I get to visit in a couple weeks - will be there for the first day of Spring!! What do you like about Santa Fe?
Love Santa Fe, and the country around it is beautiful. Shops are really expensive…REALLY expensive, but nice if you are in the market for beautiful jewelry and feel like throwing around some cash. Definitely get out into the country and try to visit Ghost Ranch. The last time I was there, we picnicked at Echo Amphitheater, about four miles away from the ranch. It’s a gorgeous drive and the rock formations are insanely beautiful. Also, take the road to the Benedictine Abbey of Christ. I am an Atheist, but found this to be some of the most beautiful land in the Santa Fe area. The drive is somewhat difficult and very slow (–about an hour each way at least although we were in a Honda Accord and made it just fine–but the roads were dry). This time of year, I might recommend a 4WD with high clearance.
Another wonderful drive is Taos. Take a scenic route, not highways, to see some of the incredible countryside.
If you are sticking to the city…do the gallery crawls on Canyon Road and tour some of the cool buildings (cathedral, Scottish Rite building, etc.)
The only thing I have to say about Santa Fe – other than that I love it, it’s pretty, and I hope to go back to visit again and again – is that it is a hard town to leave.
No, I mean that literally! It’s always hard for me to figure out how to get out of Santa Fe and back on to the freeway! Every time I’ve been there (okay, thrice) I’ve gotten off into winding country roads, often in plain sight of the freeway, but with no clear way to get to the freeway! (Once, I flagged down a forest ranger and begged for instructions!) It’s a finger-trap of a city! Easy to get into, tough to get out of!
But, ah, the food!
If you’re a museum person at all, you’ll want to visit Museum Hill. Four great museums in one stop, and the cafe is nothing to sneeze at. You’ll also want to hit thePlaza, which is kind of a cliche if you’ve been there before, but is pretty much the don’t-miss attraction if you haven’t seen it. Even if you’re not in the market for expensive gew-gaws, there are shops that carry local pueblo pottery and jewelry, and it’s worth going in to take a look. There are many really good restaurants on the Plaza, too. It’s surrounded by some of Santa Fe’s most notable buildings, like the Palace of the Governors, which borders one side of the plaza, and the St. Francis Cathedral. It’s where you’ll see the most impressive architecture in the city. I also second the suggestion to go up Canyon Road for the galleries. Don’t try to drive downtown. Everything’s best seen on foot anyway, it’s horrifically congested (much of it is blocked off to cars nowadays), and there is no parking.
If you do have a car, you’ll want to take some day trips. Taos is great, as mentioned, and the Santa Clara Pueblo is worth a visit, especially if you’re interested in pottery. And, as I always feel obliged to mention whenever Santa Fe comes up, Albuquerque is only an hour away, and we’re loads of fun as well (even if not as scenic)! The drive from Santa Fe to Albuquerque on the Turquoise Trail is a lot of fun - you’ll drive through some old mining towns that have been reimagined as art colonies. The road ultimately takes you to I-40 through Tijeras Canyon, which is impressive in itself, and it’s scenic from end to end. You may feel you’ve overdosed on “quirky” by the time you get to the other end, but you can always take ugly old I-25 back, when it’s too dark to see anyway.
Have fun!
The Folk art museum on museum hill is totally unique.
Georgia O’keffe museum is worth seeing if you like her art.
Close by there is also the shidoni sculpture gardens.
Another unique shop is Jackalope pottery which sells a pottery but also very eclectic mix of other things such as highly detailed hand carved gourds. Even if you don’t buy anything its fun to see what they have.
Finally be sure to go to one of the many Mexican style restaurants and order something smothered in green chile.
I really enjoyed sitting in a nice upstairs porch bar that looked over the courtyard and sipping top flight tequilas.
Wandering the streets accessing the hillside galleries is my favorite way to spend the day. Some of them are truly exceptional, museum quality art and artifacts.
Bandalier is unforgettable, as are many of the sites historic sites in the area.
I’ve gotten lost leaving Santa Fe as well. I was just driving through and planning on going to Great Sand Dunes the next day, and as such I was looking for 285. Not having found it in the number of miles needed and not having GPS, I figured I was going in the right general direction and would stop to look at my map as soon as the road I was on told me its name.
Well, it didn’t, and 10 miles later, I edged over a hill to see…Taos Canyon. I had never been to Taos but I recognized it at sight from pictures, so I knew where I was then!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Don’t miss: The guy selling roasted turkey legs from a food cart in Central Plaza, and Frito Pie at the Five and Dime.
Be advised that traffic and especially finding a parking spot in and around the central plaza can be very difficult. To boot, there’s quite a few traffic cops out ticketing anyone that’s not entirely within regs.
Do you need any hotel recommendations? Don’t want to clutter unless but we can provide some good ones if.
Yo have to see the Church of St. Francis…and the Bishops Inn/Lodge has geat snacks and drinks. The Place of the Governors is great.
The shidoni bronze foundry has a very nice sculpture garden and if you take a tour you can see the casting process.
thanks, I do have a place to stay already.
still - I would be interested to hear what you recommend for in the future. I assume it costs a lot to be near the plaza, but is it worth it?
Here’s my previous thread on Santa Fe.
Some of my favorite things I saw on my trip:
The Georgia O’Keeffe museum downtown.
The Canyon Road galleries
The Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos
And, surprisingly, someplace I had never heard of until I got there: The Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.
Taos was also a very pretty day trip.
J.
Hotel Santa Fe, the Hacienda. Finest waitstaff you can imagine. Comfortable, relaxed and an easy walk to the plaza.
I visited Santa Fe in 1986 when I was doing my trip of a lifetime around the world thing and spent several months in the USA. I LOVED Santa Fe. I went there initially for 2 or 3 days and wound up staying a week or more, just couldn’t tear myself away. I met a lady artist and got chatting and she invited me to spend a day with her art group as a guest, learning drawing on the right side of the brain and by the end of the day I had made some very good sketches. For the next few days I walked around drawing this and that, two of my drawings I framed and had hanging in my home for years - I just don’t see the right setting for them here in my new house yet - one was the Church of St Francis and another one was a drawing of a bronze statue of an Indian in full feather head-dress holding some sort of staff out at eye level with both arms raised - I fell in love with that statue. I fell in love with the whole of Santa Fe and have never forgotten it even though memories of other places I visited have dimmed. I did a bus trip out to Taos and found that thrilling if a little sad somehow, for the residents there. I loved the deep red earth colours of the buildings and the rounded corners of them - the whole town felt gentle and warm and soft and seemed to wrap itself around me. The people I met were all lovely and welcoming. On my trip I was actually looking for somewhere else to live (I originated from England) and seriously thought about Santa Fe though heaven only knows what I’d have done for work. The crafts and jewellery absorbed me and left me speechless that so many talented craftspeople lived in the same place - indigenous and “imported” people - and the food was delicious. I still have the little guide book I bought there. Thank you for letting me relive my memories, which are as vivid as yesterday, and sorry if I’ve rambled on too long. I’m sure it’s changed now I understand it’s become very touristy and crowded. That would sadden me. Perhaps my memories should stay as they are and I should not revisit as I promised myself I would one day. What do you all think?
If you like contemporary art, SITE Santa Fe is awesome! Great shows.
One of my favorite places is 10,000 waves. It’s a Japanese spa. They have massages, etc, but the best part is to rent a hot tub. You can rent one in the evening and see the beautiful stars. It’s really splendid!
My wife and I stayed at La Fonda on the plaza the couple of times we went to Santa Fe. It was absolutely worth it to us. Besides being able to walk out the door to the plaza, downtown, Canyon Road, O’Keefe museum, etc., the room service breakfast was just incredible. The rooms were smallish and colorful and the bathrooms were utilitarian tub sink and toilet affairs for getting business done, not big bathrooms with wall to wall counters and mirrors and 10 setting turbo shower heads but that was fine with us. At least that’s the way it was in the rooms we could afford and 15 years ago. It was a real treat.
There’s a Native American craft market at the Governor’s palace. I don’t know if it’s every day or only on certain days, though.
There’s a restaurant called Rancho de Chimayo in the town of Chimayo between Santa Fe and Taos. It has great food and it’s in a nice quiet setting. Something to consider if you go up that way.
If you go to Taos, Taos Drums is worth a visit if you’re into that sort of thing. You can pick something out and have them ship it if it’s too much trouble to haul around on your travels.
You must eat at the Shed… a fantastic New Mexican restaurant just off the Plaza.