Websinga

My Husband & I are taking our 9 & 7-year-old daughters to Santa Fe & Taos the 1st week in April for Spring Break. We went to SF & Taos 14 years ago & loved it (mountain bike riding, museums, etc) but are now faced with the challenge of finding a kid-friendly itinerary. Any recommendations regarding activities / lodging / restaurants would be greatly appreciated. Thx.

POlson

We went with one small child in early May a few years ago. We stayed 5 nights at Hyatt Tamaya 1300 Tuyuna Trail, Santa Anita Pueblo 505-867-1234. I highly recommend as it was a nice hotel, with several pools (with water slide), kids activities (we learned to bake Navajo bread) and it was a good base for day trips.

Some of the things we did (from our itinerary, I apologize if numbers or info is out of date):

Jemez Mountain Drive (US 550 to 4, Zia Pueblo, Jemez Springs}; drove by Valle Caldera National Reserve; hiked/walked trail at Bandalier National Monument (a highlight for all of us, easily managed with kids); visit to Northern Pueblos: (Hwy 30 from Los Alamos north to 502 heading east: San Ildefonso (check out pottery), then head south on 84 to Santa Fe: Pojoaque, Tesuque)

Georgia O'Keefe Museum, 217 Johnson Street, Santa Fe,(open 10-5 closed Wed.) www.okeefemuseum.com

Rio Grande Zoo, 903 10th St. S.W. Albuquerque 505-764-6200; Lunch in Old Town {La Crepe Michel, 400 San Felipe (Old Town) (open 11:30 to 2:00) or Sadie’s, 6230 4th St. (Old Town)

Drive to Petroglyphs National Monument 3 miles North of Albuquerque on I-40 at Unser and Western Trail. Stop at Visitor’s Center, get map. Very quick stop.

Cooking lesson at Santa Fe School of Cooking, 10:00 to 1:00 www.santafeschoolofcooking.com 505-983-4511 (upper level of Plaza Mercado, 116 W. San Francisco Street)

Drive to Taos (consider taking the scenic route through Nambe Pueblo [stunning views], Chimayo, Truchus, Rancho de Taos) 76 to 518. Might also consider Madrid a funky little town featured in the movie "Wild Hogs."

Santa Fe Children’s Museum, 1050 Old Pecos Trail (open 10-5 Wed – Sat) 505-989-8359 (Your kids may be too old to really enjoy but check out website)

Eats: We enjoyed several meals at Range Café, 925 Camino del Pueblo (North of town in Bernalillo, meatloaf recommended, also Salmon over fresh chipotle, organic ice cream for dessert); We ate one fancy meal at Corn Maiden at the hotel Tamaya (arranged babysitter through hotel); in Santa Fe the following were recommended: Blue Corn café (Microbrewery) 133 Water Street 505-984-1800 (combo menu recommended, good for kids); Dave’s Not Here, 1115 Hickox 505-983-7060 (burgers, chocolate cake); Sage Bakehouse 535 Cerrillos Rd. 505-820-7243. We enjoyed a fancy sit down meal at The Old House (they were very accomodating of our small one; we had a very early reservation and they gave us our own small room)


Have a great trip.

ElendilPickle

The Hyatt Tamaya is on Santa *Ana* Pueblo, just outside Bernalillo. It's 40 minutes south of Santa Fe, and, IMO, wouldn't be a good base for your trip. There are tons of hotels in Santa Fe - what is your budget?

Your kids are a good age for the Santa Fe Children's Museum. It's smaller than Explora! in Albuquerque, but you could spend half a day there.

Bandelier National Monument is a great day trip from Santa Fe.

Lee Ann

DebitNM

Are you going to be in area for 1 week? IF so, I would consider splitting you time and staying in Santa Fe for the days you will doing activities there. I would also suggest that you plan on spending a few days in Albuquerque too.

I would only do a day trip to Taos, I honestly don't think that your children will find all that much interesting in Taos. It is great for outdoor activities, but the first week of April will mean snow related things, no hiking etc.

Stay in Santa Fe and do some of the things available that will appeal to all of you:

International Folk Art www.museumhill.org/

Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos
http://www.lanl.gov/museum
http://www.mfasantafe.org/
There are also shops, galleries and be sure to take the girls to Jackaloupe - it is a very unique store.


In ABQ -

archives.dukecityfix.com/index.php?itemid=1307&catid=84#more


There is an Excellent zoo, botanical garden [with a wonderful butterfly pavillion] and an aquarium [not the best, but hey it is the SW]. The is Explora!,

Kid friendly restaurants: an old thread which has links to other threads with same Q&A's:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34996013

Hope this helps, it is just a start. Check out the DESTINATION link at the top of the page here on Fodors and see their great ideas for all 3 cities.

Deb

padams421

Skiing and snowboarding are options for the first week of April at Taos, Angel Fire or Ski Santa Fe.

Websinga

Thanks to everyone for all of your replies. Great advice on activities. We may be wise to not focus too much on Taos as we don't want to ski (well, I don't want to have to pack all of the clothes for skiing & then lug them around with us if we only ski one day.) That Hyatt Tamaya looks lovely but is probably a little too pricey for a week-long stay. I have some AMEX miles that I was thinking of using to reserve some nights somewhere & so we'll probably switch hotels at least 2x. I do think that we will spend a mojority of time in Santa Fe as it is centrally located. I have heard that ABQ has a lot of interesting activites that are kid friendly. Thanks again for everyone's feedback. -Kate

DebitNM

Santa Fe is centrally located only for the things in that area.

Trust me, you do not want to have to be driving back and forth everyday. There are tons of commuters on the Interstate and will really waste valuable time. There are nice, reasonable priced places to stay in ABQ if you want to check out the many kid friendly activities.

The Tamaya has internet specials often times. I would also call them directly to see if they have better rates.

April is still considered low season, so rates should be ok.
Deb

Websinga

Thanks to all who have previously posted - I have an update to our planning process & thought that I would solicit some more advice from any who care to reply! We have decided to head to Taos 1st (make our way up there from ABQ Thu morning 4/3 & return to Santa Fe on Sun morning 4/6. We chose the La Dona Luz Inn in Taos (yes...very funky) only because my husband & I stayed there in 1994 (when it was El Rincon) and really appreciated it's uniqueness & how it was in the spirit of the area.) We have a suite & so I think that our 9 & 7 year-old kids will enjoy it too. We are going to ski at Taos Ski Valley on Friday (kids are in Ski School) and so the whole day will be devoted to that endeavor. We'll have 1.5 days to tool around Taos & nearby sights.
On Sunday, we'll head down to Santa Fe & have booked a King Suite at the Old Santa Fe Inn. We'll stay in & around Santa Fe until we drive back down to ABQ Wednesday morning for our flight home. Not sure of the specifics of where we'll go yet (next round of planning but I'm glad to have the hotels, car, ski school reserved (as I was procrastinating that part of it all.))
Will the weather be suitable in Taos for hiking? We'll be there 4/3 - 4/6. Some feedback has included recommendations for hikes & so I'm thinking about that part of it.
Also, any recommendations for Taos restaurants would be great. I will look into past posts too.

Thanks again for everyone's collective continued help with our Spring Break!
Kate

ElendilPickle

Northern NM has had a lot of snow this winter, so I don't know how hiking will be.

I've eaten at the Apple Tree in Taos a couple of times and really liked it.

Lee Ann

mei

We've taken our kids to new mexico several times....they loved Bandelier, Las Golondrinas (I think they have a festival in April), Shidoni Sculpture Garden, Georgia O'Keefe Museum, Taos Pueblo. Have fun. My oldest is now 18...she still loves it and we're going next week...taking some of her friends who have never been and spending some times at one of my favorite places....Ten Thousand Waves