Any suggestions on Santa Fe hotels within walking distance of the action? Is it practical to not rent a car? We'll be there in December.

There are a number of hotels and B&Bs in downtown Santa Fe that are within walking distance of the Plaza. You wouldn't need a car if you limited yourself to downtown Santa Fe. This would work for a couple of days, but if you're going to be there for longer wouldn't you want to get out and see some other sites, such as Los Alamos & Bandelier, Taos, Chimayo and Truchas. To me the beauty of Santa Fe is the scenery,a nd the best way to see that is to drive. You've got to out into the country.
Have fun.

Thanks Captain. We will be arriving on a Monday afternoon and leaving on Thursday morning. I completely agree with you and I always feel like I need a car, but I've also rented cars in cities where I never even took them out of the $17/day garage. However, do you think 2 days would be enough time to get out of town?

...we were in S. Fe a few weeks ago. the hotels near the "action" were out of our price range so we stayed about 2 miles away at a chain motel. actually, we were done with the old part of town w/ in a few hours. i guess you could spend a few days there if you went to every shop and art gallery. instead we went to bandelier which is great if you're into indian ruins.

Buckley, the other thing I meant to ask earlier is: If you're not renting a car, how are you getting to Santa Fe?
I know what you mean about leaving a rental car in pay-per-day garage, but I think you'll need a car, except for maybe the day or so you'll stay IN Santa Fe. Even then, at night you could go out to dinner, say at the Bishop's Lodge - outside of town - or at Chimayo. Don't get me wrong - I Love Santa Fe. In fact, my wife an I will be there the week of Dec 8, but I think you need a car. I think the rates for cars may be better in Albuquerque (I assume that's where you'll be heading from) than in Santa Fe, but I'm not sure.

You're right again. We'll get a car. We will be flying into Albuquerque. Thanks again for your help.

one day: high road to taos and back the main highway. views to the sangre de christo mts., through truchas, trampas, tiny spanish towns, taos pueblo, museums.

another day: bandelier, los alamos, ghost ranch and abiqui, o'keefe country, and on to chama with weaving studio, back to santa fe. views of pink hills and the pedernal o'keefe painted.

or: o'keefe museum, downtown museums, museum of international folklife. spend $ on beautiful indian jewelry from the artists in the square. nice parking lot 1 block away.

the santa fe area is truly wonderful. you will want to go back.