Santa Fe Travel Guide

I adore Santa Fe! Andrew and I traveled to New Mexico in the spring of last year (when I was in my second trimester with Sam!) and we had a fabulous time seeing inspiring art, eating flavorful food, and discovering the serene landscape. We spent five nights in Santa Fe, which was the perfect amount of time in the city. I have put together a list of my travel recommendations for anyone who finds themselves traveling to this gem of a city

Where to Stay: We stayed at the Inn and Spa at Loretto. A friend recommended this hotel to us because of the location and I could not agree more: the location was great. We were able to walk to lots of great restaurants, as well as the Canyon Road Galleries. Valet parking is included and that was a nice amenity. We ate breakfast & dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, Luminaria, and really enjoyed both meals. The ambiance of the restaurant was great, the staff was very friendly, and the food was very good (and very well priced for a hotel restaurant). The hotel bar/lounge area was also great. Very nice staff. You can also order food there (many items from the Luminaria menu). The rooms were pretty nice. The bathroom could use an update but otherwise no complaints. The outdoor space was under construction when we stayed here so there was some noise during the day. The pool/outdoor dining space they are building looks great! The hotel also had a good coffee shop. I loved the décor and the regular drip coffee was quite good. Service was mixed (they were understaffed some mornings).

I loved the carpeting in our hotel!

Where to Eat: Don’t miss a chance to have dinner at Geronimo. It was the best meal we had in Santa Fe and one of the best meals we have had in a while. Excellent ambiance, excellent service, & excellent food. Andrew really enjoyed La Choza. I was avoiding spicy food (I was 26 weeks pregnant during our trip) so I had more bland items on the menu. I still very much enjoyed it. I mentioned Luminaria before but it was the restaurant in our hotel. Definitely worth going to for dinner or breakfast. Andrew had the green chili cheeseburger and the fries that came with it were definitely some of the best fries I have had. He also enjoyed the burger. I highly recommend Café Pasquals. We had breakfast here twice because we enjoyed it so much. Really good food, but keep in mind the portions are huge. The staff was very nice and the restaurant had a very colorful décor (I loved the tiles on the wall). We had lunch at Palacio Cafe and I had the best chips & salsa I have ever had. Very nice staff. We had a really good breakfast at Dolinas. The baked goods/pastry selection was impressive. It was nice to get a break from the very large and flavorful Santa Fe style breakfasts. We ended up having two lunches at Counter Culture bc the location was ideal. Nice indoor/outdoor space. Good for a quicker casual meal if you are in that part of town. Overrated: The Shed, Blake's Lotaburger. Sazon had good food but we did not have the best experience because the dining room was so packed.

Where to Shop: I'll first start with places that are not on the famous Canyon Road. We bought a couple of pieces from Liquid Light Glass. The have a very colorful selection of glass pieces. There is a large range in prices (we bought a few small pieces for all under $40). They have some larger pieces from local artists and they have a studio on site, which is always cool to see. We drove to Chimayo (about 35-45 min from Santa Fe) and visited Cintinela Weavers. Absolutely worth the trip.Most of the work is made there (the lovely woman who runs the store was working on an incredible weaving while we browsed). We took home three pieces. The prices are much better than if you were to purchase similar work in Santa Fe. We also wanted to support the local artists directly. We loved Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery. They have pieces by Maria Martinez, as well as her son & grandson. They have a wide variety of pottery from different artists & regions. We purchased a smaller pot. The staff was very knowledgeable. I recommend going to the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture before you buy your pottery bc you will have a greater appreciation for the works (and you will not have sticker shock bc you will get why things cost what they cost).

We purchased from two galleries on Canyon Road: GF Contemporary and Martinez Studio. We purchased a Dustin Gimble ceramic sculpture from GF Contemporary. Dustin lives in CA so we did not get to meet him but we love his work. The gallery was very easy to work with and did a great job shipping such a large and heavy piece. We loved the time we spent in the Martinez Studio. The work there is from Sandra Jo & Wence Martinez. They have been partners for nearly 40 years and his weavings are inspired by her art. We spent time with Sandra and really enjoyed her. The weavings are stunning and we were thrilled to purchase one for our home.

Liquid Light Glass

Canyon Road is a wonderful selection of galleries

Cintinela Weavers, where we bought several pieces

Museums to Visit: We visited the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, the Museum of International Folk Art, and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. We loved all three. Get tickets for O’Keefe in advance. I have always respected the work of O’Keefe but have not been a fan necessarily but I loved the museum. It had an amazing collection of her work. She was a real bad ass for her era. Definitely a must see. The Alexander Girard exhibit at the Museum of International Folk Art is without question one of my favorite exhibits I have seen. It’s curated by Alexander himself and its objects and art he collected during his travels to Mexico, etc. It’s a very charming and thoughtful display. And oh so colorful. I left the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture with an immense amount of respect for potters. They have a video of Maria Martinez making her black pottery. Watch the entire video. Her process and craft are incredible.

The Museum of International Folk Art was fabulous

We were huge fans of the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture

The Georgia O'Keefe Museum is a wonderful experience

Other adventures: We went to Meow Wolf (I was skeptical but Andrew really wanted to go). We spent two hours there and it was definitely better than I expected. Very good execution. You could have spent way more than two hours there if you were going along with the program (Andrew really liked what he did).