourhood.Jesse, being a ne′er-do-well and a small-time drug dealer, only got to live in a house like this because his parents, who owned it, let him stay for free. Later, when Walter made Jesse rich, Jesse covertly bought this house from under his parents, and literally shut the door in their astonished faces. This is the house as depicted in the series.A pic of one of the adjacent streets, just to show you how nice the neighbourhood is. Remember this area, we will be back.Another house, another nice neighbourhood. This is where Marie and Hank lived, Skyler′s sister and her husband the DEA agent. The house is located at 4901 Cumbre Del Sur Ct NE, at the very edge of Sandia mountain range to the east of Albuquerque. And here are Hank and Marie themselves, the proud owners of a dull, huge mansion and a cute, little Beetle.A couple of pictures from the hilltop, with the views over all of Albuquerque, just to give you an idea where a DEA agent and his wife the X-Ray tech lived.The next location is the office of Saul Goodman, at 9800 Montgomery Blvd NE. It′s a very mundane strip mall in the eastern part of town, not far from Marie and Hank, actually. (When I was there, there were 2 other guys taking pictures. No wonder - Saul is the most colourful and probably the most relatable character in the series.)This is the actual unit in the strip mall, where Saul′s office was located.As is shown in this screenshot from the series. The office is marked by a huge inflatable Statue of Liberty.Another iconic place - A1A car wash (9516 Snow Heights Cir. NE). Walt and Skyler bought it as a money-laundry enterprise, when the volume of cash they had on their hands became unmanageable. I mean, you can only pile so much cash in a storage unit, while keeping spraying it for rats.Still a car wash, whaddayaknow... That′s the car wash as it was shown in the series, with Walter′s dorky Pontiac Aztek parked outside. I can still hear Skyler′s voice saying "Have an A1 Day!" when she was handing the recept to a customer.Now we are at 1617 Candelaria Rd NE, one of the coolest locations of all the series. On the surface it was an industrial landry, the one hotel chains use for their bedsheets. But under the surface (literally), it was Gus Fring′s superlab, where Walter and Jesse got a chance to really live up to their potential as "artisanal" meth cooks. When I was taking this picture, a guy next to me, changing his busted tire, asked me, why am I doing this. Turns out, he watched "Breaking Bad", liked it very much, he lives in Albuquerque, and he had no idea! I mean, some people...This is the upper (laundry) side of the thing, as shown in the series. Another Gus Fring′s location - the restaurant "Los Pollos Hermanos", his version of A1A car wash. It is still a fast food restaurant, only it serves burgers and burritos, not fried chicken.As you can see, not much changed with this building from the times of the series, accept for the name. And Gus himself would not walk out into the parking lot anymore.The address is 4275 Isleta Blvd SW, quite out of the way, in the southern outskirts of town.But if you still manage to get there, I suggest you enter. First, it looks almost exactly as it did when Gus was sweeping the floors, acting the part of a humble, down-to-earth small business owner. And second, it′s a "Breaking Bad" sanctum in its own right.You get to sit at the table with Walter White, ⇨ ⇨ or you and your buddy can play Walter and Jesse with this cutout, ⇨⇨ or you can visit this a little creepy shrine in the nook by the washrooms. Or you can just order a burrito, like I did. They make them with fries inside, instead of rice. Kinda nice...We still have a couple of "Breaking Bad" locations to go through. Like this one - a cantina where Tuco Salamanca (one of the series′ villains) and his crew used to hang out. It′s located at 906 Park Ave SW, and is now a respectable coffee house.This is that scene in the series when Walter blows up Tuco′s lair, just to show him, there is a new player in town.And another location connected to the Salamanca family (the drug kingpins, who controlled Albuquerque until Gus Fring and Walter White decided to get in the game). This here is Casa Tranquila, a nursing home at 8820 Horizon Blvd NE, where Hector Salamanca, the head of the family, lived after his stroke. And where one of the most dramatic events in the whole series took place.This is how Casa Tranquila looks in the series. Notice, there is a door, as opposed to the "reality" snapshot, where the entrance looks all walled up. Well, they have entrance on the other side of the building. Looks like, the door here was built specifically for the series, not to interfere with the daily life of the nursing home.We are done with "Breaking Bad" filming locations for now, and are moving on (or up?) to the series′ prequel - "Better Call Saul". And we start where the series starts - in a shopping mall somewhere in Omaha, Nebraska, where Saul Goodman, after the events of "Breaking Bad", is working as a manager of a Cinnabon restaurant, under the guise of Gene Takavic.The real restaurant (still "Cinnabon" back then) was located in Albuquerque’s Cottonwood Mall, at 10000 Coors Bypass NW. It′s not "Cinnabon" anymore. It changed hands many times since then, and now it′s a "Rawroot Cafe".This is how the mall, and the "Cinnabon", where presented in the series. That part of the story, a sequel inside a prequel, is all in black-and-white.The next location is Day Spa & Nail salon, where Saul, down on his luck, was renting a back room as his office and sleeping quarters, occasionally stealing cucumber water set out for customers. It′s a regular business unit in a shabby strip mall at 160 Juan Tabo Blvd NE.What, you don′t see the salon? Here′s a closer look for you.Still not seeing anything? Ok, I will do what is called a "focal zoom"... Yeah, I am screwing with you. There is no building anymore. It′s gone. The only thing left from it is that curb ramp, which I am "focal zooming" at. How do I know that curb ramp is really from that building? ⇨ ⇨ That′s how. This is a scene from the series, with Saul about to enter the salon, and the ramp is right there, conveniently highlighted for you. They removed every bit of the building, including the sidewalk itself, but they still left the curb ramp. I am wondering - was it specifically for us, poor schmucks, who fly to the other side of the continent just to take a picture of a curb ramp?...Here′s the rest of the strip mall, which still stands. As you can see by its condition, its days are numbered too. But! The name of the salon, which apparently was a real thing, is still there, on the pylon sign! (A pylon sign, for you non-Americans, is a pole erected on the street corner, advertising to the drivers, what businesses they can find in the strip mall.)I wonder, how many "Breaking Bad" fans called that number? I didn′t, I swear.Ok, moving to a much nicer location. Remember that posh neighbourhood, where Jesse "lived"? We are back there, at 1607 San Cristobal Rd SW. Literally, around the corner from Jesse′s house.This is Chuck McGill′s house. Chuck is Saul′s brother. Saul′s real name is Jimmy McGill. Lots of stuff happened in this house, including a real, unmitigated tragedy. The house is huge, and it′s actually a multi-unit residence. Which explains, why there is no mailbox in front of the house. If you know, you know what I mean.Here′s Jimmy (not Saul yet) in front of the house, in a scene from the series. Notice the mailbox.Continuing with the McGill line, here′s the location of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM), a law firm, which Chuck, a prominent Albuquerque′s lawyer, co-founded. In reality, it′s called Pan American Building, and it′s located at 100 Sun Ave NE. It′s an office building, with many tenants being law firms.That′s the HHM building in the series.Done with McGill, moving on to Ehrmantraut (what a cool last name, no?) This is Mike′s house, located at 204 Edith Blvd NE, in a respectable, middle-class neighbourhood. And this is Mike himself in front of "his" house.And this is Mike′s working place. He was a toll booth attendant, sitting in that very booth under the overpass. In real life, the tollbooth controls the entrance to the Albuquerque Convention Center′s parking lot at 98 Marquette Ave NE.In the series, it was the parking lot of a courthouse, which Saul, still as Jimmy, visited regularly due to his profession as a lawyer, in that very dilapidated Suzuki Esteem. Many an argument had he with Mike about the toll he didn′t want to pay. They are having one right now.This is it for "Better Call Saul". But before we move to the next, the most exciting part, just one more location. There is this confectionery store in Old Town Albuquerque, called "The Candy Lady", which was crucial for the series. Apparently, the owner of the store created that very sky-blue substance, which in the series "played the role" of Walter White′s signature product, the cause of the whole hoopla that the series is about. In reality, it′s candy. And finally, the most exciting part of our journey - a trip to the cook site. If you watched "Breaking Bad", you remember that Walter and Jesse used an RV, which they parked in a remote area in the desert, as their secret lab. We now going there now.The actual location is deep in the Canoncito Indian Reservation, 40 miles (65 km) west of Albuquerque. It′s quite a drive you know, takes almost an hour. And it′s a real desert, as you can see here. Along the way, you are passing very "New Mexicesque" cliffs, ⇨ ⇨ very picturesque hills on the horizon, ⇨ ⇨ and sporadic little settlements... ⇨ ⇨ among the ochre-coloured sandy knolls.At one point, we turn onto a dirt road.There′s still a bit of a drive to our destination, so there will be a few more pictures along the way.Here we are almost there. Notice the shape of this cliff, we will be seeing it all the time.This solitary boulder in the shape of a pillar standing on the side of the road, was seen in the very first seconds of the series, when Walter drove by it in his RV. First stop, and a panoramic picture of the whole place. Note that cliff on the left I mentioned before.The actual cook site we came to see is behind that oddly shaped outcrop, between it and that huge cliff in the back. But I still decided to stop here, a few dozen yards before, and take a few pictures.Remember this outcrop, it′s important.And finally we are at the spot where we need to be, just 100 meters down the road from the previous stop. A panoramic picture again, to give you the perspective.This is that cliff again I mentioned in the beginning. And this is the same exact spot ... ⇨ ⇨ ... where Walter White walked out onto the road to meet the upcoming police, after he crash-stopped his RV in that very first scene. And this is that oddly-shaped outcrop, seen from the other side.Due to its craggy outline, the outcrop is very recognizable, and is a sort of a star of the show. It appears in numerous scenes that play out on this spot.Like this one, when Walter is hiding from the DEA agents who are finally onto him.Now, let′s have a proper look at the actual spot where he would usually park his RV when cooking. Very secluded, covered by rocks from the 3 sides, only accessible by a single, deserted dirt road. While I was there taking pictures, not a single car passed by, even though there is a small settlement behind that cliff on the right.As you can see, the enclosure is now separated from the road by a line of rocks, probably to prevent people from driving into it to take pictures at the exact very spot... ⇨ ⇨ ... where the RV was parked.I confess, I was contemplating driving in anyway, especially that these measly rocks wouldn′t be an issue for the monster of a vehicle I rented for this trip. But I restrained myself.So, I just took a billion pictures from the road. From left to right, clockwise.Yes, very nice, protected and secluded place. The series′ location scouts did a great job!Look at the rock structure itself, all layered by different geological eras. Isn′t this amazing?Here′s the RV in front of the cliff from the previous image.I am still on this cliff, it mesmerizes me.Ok, all the possible pictures taken (I don′t think there was a single stone left unphotographed), and it′s time to leave. We are heading back the same way we came.Another cliff I am mesmerized by. (I am so easily mesmerized...)Passing by that sentinel stone again.And we are back on the paved road. This picture officially concludes our trip to the cook site, and, broader, the "Breaking Bad" part of my Arizona/New Mexico vacation. But don′t go too far - there was so much more to see, so there is so much more pictures for me to upload.Press ESC to exit
