That's all folks! Thanks to our brilliant team of experts and all the readers who contributed some great tips. If you didn't already have a trip planned, Texas and New Mexico may well have moved to the top of your wish list after reading this blog...

Happy travels to y'all – and watch out for low-flying UFOs

In response to a shout out for great movie locations @zora writes: 

For @Cristof, who asked about a motorcycle trip, the film Wild Hogs was shot in Madrid (pronounced MAD-rid, btw), between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The production crew built a diner in the middle of town that's still standing, as a gift shop.

I also was just reminded that The Man Who Fell to Earth was shot in New Mexico--most of the desert scenes are down around Alamogordo, and of course in White Sands National Monument, which is really an out-of-this-world sight. (And it could be worked into a road trip up from central Texas.)

Not forgetting Las Vegas – the one in New Mexico. It has been a popular old-West setting since the silent-movie era. And Red Dawn (ah, remember the Cold War?) was shot there.

And here's @LaurenModery on why Austin is the film capital of Texas:

Directors Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise series, Slacker, Dazed and Confused), Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Desperado) and Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead, Office Space) all call Austin their home. Because of that, many of their films have been shot here, including Office Space, Dazed and Confused, Grindhouse, Machete, Sin City etc. Transformers 4 is shooting as we speak. Also, the show Friday Night Lights was based out of Austin. Essentially, everywhere you walk in Austin, you'll see a famous film or TV landmark.

And FilmATX points out that Austin was named the number one place to live and make movies by Moviemaker magazine and adds more movie highlights:

Malick shot Tree of Life with Brad Pitt just outside Austin in Smithville (Hope Floats also filmed there). He also just wrapped a film about the Austin music scene with Ryan Gosling.

The Coen Brothers love working in Texas, they have made two films in Austin: Blood Simple and True Grit, and No Country for Old Men in Marfa (where Giant and There will Be Blood were also made).

The NBC series Revolution recently setup shop in Austin and will be filming for the rest of the year... Should be fun to watch the set pieces for the show crop up in and around the Hill Country.

On top of that we have the Austin Film Festival in October, SXSW Film in March, Fantastic Fest in September and so many more screenings in between by groups like the Austin Film Society and the Alamo Drafthouse.

In response to @suffering_jukebox, a musician visiting the Four Corners area this summer and looking for artistic inspiration, @inlandwest writes:

Northern New Mexico boasts plenty of ruin sites, many are just on public land for you to find.

Canyon Largo near Blanco, NM is the size of Manhattan and is wide open for exploring; you can find the Crow Canyon Petroglyph site there, which is amazing.

On 550 between Cuba and Bloomfield you can climb up on El Huerfano Mesa, one of the sacred Navajo mountains for a spectacular view of the desert that stretches forever
.
Navajo Dam is the second largest lake in New Mexico and a great place to beat the heat.

One reader bemoaned the lack of good food in Texas. But avoid the chains and stick to local, independent joints and you'll have some of the finest BBQ, Mexican and 'New Mexican' you'll ever taste. Here's a few tasty tips from our experts to whet your appetite:

From @meganeaves:

New Mexican cuisine is unique among food in the world - an incredible mix of Spanish brought by early settlers, Mexican and Native American, all topped off with our signature local chile (note the 'e'), which is made into a sauce as both red and green varieties, the best of which come from Hatch, New Mexico for green and Chimayo, NM for red. On menus, you'll see familiar items like burritos and tacos, but rendered differently than you may have tasted before.

Some good places to start on your quest through New Mexican food are below.

In Santa Fe:
The Shed
La Choza
Horseman's Haven Cafe
San Marcos Cafe (south of Santa Fe)

In Albuquerque:Duran Central Pharmacy (my all-time favourite restaurant)
El Patio de Albuquerque
Padilla's Mexican Kitchen
El Pinto

@jcreidtx sent in this link to a map of the 50 best BBQ joints in Texas, courtesy of Texas Monthly magazine: 50 best BBQ joints in Texas

He also suggests "Houston's 'New Chinatown' along the Bellaire corridor (the "old Chinatown" is near downtown and worth a visit too)". Plus the dizzying array of Asian restaurants: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese. A few to check out: Mala Sichuan, FuFu Cafe, Tan Tan, Arco Seafood, Jasmine Asian Cuisine. The neighboring Hong Kong Market is one of the largest Asian markets in Texas.

And if you want to learn how to put together some of the dishes you might try on your travels, @outspirenewmexico suggests a cooking class:

A few in Santa Fe and Albuquerque area:
Santa Fe School of Cooking
Jane Butel's in Corrales
Los Poblanos in Los Ranchos

@cristof wants to see the New Mexico/Texas scenery as part of a motorbiking expedition and asks:

Have you any advice on constructing an itinerary around spectacular landscapes, good roads and accommodation? And a time of year when I wouldn't cook inside the helmet?

Avoid summer unless you want your head to boil alive, or as @laurenmodery puts it "Texas feels like Satan's butt crack in the summer."

As for Lauren's road trip highlights... 

On my major road trip through NM, we came in from TX and went to Carlsbad (the caverns are a must!) to Roswell to Santa Fe to Albuquerque to Madrid to Truth or Consequences to Las Cruces. We missed out on Taos and Alamogordo! :( As for Texas, West Texas is gorgeous, but ENDLESS! The drive can get quite tedious. If you go further east in the state, you can do a north-to-south trip between Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston easily. If you like quirky, small artsy towns, check out Madrid in NM and Marfa in TX. I always love the artsy boutique hotels: Hotel Paisano in Marfa, the Belmont in Dallas, the Belmont in Austin and Inn of the Governors in Santa Fe. Have fun!

@outspirenewmexico recommends a ride through history:

One route that is popular is to re-trace the "Mother Road", old U.S. Route 66, which went from Chicago to Santa Monica, California. The parts that went through New Mexico show a microcosm of the state. (After 1937, US Rt 66 by-passed Santa Fe but many folks come visit along a modified pre-1937 alignment.) The "old" road goes through little ghost towns as well as more vibrant areas, but for highway history/Americana buffs, it's a classic.

An unofficial but quite informative page:
http://www.theroadwanderer.net/66NMex/route66NM.htm

Texas is known for country music but @MoneyCircus wants to find the blues...

@meganeaves recommends:

One of the state's great blues clubs is Antones in Austin, where in their day the likes of B.B. King and Muddy Waters graced the stage. Another absolute must-visit is Luckenbach (west of Austin, and immortalised in the Waylon Jennings song by the same name), an old-time styled town with a dance hall where all of the greats have played. In this case, we are talking about country music, but the type of country music that god intended (Waylon, Willie, Robert Earle Keen - the Texas greats). Music fans really should not miss out on this one.

And thanks to @jcreidtx for this link to Houston's blues scene: Houston's Top 8 Blues Clubs

@halpin asks about the must sees/dos on the way from Canyonlands National Park, Utah to Albuquerque via Santa Fe, adding "one of the main purposes of our trip is hiking and seeing the great outdoors".

Expert @inlandwest replies:

Some of the stops you might want to Google are Hovenweep Ruins, Mesa Verde Ruins, Aztec Ruins, Angel Peak Recreation Area south of Bloomfield, NM, Ship Rock outside of Shiprock, NM, Chaco Canyon Ruins and don’t forget about the mountains up near Durango, Colorado the fall colors are amazing at that time of year.

Our experts have come back with tips on the road trip questions. In response to @vickihopkop's question about where to stay on a three-day trip across Texas, with one night in Austin and possible stops in Beaumont and Midland, our expert @meganeaves advises:
says:

I personally would not recommend staying overnight in Midland/Odessa – not much to do and very uninteresting little cities. Instead, if you think you can swing a couple of extra hours driving from Austin, I’d say head to El Paso, Texas for fantastic Tex-Mex food and a very unique cultural experience, great museum and interesting shopping. Alternately, you could make for Carlsbad, NM and take a peek into the fascinating Carlsbad Caverns (website) – one of the largest cave chambers in the world. If you can’t stomach the longer drive, I'd opt to stay in San Angelo rather than Midland/Odessa. This little city is located along the Concho River and has a lovely riverwalk area, as well as the Fort Concho National Historic Landmark, which commemorates the frontier fort established here in the 1860s and a quaint historic district. Just outside of town, San Angelo State Park is more than 7,000 acres of hiking along O.C. Fisher Lake. Enjoy your trip and make sure to sample the many varieties of BBQ available across Texas!

Another expert, @jcreidtx, grew up in Beaumont and says:

Beaumont's a good place to stop on your way through Texas. Any of the better-known hotel chains will be fine. There's a Hampton Inn on the west side of town where I have stayed that's quite nice. As others have mentioned, Beaumont is the birthplace of the petroleum industry in the US. The associated stories are actually quite interesting and you can see that at the Gladys City Boomtown Museum. Here's the link:

http://www.spindletop.org/

I'd spend a morning there. As you leave and head west, I'd recommend stopping in a little town called Winnie for lunch. It's about 20 minutes outside Beaumont on I-10 on your way to west Texas. There's a restaurant there called Al-T's which serves local Cajun cooking. Try the boudin, gumbo and fried catfish. Fried alligator is pretty good too.

And @AndyRhodes of who wrote the Moon guide to Texas recommends a Midland hotel:

In the Midland area, the historic Hotel Settles is a great place to stay – they’ve done a wonderful job with the restoration. While in the area, you may want to visit Midland’s fascinating Petroleum Museum, or perhaps even see the World’s Largest Jackrabbit (statue) in nearby Odessa.

Great question from @Bill Lehane:

I'm wondering what would be the best way to see some of the filming locations in Albuquerque and elsewhere in New Mexico featured in TV series Breaking Bad?

@OutspireNewMexico replied:

Much of the now-retired series "Breaking Bad" was filmed in and around Albuquerque, NM. If you're a do-it-yourselfer, many of the locations are listed through the city's official website http://www.itsatrip.org/albuquerque/arts/breaking-bad-in-albuquerque.aspx

If you'd like a more interpretive experience and leave the logistics of traffic issues to others, try the BaD Trolley Tour http://www.abqtrolley.com/index.php/THEBaDTOUR

@zora says ABQ Trolley tour is *great*, but books out way in advance, so plan ahead. She suggests getting your Breaking Bad fix by bike with "Biking Bad"

Routes (on Mountain) does a BB locations tour. It just started up, so I haven't been on it yet. But they have really nice city bikes and are fun people, so I expect it will be good.

(And yes, Albuquerque really does look like it does on TV!)

Are there any other TV or film locations worth a visit? Tell us in the comments below.

It's got a reputation for being the ultimate macho state - but is it gay friendly too? Reader @itsdannygray asks:

What places would you recommend the LGBT community visiting?

It would be great to get some tips on this. What are the best gay-friendly destinations? Can anyone recommend gay-friendly hotels, bars or clubs? A quick google search brings up this website: gaytexas.com but there must be more up-to-date websites/guides/magazines/blogs out there. If you have a favourite resource share it in the comments below.

Another reader has even less time on the road in Texas. @vickihopkop says:

We are doing a road trip from New Orleans to LA next month. We only have 3 days to get across Texas and want one night in Austin. I was thinking to spend our first night around Beaumont, TX and our third night around Midland,TX so if you have any suggestions for things to see in these areas (or better places to stop off) that would be great!

Texans – we need your help! Any thoughts on this proposed route? Do you know any great hotels or motels around Beaumont or Midland? Or is there a better route? 

@KSalty asks:

Thinking about a Texas/New Mexico road trip next year - how much ground could we realistically cover in 6 days without being too pushed or should we stick to one of the two states instead of attempting both?
Would love to see Austin, and read somewhere about a highway with great vintage barns strung along it as good place to pick up antiques - anyone know where this is?

Can anyone advise? How much could you do in six days without spending your entire time behind the wheel? Any suggested routes starting or ending in Austin? All tips welcome – post them in the comments below.

Howdy! We're heading out west. We've got a brilliant line-up of experts who will be live online later today (at 3pm BST). In the meantime we've already had some top tips – and questions.

@greenveldt has moved to New Mexico but is interested in exploring western Texas. Marfa and Big Bend are already on the radar but they ask:

Is there any place else in the Texas Panhandle that y'all would recommend? I heard Guadalupe National Park is nice...

@LaurenModery repsonded with these suggestions:

You should check out Amistad, Marathon, Alpine, Terlingua and Monahans Sand Dunes and YES! Guadalupe Mountains and Big Bend!

Can anyone else recommend other must-see places? Or great accommodation, places to eat, quirky attractions? If you live in the area – or have travelled there – we'd love to hear your tips for @greenveldt. You can respond to this and other questions - or post your own question – in the comments below.

Happy travels.