Santa Fe NM
 

My husband and I would like to visit Santa Fe and Taos towards end of April. I was just reading that April is the windiest month to visit In your experience, do you agree? We would fly to Abq probably evening time around 7pm. This is the best I can do for us after looking at all flights. I was thinking we would stay the night near the airport (Comfort Inn) the first night before heading to Santa Fe the next day. Question...would it be worth our while to visit the Petroglyph National Monument on our way to Santa Fe. It seems like we should stay 5 nights in Santa Fe to visit Bandelier National Monument and Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument plus sight see around town. Does this time frame seem okay. I would like to stay around the Plaza if possible so we can walk most places. Would Inn of the Governor be a good choice. Then we could drive the high road to Taos for two nights; I haven't looked at hotels for Taos yet. Any suggestions...not high end. It looks like there are places to see along the way such as El Santuario, Chimayo. Then we would drive back from Taos to Abq for evening flight around 7:30pm. So the trip would be 8 nights...Please advise if there are other worthwhile places to visit/or other variations of the trip . Our trip can be flexible and we could spend more nights if needed.

Originally, I had thought we could also drive to Arches National Park, Mesa Verde and whatever else is up there but It looks like it is too ambitious ... so another trip! When we do plan this trip...what airport would you advise?

Thanks for any thoughts

Joan

Good Friday and Easter are a very big deal in New Mexico.

We found this out the hard way. Lots of closures - including Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, which shocked the heck out of us.

My trip report might give you a few ideas...or not.

https://www.fodors.com/community/uni...exico-1651473/

You will use the Albuquerque airport.
The Plaza area of Santa Fé is a good choice. We have stayed at Inn on the Alameda and Hotel Santa Fe. Inn of the Governors is a good choice too.
We like Taos a lot. We’ve stayed at Historic Taos Inn, and La Fonda. Often stay with friends.

Here's my 2018 TR for ideas:

https://www.fodors.com/community/uni...018-a-1652084/

Please let everyone know how it goes.

In Taos, don't miss the Fechin house:

https://flic.kr/p/pE2rBN
I do not know if the Taos pueblo is closed due to Covid, but the last time we were there the wait time for the shuttle from the parking to the pueblo was so long that was not worth the wait given the limited time we were in the area. I would guess that one has to be in the parking lot first thing in the morning.

https://flic.kr/p/7neo7Y

I would pass on Chimayo. I was there three years ago and it was disappointing. I heartily would recommend Acoma: Sky City but it is 1.5 hours west of Alb. and out of your way. I like SF, especially when it's not the high season and overrun with touristas. This ancient Spanish Colonial town is magical with its historic plaza containing the Palace of the Governors (1610) and the nearby oldest house (1646) and church (1610) in America. The narrow streets are lined with sleepy adobe homes squatting behind hand-carved wooden gates. There is lovely but expensive Southwestern artwork and jewelry in the many galleries on Canyon Road. Other places to see are the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and Museum of International Folk. Art. When in Taos check out the Made in New Mexico store on the Plaza. My brother started it and successfully ran it for several years before selling it.

I wouldn't say Chimayo is disappointing, unless you are expecting something glamorous. It's authentic. When we visited, Mass was being held in the chapel.
We thought it was quite impressive.

You can visit Taos as a day-trip from Santa Fe, if you want. We took the 'high road' there and the 'low road' back, in one day.

In Santa Fe, we loved our stay at La Fonda. Even if you don't stay there, you can attend a free tour of the hotel, learn about its history and its art collection. Very interesting.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...412a3b4456.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9625619a40.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...66f25e155f.jpg

I liked visiting a few of the Indian pueblos north of Santa Fe, especially San Ildefonso and Tesusque (sp?) but not sure if they are open to the public or not with COVID rules and all. Read up on visiting etiquette, especially about taking pictures. Also the drive up to Taos (we did not stay there) was a lot of fun and we did stop at Chimayo, pretty sure we had lunch at a restaurant there or nearby. Love the NM food.

According to the New Mexico tourism web site, Taos Pueblo is closed to visitors due to Covid 19 until further notice. We stayed in Santa Fe in April of 2018, and Taos Pueblo was closed during the month of April then, I don't remember why, but we couldn't visit it. We did take a day trip to Taos, drove up via the Low Road and back on the High Road, and I thought that they were both different and interesting enough to be worthwhile doing both. We stopped at the visitor center on our way there along the Low Road, and they suggested we take a side trip on a road that goes along the Rio Grande for several miles, and we were glad we did - it was very scenic. After lunch in town we drove out into the desert to the bridge that crosses very high across the Rio Grande Gorge - there's a parking lot at the far end where you can park for a terrific view of the gorge and bridge. If you can't visit the Pueblo, I don't know if it's worth staying in Taos, but that's just my opinion.

We did spend two nights in Abiquiu at the Abiquiu Inn, which was very nice. We toured Georgie O'Keefe's house and studio there, and later that afternoon took a tour at Ghost Ranch of the landscapes she painted there. We enjoyed both of those tours very much. We actually could have done that as a day trip from Santa Fe if we'd gotten an early start, but we weren't sure how long the drive would take.

We stayed at the Inn of the Governors in Santa Fe, and enjoyed our stay there. It's not right on the Plaza, but is just a short walk away. The state capitol building in Santa Fe is worth visiting, it has a huge amount of wonderful art by New Mexico artists on display, which is free to see.

We visited both the Los Alamos History Museum and the Bradbury Science Museum at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where we learned all about the history of the area and the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb - really fascinating, if a bit disturbing. It's not a long drive from Santa Fe. We had stopped to visit Bandolier N.M. on our way there, and then didn't have time to see everything at the two museums, so we went back a second day. Then we drove a good portion of the Jemez Scenic Byway so we could see the impressive Valles Caldera National Preserve, a collapsed crater that is several miles across. We drove as far as Jemez Springs before we turned around, it was a beautiful and varied drive. I would love to go back to this area again sometime, there was so much to see and do!

Lots of really good information...very helpful! Thank you!

Santa Fe trip
 

In November I went to Santa Fe and Taos on a Road Scholar trip that was so much fun and our guide was exceptional. I felt like I learned so much more than i would have on my own and it was a small group of 24 and we were all compatible. We stayed at the Hilton Historic Plaza. It was in easy walking of town.

Chimayo is a must!

Joan, did you end up going to Santa Fe? Would love to hear about your trip!