Santa Fe Plaza is a must-see and is in a bustling area with beautiful buildings, shops, and…read moreentertainment. The history and architecture is amazing. Note: Street Parking is a bit challenging and the area can get quite busy, but it's a fun spot.

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.

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.

I am an event producer and an operator of private curated trips. In early July, I brought a group…read moreof high-level women to Santa Fe and one of our first activities was a Chocolate Immersion at the Kakawa Chocolate Tasting Room. Led by Bonnie, the owner , it was a terrific experience and one I would highly recommend for other groups. She has created a thoughtful and interesting 1.5 hour experience that walks you through the history and process of chocolate as you taste different chocolates which follow her presentation. At the end, you go to the nearby store to create a custom box of chocolate to take home. Bonnie is very knowledgeable and passionate about chocolate which shines through the experience. Even if you don't do the Immersion, I would suggest stopping by one of the Kakawa locations for high quality chocolate and elixirs (which by the way is vegan/non-diary). You will be glad you did!

Shout out to Josh! Friendly, efficient, cheerful, helpful, patient, accurate. Three of us bombarded…read morehim with both in-house and to-go orders pretty near closing time on Tuesday, August 4. He got every order right, did it with a smile, and had US all smiling at his charm. We were like the musicians in an orchestra he was conducting -- everybody in harmony and a great finale! (Of course, fabulous chocolate like yours makes us very happy, too.) But friendly, happy, attentive servers like Josh are the best treat of all.

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!!

Took my mom to New Mexico for her birthday weekend, and for some reason I was craving a good pizza…read more We came across Il Vicino and figured we'd give it a shot. First impression was solid--the place has a nice atmosphere, clean setup, and a good vibe. Customer service was friendly too, so no complaints there. But at the end of the day, we came for the food...and it just wasn't there. I ordered a Caesar salad that never showed up, and the pizza was just meh. Not terrible, not inedible, just nothing that made me say, "Damn, I need to come back here." Especially when you're craving a good wood-fired pizza, you expect it to HIT. Service and atmosphere can definitely carry part of the experience, but they can't carry the pizza at a pizza place. Two stars for the food. Nice place, good people, but the kitchen missed the mark for me.

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.

We wanted something other than just walking around and doing a self-tour, wanted a tour with…read moreknowledge of the area. Jose gave us a great tour, the food was great and the group was fantastic. Street Taco's, Enchilada's and a cup of Green Chilie, outstanding. Did I mention the Margaritas and Churro for desert..... What was "great" and made the tour was Jose's knowledge of Santa Fe, the food and culture; even recommending a great steak restaurant! We could have gotten lost in Santa Fe for several weeks eating and enjoying the culture. The food was the media for the tour, but the entertainment was Jose! Thanks!

We enjoyed the food tour with Jose. The Margaritas were a great touch and went perfectly with the…read morefood. Maybe have one flavored margarita is my one critique. Our food was a good selection: chicken enchilada with Christmas was excellent, asada street taco, and tortilla soup. We had margaritas with each meal. Last stop was Churro Bar and it was Amazing! Best churro my husband & I have ever had! And we have tasted lots of churros. Freshly fried and delicious. It was great to walk around histrionic plaza and see the historic downtown with Jose. We appreciated the stops at the Loretta Chapel & San Miguel Church. They give the history only and you have to comeback to tour on your own. Great food tour. Side note:Del Charro has the best red sauce I've had. All the flavor and perfect spice. Not hot or overwhelming. Seasoned perfectly. First Christmas enchilada I enjoyed as I usually only get green sauce only. Kudos to them & Jose for picking them.

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.