Santa Fe in December
 

My adult daughter and I are trying to put together a trip to Santa Fe Dec. 12-16. What can we expect in terms of weather? Any suggestions for lodging? We are receptive to hotels or B & B's. Good location is important to me. I have just started investigating this trip, so any advice (itineraries, restaurants, sites) will be welcome. Thanks for all your help!

Temperatures have been in the low to mid 70s here south of Santa Fe; it's impossible to say for sure what the weather will be like in December. Most likely it will be cold, and there may or may not be snow.

There are tons of links in the New Mexico folder for lodging and restaurants. What is your lodging budget?

Lee Ann

Lee Ann is right,we are having a very mild fall.

By December[normally], the weather is usually sunny and cool during the day and COLD at night. Mid to upper 40's daytime, although the sun will make it feel warmer. Night will be around 20.

For museums:
http://www.museumhill.org/

Georgia O'Keefe Musesum:
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org

for more of a science type of museum:
http://www.lanl.gov/museum

For art galleries:
http://www.canyonroadarts.com/

Visit a brass foundry and see amazing artists [you can go through the actual foundry, don't go noon -1 pm which is lunch time
http://www.shidoni.com

Treat yourselves to a wonderful massage and soak:

http://www.tenthousandwaves.com

For general info:
http://www.sitesantafe.org
http://www.santafe.org

And don't forget Fodors!

fodors.com/world/north%20america/usa/new%20mexico/santa%20fe/index.html

As for hotels and restaurants - cuisine?? Price range for hotels? B&B's may only have 1 bed in a room [queen or king].

Try using the search box above; type in:
Santa Fe restaurants
Santa Fe hotels

There are lots of threads on here.

Hope this helps,
Deb

On weather.com they have a feature where you can look up the average high and low temp for every day of any month and they also include the record highs and lows for each day. This gives you a real feel for what the range of weather possibilities can be.

http://www.weather.com/weather/clima...=www.yahoo.com

We had been to Santa Fe from 24 thru 27 Dec. The nights were crisp and cold with gorgeous starry skies. Due to low humidity, daytime temperatures felt comfortable, although it was cold.

There was a thin cover of snow.

Can you give us an idea of your budget? I can give you lots of suggestions for lodging with that info.

Off the top these come to mind:

Inn on the Alameda. Great location. Has breakfast and very quaint rooms -- some with fireplaces.
www.innonthealameda.com

Inn of the Governors. Another great location. Not as quaint but nice rooms and also, some with a fireplace.
www.innofthegovernors.com

Inn of Five Graces -- a favorite of mine. It is expensive but worthy of a splurge. Great location and the best host in Santa Fe.
www.fivegraces.com

El Farolito. Quaint B&B about 5-10 minute walk to the plaza. Cute rooms. Big breakfast and nice host. It's small so rooms go very quickly.
www.farolito.com

Those are some of my favorites. There are others that are great for location but lacks the charm of these but also lacks the big nightly rate.

Territorial Inn
Hotel Plaza Real
Hilton Santa Fe (by the El Dorado)
La Fonda -- it's a great historic hotel with lots of rooms. You can probably get a good rate as well and the location is in the heart of the plaza.

Now, when you get to the most important part of Santa Fe -- the FOOD -- we have lots of suggestions as well.

As they've said above regarding the weather, could have snow or not and it will be cold as the sun goes down very early and gets chilly.

Run a search as Debi said above as we've contributed lots of info for Santa Fe.

Have fun planning!
Sheila

Sheila:

Last time, we stayed at the La Fonda and loved it!!! We had a suite with a large private terrace (even in winter nice) and a real fireplace in the room which was lit each day. And since we travelled with our children, it was much cheaper than two double rooms.

It was freezing cold, but the outdoor pool & hot tub was open and warm and nice. Perfect.

There are so many restaurants in and around Santa Fe. But my favorites are:

- The La Fonda for the best guacamole.
- The Shed for the most authentic green chile cuisine.
- Rancho de Chimayo for a getaway.