Die-hard Breaking Bad fans can still relive the drama in person on the BaD Tour

More
Breaking Bad Tour Walter White's house

Tour guests are surprised when they find out that a family lives inside “Walter White’s house.” Photo credit: Yvette Kurash


Almost seven months have passed and many are still mourning the loss of their favorite anti-hero,
Breaking Bad’s Walter White. Sometimes re-watching episodes of Breaking Bad on Netflix doesn’t help fans get the “fix” they need. Luckily, for El Pasoans, 268 miles away in Albuquerque, fans can join the one and only BaD Tour.

 

Breaking Bad, the Emmy award-winning television show that follows a high-school chemistry teacher through his double-life as a meth cook and dealer, is now on wheels in the Land of Enchantment.

 

 

Albuquerque locals and co-owners of ABQ Trolley Co., entrepreneurs Jesse Herron, 32, and Mike Silva, 45, began their tours in 2009 when they created the city’s first trolley tour to give guests a taste of Albuquerque and how much there is to do there.

 

After years as avid Breaking Bad fans, Herron and Silva decided it was time for main characters Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (played by Aaron Paul) to show off their version of Albuquerque. Originally, they thought they would offer the BaD Tour just for the season five premiere, but once tickets for the July 2012 tour sold out in minutes, they decided to keep the trolley rolling.

 

Breaking Bad tour carwash

The car wash featured in Breaking Bad is actually a working car wash in eastside Albuquerque. Photo credit: Yvette Kurash

“We never imagined the demand for the tour would be so popular,” said Herron.

 

The tour is about three-and-a-half hours long and takes locals and tourists to various locations in Albuquerque that perhaps only Breaking Bad fans would swoon over: Jesse Pinkman’s house, the car wash where Walter worked, Saul Goodman’s law office, Los Pollos Hermanos, and even Walter White’s house.

 

“Seeing their eyes light up when we turn the corner to face Walt’s house is very fulfilling,” said Herron.

 

University of El Paso alumni Juan Galicia paid $60 for the BaD Tour last fall and believes he’ll be back for another round.

 

“While on the tour, clips from the show are shown for the location that you’re headed to so once you see the location in person it really makes you feel part of the show,” said Galicia, who now works as a behavioral interventionist in El Paso.

 

Breaking Bad tour Tuco head questers

“Tuco’s Headquarters” from the show is known to locals as Java Joe’s. Photo credit: Yvette Kurash

Although the show is over after five hit seasons, Herron and Silva plan on expanding the BaD Tour by adding locations from the final eight episodes as well as a possible BaD Tour 2.0, which would feature other locations from Breaking Bad that they couldn’t fit into the three-and-a-half hour BaD Tour.

 

“I think our personal favorite part about the BaD Tour is the fact that we get to introduce visitors from all over the world to Albuquerque and to the locations from Breaking Bad,” said Herron. “We hope that riders will develop an appreciation for Albuquerque and will make it a point to visit again in the future.”

Herron and Silva say they plan on continuing the tours in the foreseeable future.

“As long as there are people interested in seeing Breaking Bad‘s Albuquerque, we will be here to show it to them.”

 

For ticket information, please visit: www.abqtrolley.com/bad

Leave a Reply