Spring trip to Santa Fe NM

Charlie Spencer

Road courses and short tracks.
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Oct 17, 2012
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We're planning a trip to Santa Fe in May 2025. We've never been there. Any suggestions, hints, or tips? We're mostly interested in history, gardens, birds; we're not shoppers or night life aficionados. We're also going to Taos; does it meret more than a couple of days?

Thanks.
 
If you make it to Albuquerque
get some chicken at one of the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurants owned by Gusi Fring.

If you are feeling tired go with the 'blue sky' street pills
 
oh man, where to begin.
In Santa Fe, go downtown, around the plaza and there a bunch of shops, galleries, churches, museums, restaurants, all of which is walkable. the Georgia O'Keefe museum is a must. another must is the Loretto Chapel, home of the miraculous staircase https://www.lorettochapel.com/ the cathedral is another gorgeous church right downtown. make sure you stop by the five and dime right on the plaza and get yourself an authentic Frito Pie, so good, and at the end of the day go to the La Fonda hotel and head up to the bell tower and have an authentic NM margarita. as far as food, for some excellent authentic NM style food I would suggest Tomasita's at the rail yard, the Cowgirl hall of fame is another excellent place to eat. honestly you can't go wrong with any restaurant downtown, they are all excellent
a little way from downtown you have museum hill, there are 3 museums there all worth a look.
of course you can always head to Los Alamos, about 45 minutes north of Santa Fe. this is where the first atomic bomb was created (Manhattan Project), and there a couple museums there also that give the history of it all.
if you want outdoor you can always go to Bandolier national park https://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm the website can you give you more information than I can provide
not overly familiar with Toas, sorry about that.
Carlsbad Caverns is great place to visit, if your gonna be there at night make sure you go to the main entrance and watch the bats leave in the evening, quite the spectacle really.
if your driving to Carlsbad you can try and take a detour over to Alamogordo, home of the space museum https://nmspacemuseum.org/ and of course right by there is white sands national park https://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm

just some suggestions.
 
We dropped plans to go south and spent all our time in Taos and Santa Fe. Taos pueblo, Rio Grande gorge, Puye cliff dwellings, Bandelier, Valles Caldera; and too many museums, bird watching spots, and houses of worship to list. The last two weeks of May were perfect for both weather and crowds; other than Memorial Day weekend, there were few other tourists.

Booked a Hilton suite five or six months in advance and got a great deal. Four blocks from downtown, two from the mall and grocery. At least 350 sq ft with full kitchenette and two TVs for less than $100 a night.

Go eat at Fiesta Oaxaca downtown.
 
nothing wrong with Northern NM, and you went to some awesome places, been to all of them except the Caldera. glad you got see a lot of museums and houses of worship, some of those places have been around a very long time, hopefully the Loretto Chapel was one of them.
the Hilton is a very nice place, you picked a good one there and very convenient to downtown, very walkable area.
been to Oaxaca a couple times but just to meet friends for a drink, never ate there but honestly, you can't go wrong with any place downtown.
very happy to hear you had a great time in my hometown
 
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