Filming locations in Albuquerque

Visiting Albuquerque: a set-jetting guide. The high-desert New Mexico city became the unlikely capital of prestige television as the home of Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan's 2008 saga of a chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin. The show treated Albuquerque as a character in its own right, a sprawl of adobe, strip malls and enormous skies, and the best of its real, visitable locations are scattered drives apart across town.

The first stop for most fans is Walter White's house, the modest ranch home that is the White family's address throughout the series, right down to the famous pizza-on-the-roof moment. It is important to know that this is a genuine private residence on an ordinary street, so the only acceptable visit is a quiet drive-by from the public road: photos from the curb only, no noise, and absolutely nothing thrown, as the long-suffering owners have asked.

Happily, one key location welcomes you right in: the fast-food joint that played Los Pollos Hermanos, Gus Fring's fried-chicken chain and the front for his empire, is a real and open Twisters restaurant on the city's south-west side. Walk in, order, and snap a photo of that unmistakable dining room, which is dressed with knowing nods to the show. The staff are well used to pilgrims.

Old Town Albuquerque, with its adobe plaza and easy parking, makes a good central base, and the city is best treated as a self-drive tour, stitching the scattered sites together at your own pace. There are many more Breaking Bad spots dotted across town for the dedicated, so pick up a location map, rent a car, and remember the golden rule at every residential address: look, photograph, and move on respectfully.