Trip Recap: Santa Fe New Mexico

Last Updated: April 19, 2020

After booking cheap flights on Alaska Airlines to ABQ – Albuquerque as part of our summer mileage runs and tour of America’s South West, we decided to visit Santa Fe for 1 night and 1.5 days after our stay in Albuquerque. In this post, we share information about our trip to Santa Fe New Mexico in August 2019.

It’s a nice easy drive: We rented a car and it only took us about 1 hour to drive down one nice easy going freeway to Santa Fe. We also found the desert scenery nice but there are not as many scenic overlooks on this stretch of highway as others in New Mexico. If driving is not your thing, there is actually a commuter train that makes the journey a few times a day and takes about 1.5 hours; the New Mexico Rail Runner Express is convenient and affordable for those who prefer to sit back and just enjoy the ride and scenery.

Driving down I25 between Santa Fe and Albuquerque

Enjoying a beer with a view at Bosque Brewing

Grabbed some BBQ at Nexus in Albuquerque before the airport: really liked everything, especially the green chile mac ‘n cheese

Nexus Blue Smokehouse in Albuquerque

Gruet is made in New Mexico: During our travels in the Unites States, we’d seen Gruet sparkling wines on shelves but didn’t realize it was actually made in New Mexico by French expats with winemaking experience in France. Since there is a Gruet Tasting Room in Santa Fe, we visited and enjoyed the Méthode Champenoise wines so much, we bought a couple of bottles.

Bottles of wine at the Gruet Tasting Room in Santa Fe

Max enjoying a tasting at the Gruet Tasting Room in Santa Fe

Daily tasting menu at the Gruet Tasting Room in Santa Fe

Gruet Tasting Room in Santa Fe

There is amazing South Indian food: From our research, we knew we wanted to at Paper Dosa, a restaurant specializing in South Indian food. We have never had dosa, which is a crepe made from fermented rice and lentil batter served with sambar and chutneys. We also ordered their Bhel Puri which is a chat made from “puffed rice, mango, onion, cilantro, and tomato tossed in tamarind and mint chutney” and their Lamb Keema “A dosa served with a side of spiced ground lamb cooked with tomatoes and onions.”. The dosa actually remind us of the hoppers we had in Sri Lanka but in a different format. Everything was so delicious, which is why Paper Dosa makes our list of top meals experienced when travelling. It was definitely worth the hour long wait to sit on the patio.

Dosa and Lamb Keema at Paper Dosa

Bhel Puri and Pakoras at Paper Dosa

Meow Wolf…book in advance: We didn’t know too much about Meow Wolf, an interactive art installation that is immensely popular. We were not 100% sure if we wanted to check it out because the tickets were $25USD per person and you had to pre-book. We decided we would just decide last minute and visit, which was a really bad idea because it meant we could not visit. If you want to visit Meow Wolf, it is best to buy tickets in advance, in some cases 1 week before or more.

Santa Fe is at an altitude of 7,200 feet: We were interested in some hikes but we had limited time and the altitude did affect us a little and so we just took it easy and took leisurely walks to see the sites. Tourism Santa Fe has some great resources to help you put together an itinerary that suits your interests; from the craft beer trail, the chocolate trail, the margarita trail where you have a passport to try 45 margaritas, art, landmarks, an amazing local book store/cafe called Collected Works and local food, there is something for you. It should also be noted that Santa Fe is home to over 300 art shops, the famous Georgia O’Keefe Museum, and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. We visited Chili Line Brewing and Rowley Farmhouse Ales and recommend both places for a beer and quite enjoyed our tacos at Taco Fundacion.

Max at Taco Fundacion

Taco Fundacion

A beer at Chili Line Brewing in Santa Fe

Scenery in Santa Fe

Mural at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

Statue at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

Max and a mural in Santa Fe

A mural in Santa Fe

Where to stay: There are a number of places to stay in Santa Fe ranging from motels to high-end luxury hotels, and also AirBnBs. While we wanted to stay at the Rosewood Inn Of the Anasazi, we could not justify the $300USD+ per night price tag and so we stayed at La Posada de Santa Fe, a Tribute Portfolio Resort & Spa part of Marriott. We had a mixed experience staying here; we loved some things but some things were not up to par for this brand. We loved the property itself because it fit the landscape and was quite relaxing. They charge a $30 resort fee and while the pool and spa were nice, they were quite small for the number of rooms here and not serviced appropriately. Thankfully the resort fee includes valet parking and a shuttle up to a 2 mile radius of the hotel. We used a suite night award and while we enjoyed our suite, it was in need of a renovation and general maintenance; the tap was pretty much falling out of the bathtub/shower combo and the bathroom needed to be cleaned better. We also found the service at the restaurant a little strange; as soon as you entered, you were not greeted with a “Hello” but “Bonvoy or Regular”. We are not sure we would stay here again.

Room at La Posada de Santa Fe, a Tribute Portfolio Resort & Spa

Living area in a suite at La Posada de Santa Fe, a Tribute Portfolio Resort & Spa

Grounds at La Posada de Santa Fe, a Tribute Portfolio Resort & Spa

Fireplace at La Posada de Santa Fe, a Tribute Portfolio Resort & Spa

Summary:

We really enjoyed visiting Santa Fe and hope to visit again one day. For a small town, it has so much culture and history with good places for food and drink. We also hope to be able to check out some of the hikes when it is cooler as we visited in August when it was quite warm.

Have you ever visited Santa Fe? Did you end up going to Meow Wolf?

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