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Santa Fe, Taos &
Albuquerque
By
Don and Barbara Laine
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For Expert Advice In All Price Ranges
Published by
FrOmmer mediA LLC
Copyright © 2016 by Frommer Media LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-
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5 4 3 2 1
FrOmmer'S STAr rATingS SySTem
Every hotel, restaurant, and attraction listed in this guide has been ranked for quality and value. Here’s
what the stars mean:
Recommended
Highly Recommended
A must! Don't miss!
An imPOrTAnT nOTe
The world is a dynamic place. Hotels change ownership, restaurants hike their prices, museums
alter their opening hours, and buses and trains change their routings. And all of this can occur
in the several months after our authors have visited, inspected, and written about these hotels,
restaurants, museums and transportation services. Though we have made valiant efforts to keep
all our information fresh and up-to-date, some few changes can inevitably occur in the periods
before a revised edition of this guidebook is published. So please bear with us if a tiny number
of the details in this book have changed. Please also note that we have no responsibility or liabil-
ity for any inaccuracy or errors or omissions, or for inconvenience, loss, damage, or expenses suf-
fered by anyone as a result of assertions in this guide.
C O n T e n T S
1 The BeST OF nOrThern 7 exPLOring TAOS 143
new mexiCO 1 What to See & Do in Taos 143
2 nOrThern new Sports & Recreation 150
mexiCO in dePTh 10 Taos Shopping 159
New Mexico Today 11 Taos After Dark 163
New Mexico Through Time 17 Excursions from Taos 165
Art & Architecture 21 8 ALBuquerque
Anthropology 101: Beliefs & eSSenTiALS 174
Rituals 26
Orientation 174
Books, Films & Music 28
Getting Around 177
Eating & Drinking in Northern
Fast Facts: Albuquerque 177
New Mexico 29
Where to Stay in
3 SuggeSTed nOrThern Albuquerque 178
new mexiCO Where to Eat in
iTinerArieS 32 Albuquerque 185
4 SAnTA Fe eSSenTiALS 42 9 exPLOring
Orientation 42 ALBuquerque 194
Getting Around 46 What to See & Do in
Albuquerque 194
Fast Facts: Santa Fe 47
Sports & Recreation 208
Where to Stay in Santa Fe 48
Spectator Sports 212
Where to Eat in Santa Fe 59
Albuquerque Shopping 213
5 exPLOring SAnTA Fe 72
Albuquerque After Dark 216
What to See & Do in
Excursions from
Santa Fe 72
Albuquerque 218
A Santa Fe Stroll 86
1 0 PLAnning yOur TriP
Sports & Recreation 90
TO nOrThern new
Santa Fe Shopping 94
mexiCO 229
The Performing Arts in
When to Go 230
Santa Fe 100
Northern New Mexico
Santa Fe Nightlife 102
Calendar of Events 230
Excursions from Santa Fe 104
Getting There & Around 232
6 TAOS eSSenTiALS 119 Special-Interest & Escorted
Trips 234
Orientation 120
Fast Facts: Northern New
Getting Around 123
Mexico 236
Fast Facts: Taos 123
Where to Stay in Taos 124 index 240
Where to Eat in Taos 134
ABOuT The AuThOrS
Residents of northern New Mexico for more than 40 years, don and Barbara Laine have
traveled extensively throughout New Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, and the Southwest,
exploring the mountains, deserts, cities, and towns in search of unique outdoor adventures,
hidden historic gems, and the perfect green chile cheeseburger. The Laines have authored
or contributed to a number of Frommer’s travel guides, including Frommer’s EasyGuide to
National Parks of the American West, and have also written Little-Known Southwest, New
Mexico & Arizona State Parks, and Best Short Hikes in Arizona for The Mountaineers Books.
ABOuT The FrOmmer’S TrAVeL guideS
For most of the past 50 years, Frommer’s has been the leading series of travel guides in
North America, accounting for as many as 24% of all guidebooks sold. I think I know why.
Though we hope our books are entertaining, we nevertheless deal with travel in a serious
fashion. Our guidebooks have never looked on such journeys as a mere recreation, but as a
far more important human function, a time of learning and introspection, an essential part
of a civilized life. We stress the culture, lifestyle, history, and beliefs of the destinations we
cover, and urge our readers to seek out people and new ideas as the chief rewards of travel.
We have never shied from controversy. We have, from the beginning, encouraged our
authors to be intensely judgmental, critical—both pro and con—in their comments, and
wholly independent. Our only clients are our readers, and we have triggered the ire of count-
less prominent sorts, from a tourist newspaper we called “practically worthless” (it unsuc-
cessfully sued us) to the many rip-offs we’ve condemned.
And because we believe that travel should be available to everyone regardless of their
incomes, we have always been cost-conscious at every level of expenditure. Though we
have broadened our recommendations beyond the budget category, we insist that every
lodging we include be sensibly priced. We use every form of media to assist our readers,
and are particularly proud of our feisty daily website, the award-winning Frommers.com.
I have high hopes for the future of Frommer’s. May these guidebooks, in all the years
ahead, continue to reflect the joy of travel and the freedom that travel represents. May they
always pursue a cost-conscious path, so that people of all incomes can enjoy the rewards of
travel. And may they create, for both the traveler and the persons among whom we travel,
a community of friends, where all human beings live in harmony and peace.
Arthur Frommer
The BesT of
1
NorTherN
New Mexico
Northern New Mexico is a land of contrasts and contra-
dictions, and extremes in climate and cultures. One
day you’re hiking among prickly pear cactus and
sagebrush, hoping you brought enough drinking water to
get you back to the trail head. Next day you’re speeding
down a mountainside on skis as the falling snow fills the
tracks you leave behind. Here you’ll find American Indians
living much like their ancestors did hundreds of years ago,
practically alongside the nuclear scientists who design the
weapons of tomorrow and try to find solutions for the prob-
lems of today. There are refined chamber music concerts,
wild Texas two-steppin’ bars, and practically everything in
between.
As you explore northern New Mexico, you’ll see the magical
beauty in both land and spirit that has captured the hearts of so
many artists, writers, and thinkers. And we hope you’ll also experi-
ence some of that magic yourself, and take a little bit of it back
home when you leave.
best
The NorTherN New
Mexico experieNces
Taos Pueblo, Veterans Highway, Taos Pueblo (www.taospueblo.
com; 575/758-1028): If you see only one American Indian site
in your northern New Mexico visit, this should be it. This awe-
inspiring structure, where 200 residents still live much as their
ancestors did more than 700 years ago, is bold and imposing,
with mud-built rooms poetically stacked to echo the shape of
Taos Mountain behind them. You can visit resident artists’ stu-
dios, munch on bread baked in a horno (a beehive-shaped oven),
1 Northern New Mexico
COLORADO
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exic 96 Rio Chama 84 Caliente EmbLuadso Tram75pas 518
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N SANTA CLARA Chimayo
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ZIA INDIAN RESERVATION
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Albuquerque
40
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CIBOLA
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Moriarty 0 15 km
FOREST
2
and wander past the fascinating ruins of the old church and cemetery. See
1
p. 146.
High Road to Taos: This spectacular 80-mile route into the mountains
T
between Santa Fe and Taos takes you through red-painted deserts, villages h
e
bordered by apple and peach orchards, and the foothills of 13,000-foot B
e
peaks. You can stop in Cordova, known for its woodcarvers, or Chimayo, s
T
known for its weavers—even rub some “healing dust” between your fingers o
f
at the fabled Santuario de Chimayo. See p. 117. N
Santa Fe Opera: One of the finest opera companies in the United States o
r
has called Santa Fe home for more than a half-century. Performances are T
h
held during the summer months in a hilltop, open-air (but mostly under- e
r
roof) amphitheater. See p. 101. N
N
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta: The desert skies fill with e
w
color as the world’s largest balloon rally assembles some 600 hot-air bal-
M
loons. Highlights are the mass ascension at sunrise and the special shapes e
x
rodeo, in which balloons in all sorts of whimsical forms, from liquor bottles ic
to cows, rise into the sky. See p. 209. o
Northern New Mexican Enchiladas: There are few things more New
Mexican than the enchilada. Order red or green chiles, or “Christmas” Th
e
chiles (half red, half green), covered with rich sauces seasoned with garlic B
e
and oregano. New Mexican cuisine doesn’t overdo on the cheese and sour s
cream, so the flavors of the chiles, corn, and meats can be savored. See t M
u
p. 30. se
u
m
s
best
The MuseuMs
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum: Renowned modernist artist Georgia O’Keeffe
fell in love with the deserts of the Southwest in the 1930s and moved to the
isolated northern New Mexico community of Abiquiu in 1949, which
inspired her best-known works—striking paintings of flowers, animal
skulls, and stark landscapes. See p. 72.
Museum of International Folk Art: Santa Fe’s perpetually expanding col-
lection of folk art is the largest in the world, with thousands of objects from
more than 100 countries. You’ll find an amazing array of imaginative
works, ranging from Hispanic folk art santos (carved saints) to Indonesian
textiles and African sculptures. See p. 76.
Harwood Museum of Art: If you’re going to see just one art museum in
northern New Mexico, make it this small but stunning showcase for the art
that made Taos famous. See p. 143.
Millicent Rogers Museum: This Taos museum features among the best
collections anywhere of turquoise and silver American Indian jewelry,
Navajo rugs, Pueblo pottery, and other southwestern arts and crafts, born
3
out of the personal collection of Standard Oil heiress Millicent Rogers. See
1
p. 145.
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science: Here you’ll stroll
s
el through 12 billion years of natural history, from the very beginnings to the
ot
H age of dinosaurs and beyond, with interactive exhibits, a planetarium, and
ge a huge-screen theater. This Albuquerque science museum is actually fun,
plur and (we’ll say this quietly so the kids don’t hear) educational. See p. 205.
st S Unser Racing Museum: You don’t have to be a fan of auto racing to appre-
e ciate this Albuquerque museum dedicated to the Unsers, New Mexico’s first
B
e family of auto racing. There are the racecars that won the Indy 500, some
h
T
fascinating cars and motorcycles from the early days of motorized racing,
and a fun simulator that conveys what it’s like to race in an Indianapolis
o
c 500. See p. 199.
xi
e
M best
w The splurge hoTels
e
N Inn of the Five Graces: Just a few blocks from Santa Fe Plaza, this Relais
N
& Chateaux inn spoils guests unmercifully with elaborately decorated
r
he suites with kilim rugs and ornately carved beds and floral-decked court-
rT yards. The name comes from the Eastern concept of the five senses: sight,
o
N sound, touch, smell, and taste, all of which are stimulated here. See p. 52.
f Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi: Just steps from the Santa Fe Plaza, this
o
T posh sandstone hotel offers a taste of ancestral Puebloan architecture, with
s
e all the historic charm but none of the hardships these ancient peoples
B
e endured, thanks to excellent amenities and stellar service. See p. 53.
h
T El Monte Sagrado: With guest rooms, suites, and casitas set around a
grassy “Sacred Circle,” this eco-resort in Taos is the quintessence of luxury.
Every detail, from the waterfalls and chemical-free pool and hot tubs to the
authentic theme decor in the rooms, has been created with conscious care.
See p. 124.
La Fonda: Settle into old Santa Fe at this historic hotel that combines all
the modern conveniences you expect in a splurge hotel with enough historic
ambience to knock your socks off. Head to the Bell Tower Bar for a drink
with a spectacular sunset view. See p. 52.
best
The MoDerATelY
priceD hoTels
El Rey Inn: For historic charm and relatively reasonable rates (for Santa
Fe), head to El Rey Inn. Built in the 1930s and added on to and upgraded
over the years, the inn offers a variety of room types, all different but nicely
appointed, with a Route 66 ambience and nicely landscaped grounds. See
p. 54.
Santa Fe Motel and Inn: Rooms at this inn, located six blocks from the
Santa Fe Plaza, smartly combine the ambience of the Southwest—bold
4
