Santa Fe -no hiking or museums
 

I have read several of the posts and am looking for something to do besides hike, shop, go to a museum, or eat. Any ideas? We will be in town for a week - all adults. We are planning on doing some of the above items but looking for other things to try. Help!

When are you going? (That'd be help with suggestions which I and others would be glad to provide....)

Hmm, even if you change the order, hiking, shopping, museums and food are the top attractions of Santa Fe. Respectfully, what more do you need??

You could play golf; go horseback riding; drive around; go to Ten Thousand Waves, a spa; swim in the hotel pool.

But all of these pale in comparison to the first 4, IMO.

When you say "hiking", are you including visits to pueblos and Bandelier National Monument? Those are wonderful activities, too.

FromNC, can it be that you prefer the more relaxed, European attitudes to travelling (instead of maximizing the number of attractions pre day)?

We have visited Santa Fe a couple of times and seen all the major museums (and do not care for the lesser ones) and we have our elders (83 years) in tow who cannot hike any more, and we still enjoy travelling to Santa Fe. I admit that we liked to sit in front of our kiva fireplace and sip a very good tequila (in was Patron, easily available in town).

We also enjoyed Santa Fe itsself. It is a striking beautiful town. The architecture is breathtaking. We enjoyed just walking leisurely through town. You do not need a destination - just walk. You see beautiful houses, a train station, churches, galleries and, yes, shops, an occasional museum. Do just want you want to do.

Santa Fe has a nightlife, too - besides restaurants, there are a few music clubs and bars.

But Santa Fe is one of the few places in America where you can enjoy a couple of hours with sitting on a bench on the plaza and doing nothing but watching people. This is utmost luxury in the contemporary world.

I tell you one secret:

The very best of Santa Fe is living there. It is a really great experience to stay in a Santa Fe-style house. On our last trip, we stayed a few days in Casa Luna (http://www.twocasitas.com). We hardly left the house due to heavy snow (every museum in Santa Fe was closed because of the snowstorm) and we enjoyed every minute.

A true Santa Fe house is incredibly beautiful - with its wooden beams, the Indian decoration, the kiva fireplace.

There's also the Santa Fe Opera if you are there during the season.

I forget to add:

It is also extremely enjoyable just to drive through the surrounding landscape. Practically every drive out of Santa Fe is scenic, in any direction. We especially like driving to Los Alamos. Just out of town, you pass Camel Rock. The you see Black Mesa, just before you cross the Rio Grande. There is White Rock Overlook over the Rio Grande Canyon. Bandelier Natl. Monument is breathtaking and easily accessible (not hiking, just a short stroll). Los Alamos has the Museum (with the atomic bombs) but there is another secret attraction: The Black Hole - a most interesting shop which sells nuclear waste (http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar...7594342200167/). On the way back, Sanctuario de Chimayo is a good example for a mission church which has holy mud that cures every kind of disease. Nearby, Rancho de Chimayo is a good restaurant (sorry)....

I've always thought it'd be fun to take a photographic workshop there. Some day..... And, when I decide to do that, my wife will likely at the same time enroll in classes at the Santa Fe School of Cooking.

FromNC,

I would highly recommend going on a hot air balloon ride from Taos. Those rides go over the gorge, which is spectacular. I did this many years ago, and I still remember the experience. Since the balloon rides leave so early in the morning, it may require you to spend the night prior in Taos. I'd do that in a heartbeat!

Another thing to do is to go horseback riding. I remember riding very beautiful horses through the desert in the late summer, and it began to snow very unexpectedly! We started the day with very warm weather, but it turned quickly as it sometimes does in the desert. The horses were beautiful, and were very well trained riding horses----not at all "trail nags". Also one of my most favorite travel memories!

Enjoy!

LisaG

Take a look at www.sfreporter.com; you'll find a lot of possibilities.

Lee Ann

Bookmarking. :)

beachbum, you should look into Santa Fe Workshops. I've taken a couple of beginner-type classes there and absolutely loved it! I'm hoping to take a class this November if I can swing it. Any excuse to get me to Santa Fe!

www.santafeworkshops.com

FromNC:

When are you going? Santa Fe Wine and Chile Festival is the end of September which is fun. Also, Ten Thousand Waves Spa is real treat and worthy of a visit after a long day spent walking and sight seeing. Take a tub outdoors and then treat yourself to the best hot stone massage I've ever found. Japanese decor surrounds you in a most serene environment perfect for relaxing.

Santa Fe Cooking School is located in the plaza area and offers southwest cooking for us nonprofessionals. And, the best part is you get to eat it at the end.

http://santafeschoolofcooking.com/Cooking_Classes/

While these are fun, my most favorite activity in Santa Fe is eating and just enjoying the beautiful surroundings.

traveller1959, we, too, enjoying renting a house and just taking in the surrounds. We've parked ourselves many an evening in front of the chimenea with a glass of wine enjoying the colorful sunsets that New Mexico gives you.

There is a new museum in Santa Fe: The New Mexico History Museum. We were there today, it is very nicely done and we enjoyed it a lot. It is just behind the Palace of the Governors. Check it out.

Deb

We enjoyed the Loretto Chapel.

http://www.lorettochapel.com/history.html

If you like to combine activities, the Santa Fe School of Cooking has a culinary walking tour that lets you walk around downtown and sample food from 4 different restaurants and meet the chefs. It's not inexpensive, but it is fun and different. Their classes are fun too, if you want to learn how to cook the great food. SF actually has pretty good cultural life too, theater and music in addition to all the museums and galleries. Not much rockin' night-life though, so don't plan on dancing all night long, town closes early. If you are going Sep-Oct, look up to the mountains and see if the aspens are changing color - glorious!

If you'll have a rental car, I hightly recommend taking the short drive to Albuquerque for a ride on the Sandia Peak tram.

Take a ride over to Bandelier NM. It has ancient Native American dwellings carved into the rock of the mountainside. Los Alamos is very near by and a bit farther west is Valles Caldera, in the fall the male elk are rounding up females and bellowing at their challengers, great wildlife show for free from the side of the road.