You can get to Santa Fe on the Railrunner if you are coming in from Albuquerque. http://www.nmrailrunner.com/route_map.asp

You would need a car for the nature thing, but it's not as if there's not plenty to do without one.

Inn on the Alameda is not at all resorty. Nice place and great location. You might also have a look at El Farolito,which is a bit farther from the Plaza, but has less of a hotel/motelish feel.

Thanks to you both for the ideas!

We have stayed at Inn on the Alameda twice, and really like this place. It's not far from the Plaza, and very close to Canyon Road, with its numerous art galleries, shops and restaurants. The Inn provides a wonderful complimentary breakfast, too. If you want to splurge, check out Inn of the Anasazi. We liked Bandelier National Monument, but you would need a car for this.

Whether you need a car depends entirely on where you stay and what you want to do. If you stay where you plan, there are tours to Museum Hill and there is much to do in Old Town without a car: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/santafe/30_indattr.html

We enjoyed the $10 walking tour of Old Town offered by the New Mexico History Museum.

HTTY

Inn on the Alameda is great! Not resort-y at all - more like a little village.

Also, if you plan on doing anything active (hiking or something similar), you'll need a car, but if you are just in the mood for eating and looking at art and such, there's no need - You can do plenty of that without a car if you are at a hotel near the plaza.

There's also a train station near downtown, so you can take the Railrunner to Albuquerque or Bernalillo if you feel like doing something different.

Inn on the Alameda is one of our most favorite places!

Thanks for all the ideas! Just drove around Sicily so not really in the mood for a ton of driving.

Eating, on the other hand...

The Railrunner does provide transportation from airport in ABQ to Santa Fe BUT it is not really meant for this purpose. It is a commuter line and as such its hours of operation [especially to and from airport and SF make it not always doable. Be sure to look at the schedule for the bus and train [you need to take a bus to train].

If you need to pay for a shuttle service to and from SF, a rental car via priceline for a few days may be almost the same price and will give you options.

If you haven't purchased your airfare yet, and will fly on American Airlines, there are flights into Santa Fe airport -(connecting in either DFW or LAX) which would eliminate the need to travel from ABQ...we fly in and out of that airport frequently and it's wonderful. There are shuttles from the Santa Fe airport into town.

I like having a car in Santa Fe as I want the option to visit outside of the walking area. If it isn't a busy festival weekend you can park an several of the public parking spots in Santa Fe plaza area without a problem. A small car would be the best choice as the old streets are narrow and sometimes parking on the street in a big car is a problem.

Flying into Santa Fe is often way more expensive than flying into ABQ. Southwest often has great prices, IF you have Southwest at your home airport.

For a long weekend, you might do ok without a car, but as BeachGirl states,it is nice to be able to get to other places outside the walking area.

We try to use public transportation when in big cities which have great systems; Santa Fe doesn't fall into that description and really -- a car would most likely suit your needs. No wasted time waiting for busses that may have infrequent schedule.

I recommend having a car. If you want to visit museum hill, 10,000 waves for a massage, or plan to do any hiking you'll want one.

In the interest of not being a jerk, I want to say that I appreciate all the wonderful advice in this thread. One of my parents was hospitalized a few weeks after my OP, and it became evident that a trip out of California was not a good idea this summer. So I am holding onto the ideas here for next time.

Many thanks!