I love that Santa Fe's Historical District restrictions allow the Plaza to retain its old world…read morecharm and wide accessibility for the community. The rest of metro Santa Fe might be their version of suburbia, but the heart that anchors Santa Fe is right here. Yes, the shopping on the adjacent streets is a bit high end, but the classy charm of the plaza and the Tribal merchants across the street at the Inn of the Governors grounds the experience. Besides the interesting mix of people at the Plaza, I note 2 interesting experiences: 1. The Classic Car show on Friday night that circled the entire Plaza on the outside, accented by "Low Riders" occasionally circling. Our friend Laurie even found the model of car that her family drove around during her childhood. 2. The Santa Fe Plaza Obelisk, historically known as the Soldiers' Monument, was toppled by protestors in 2020 and its pieces are slated for a museum. What will become of the Monument proper is in community committee hands, which will probably go round and round without much meaningful progress short term.

Founded in 1609 by the Spanish, this plaza is the main heart of Santa Fe with a lot of shops and…read morerestaurants accessible from here. This was where El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the royal road of the interior, ended, having begun in Mexico City. This is where the Santa Fe Trail ended its 900-mile-long journey from Independence, Missouri. There are markers in the plaza commemorating both. The best part of the plaza is the Native American street vendors that sell arts and crafts on the street. Many of them have their ID card and we loved meeting Paul and buying some of the hand painted see pots him and his wife made with hummingbirds on them. We asked him what the bird meant and he said "the beauty of life" and it made it a must buy. We saw other vendors selling jewlery, turquoise, paintings, and sandstone art but this was the tail end of our trip and we had no space anymore. This is an idea/tip but we asked around for fry bread or other Native American foods and nobody knew anywhere close by that served it. A nice Native American food truck or small stand would make a killing in this area!

Exposed (i.e. no shade), but a convenient way to go for a run if you're visiting and don't know the…read morearea. Nice paved path in great condition. Be on the lookout for loose dogs. Encountered 1 on each of my runs. One followed me, barking, for a short distance until I bent down to pick up a rock. The other one looked like a pit mix but was friendly and docile.

A very nicely constructed, paved, walk/run/bike trail following the Santa Fe River. It joins…read moreseveral parks and a recreation center along the way. It currently ends at Frenchy's Field, but plans are to extend it all the way to 599.

It's part of the Meow Wolf experience located in their parking lot. There are now three metal…read moresculptures with the third being a blue Coyote.. - Free! But you'll have to find parking. - If you eat at Tortilla Flats you get 20% off admission to Meow Wolf.

As a Texan, I'm used to things being big. But I ain't ever seen a 30 foot robot before! This huge…read morerobot is called, "Becoming Human" and was built by Christian Ristow outside of Meow Wolf. (If you're unfamiliar with Meow Wolf, check out their separate Yelp page) The robot looks like it used to be menacing, but now is picking a giant daisy! The robot sits out in the parking lot, so it's easily accessible for photos. Don't worry, he won't crush you and take over mankind with ruthless calculating prowess. He just wants to give you a daisy! The spider, named TaranTula, is pretty big, even by Texan standards, but we've been known to have some larger ones out near Amarillo. The spider was made by Christina Sporrong, from the Spitfire Forge in Taos. With the two giant creatures in the parking lot, it looks like some sort of strange sci-fi action scene is about to go down, and your ride is parked right in the middle of it! Food trucks can often be found out in front of the spider, along with places to chill. Please don't climb on the creations.

I have been going to Indian Market on and off for 35 years- I noticed this year several booths that…read morehad non-Native components incorporated into their items- and a lot of booths with low level items- this used to be a strict juried event- not so any more- very disappointing-

Welcome to the 100th anniversary of the market. This is how you avoid mass produced products sold…read moreby people who don't know the story and meanings of symbols. Everything here was sold by the artists who could talk about symbolic meanings Before buying we asked about the story and symbolic meanings of the item. Sellers were more than happy to answer our questions. It was a great education and provided better understanding of Native Americans and their relationship with the earth.We made a few purchases as soon as we entered the selling area and had to remind ourselves much more remained to be seen. Booths could be found on most streets surrounding the plaza. Despite the rain it was still fairly crowded. Many booths were not yet occupied. This also equates to a lot of traffic trying to find limited parking spaces close by. Surprisingly we managed to cover almost 3 miles. Most vendors take credit cards but many don't. There are ATMs close by but save a trip to find one and bring cash too. We definitely enjoyed our excursion and are already looking forward to next year's! Oh, one last thing - bring snacks and something to drink. If you want a sit down meal expect a wait in almost all eateries in the area.

The truffles are really yummy! Each one different than the others, and better than the next. the…read moresalted caramel won here! The hot chocolate variety is to die for. The best is the frozen hot chocolate! The staff is super helpful and friendly and helpful! The ice creams are good but we will be going for the frozen hot chocolate every time!

Yummy chocolates, and you get to sample their hot chocolate. A bit pricey at $4, but they are…read moreartisan. My 3 stars have less to do with the food and more to do with the service. There were two girls working the counter, and their affect was dry, mildly unfriendly, and as if you were a slight nuisance. The older people (who seemed like managers or owners) were far more personable. It feels bad spending $50 on chocolate when the people who are supposed to be helping you can't be bothered.

Downtown Santa Fe is known for it's many art galleries. There are a LOT of them. We are talking…read morereal art galleries. That translates into $$$$$ expensive stuff. Basically if your pockets are deep enough to spend $5,000 for a small decorative item, you will have no trouble finding things to buy. But, for the average working person, you will find lots of things to like, but not much that you can afford, at least at the "real" art galleries. Then there are other stores where they just buy from big wholesalers and sell the cheap stuff for the people with not so deep pockets. There are also a fair amount of womens clothing stores, jewelry stores, rug stores, and the local street vendors selling their handmade items. The street vendors have lots and lots of earrings, bracelets, necklaces etc. Not all the street vendors take credit cards. Some do, some don't. Cash always works of course. And yes, you can bargain a bit on the price if you are so inclined. Downtown Santa Fe is an easy city to walk. They do allow auto traffic on the streets, many of which are one way. It's not laid out in a grid pattern exactly, but getting around is easy enough. You can park where there are meters or in a few designated lots. The meters are .25 for every 15 minutes and only take coins or cash cards. I think the maximum time you can get on the meter is 3 hours. Parking enforcement checks until 6pm Monday through Saturday. Sundays and holidays you can park for free and not feed the meters. Like any big city, there are sketchy looking/acting people that like to hang around the main square. Even more so at night it seems. So be aware of where you are walking and pay attention to your surroundings. There are local Bed & Breakfasts and Inns located right in the main downtown area or just a block or so away. So it is easy to simply park at the inn/hotel and walk to where you want to go. But Santa Fe is at a high elevation, so keep that in mind if you are choosing to walk, especially any uphill areas. Again, there are lots and lots of galleries. They are not all located at street level. Some are up on the second floors, some are down in the lower levels, and some are off the beaten path. The ones on Canyon Road alone would take you most of one day or more to go through. And they all seem to close around 5pm, even on weekends. So don't expect to see it all if you only have a day or two. You just won't have the time or energy. If you heading to Santa Fe from the Salida Colorado area, be aware, that for whatever ridiculous reason, the speed limit drops to 55 once you cross into New Mexico on the main highways heading to Santa Fe. You won't see a 65 mph zone again until you hit the Santa Fe area. In other words, a long time! Also make sure you have enough gas and used a rest area before crossing into New Mexico. Because there is really nothing as far as full service towns for a good 90 miles or more. You will pass through a number of very small and not terribly appealing NM towns on the way to Santa Fe from the Salida Colorado area. So it's best to take care of those basic things before crossing the border. Santa Fe is at a high elevation. And for those of us living at much lower elevations, it is easy to get out of breath simply walking up a flight of stairs or walking uphill along the streets the art galleries are on. Drink plenty of bottled water and stay hydrated. If you find yourself with a persistent dull headache once you have been here a bit, try drinking more water. Your skin and lips will be dry at this elevation as well, so bring lip balm, moisturizer and sunblock. A good hat and sunglasses will help too. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, Many of them actually have chefs. So you can definitely drop some big dollars on dinner for two. If you are on a budget, it pays to ask some locals where the more moderately priced places are. Hope this helps for anyone paying a first visit to Santa Fe.

Meh. For the conference, it was fine. The coffee is blah and the pastries are OK. Though evidently…read morethe banquet dinner was fabulous last night. We did have some very large things that needed to be moved, which was pretty much a disaster the first day as staff just stared at or micromanaged one of our crew while he tried to move them himself. On leaving however, one of the staff was ultra-accommodating and got (the five of us that had gathered to assist him) a dolly and even helped us move them to the loading dock, which he made available to us. Signage and organization of the two concurrent conferences were not even slightly great... and the bathrooms constantly needed cleaning. The garage is convenient, and now they take cards, so that is also more convenient.

We arrived and the line was almost out the door but then realized that they have a really unique…read moreand efficient system. You order and pay and then you get seated! Love it! The restaurant is roomy and lively. It's right across the street from the Hilton, where we stayed! My colleague ordered pizza to go on the first night, walked over and returned back to hotel room! I should have done that too! Our party of 6 came from Hawaii and just trusted the process...we ordered several wood oven pizzas (sorry I didn't pay attention to what my friends ordered ) I had the Tartufo - omggg it was to die for!!! the food is amazing and affordable! We would come back again and again if we could!! The employees were friendly and helpful! We were leaving the next morning so some of us took the leftovers and ate it at our stopover!! We will definitely come back if we have another conference there!!

This establishment is one of five in network AADVANTAGE dining restaurants so we decided to give it…read morea try. Located in the Plaza off of San Francisco St., we didn't realize there was it's own parking lot that is shared with others around the corner (we parked at a public structure for 5 bucks 2 blocks away). This is an order at the counter establishment of which I do not care for, especially if it's pricey (which it was). We started off with the house salad for 7.50/ea and totally not worth it (just some lettuce tomatoes and dressing with a piece of bread). 2 of us had pizzas 1 a calzone and another pasta. Pizzas were ok, but a good size for one big appetite or to share otherwise. The calzone was HUGE but my friend did not care for it (vegetarian) as she said it had too much goat cheese and lacked flavor. My friend's pasta was just average. With a bottle of cab and 2 soft drinks, the price came to a pricey 120 bucks before tip (the servers do deliver your food and drinks to the table). Would I come back here? Probably not. I have had others word of mouth that also did not care for it.

We had a blast! We signed up for this class knowing we would be in town for a couple of days. It…read morewas hands on and is definitely something we will always remember! The class size was just right, enough people to make it fun and social, but still small enough that everyone got involved. Chef Mica kicked things off by giving us an overview of the history of the area, its chile traditions, and the differences between the peppers we'd be working with and seeing around the city. That context added so much depth to the cooking, it wasn't just a class, it was a cultural experience. Each of us prepared a different type of relleno, and then at the end we all sat down and shared the full spread together buffet style. It was such a fun way to learn, connect, and taste a variety of chiles without spending hours cooking everything on your own. It was well organized, engaging, and easy to follow. My anxiety did kick in once I realized other people would also be eating what I made, but we made it through and I loved what I got, the jalapeno poppers. You can feel the passion in what the chef does and everything ran very smoothly even though we were the last done lol Come hungry and ready to learn! We walked away with some new skills, a deeper knowledge of peppers, and some great recipes we can't wait to try at home. This truly will be memorable for us!

We took a cooking class here and it was good. Not great but good…read more They have a very well put together kitchen for classes and the instructor has a long list of credentials. Our class was on salsa sauces with different peppers and home made tacos. The class started with the chef walking us through the printed recipes and what was wrong with them. (Maybe redo these with correct recipes? And then go right to cooking and teaching?) Then we all chopped and cooked. At the end we got to taste everybody's products.

My favorite way to see any new to me city is through a food tour! I booked a trip through Pack Up…read moreand Go and they sent up this food tour for me on my birthday so I was beyond ecstatic! Our guide, Jose, was absolutely phenomenal! He has so much knowledge of Santa Fe and the food scene, and you can definitely tell he is passionate about the cuisine there. He was extremely personable, funny, and was happy to answer any questions and tell us lots of stories! Really just an overall joy! It was also super fun that everyone in the group was visiting from out of town and many of us loved doing food tours in other cities so we got to swap food tour stories and whatnot. Here's a list of our stops and what we had: La Fogata Grill - taco and margarita Del Charro - enchilada with both sauces and margarita San Francisco St Bar and Grill - half of a green chili cheeseburger and margarita Senor Murphy Candymaker - various sweet treats Everything was absolutely phenomenal - I really can't pick a favorite dish because they were all so yummy. But the Del Charro meal convinced me to always order "Christmas" sauce the rest of my stay in Santa Fe. My favorite margarita was definitely the one at San Francisco! And also, there was one person in the group that didn't drink and they were very accommodating to give him some fancy mocktails instead of cocktails (or boring soda!). Thanks for making my birthday extra special with some fantastic bites and sips!

The lowlife of our trip was this food tour. The food was mediocre at best. First stop 2 tamales,…read more2nd stop one small street taco and 3rd stop a small cup of soup. Not worth $150! The tour guide spoke so fast that it felt like he was reading off the disclaimers of an advertisement. Your better off just going to one nice restaurant and enjoying your meal.

We did the Historic Plaza Food Sip and Savor Tour. It included 4 stops; 2 with food and alcoholic…read morebeverage taste, 1 stop with champagne flight, and 1 stop with churro dessert. Lauren was outstanding host but the $179 per person plus expected tip is outrageous pricing and would have expected more value (food and drink or 5 versus 4 stops).

Probably the #1 advice I give fellow travelers is to do a food tour soon after arriving in a new…read morecity. You get some history, get a basic understanding of the lay of the land, and best of all... you get to eat. On our particular day we ate Italian, ice cream, tamales, amazing pozole and (I think) El Salvadoran food. Everything was delicious and in a couple of cases, a first for me! A huge shout out to our guide - I think her name was Lauren. She did an amazing job and went the extra mile to make sure that we returned to our hotel okay (we were having shuttle issues). She was funny, caring and informative. Besides that, also a chef so she knew what she was talking about! The tour was about $200 per person before tip. Don't forget to tip! I highly recommend this tour.