We want to go to Santa Fe next year. I've been there before but only for a day. How many days would be a good amount to stay and what are your favorite things to do. Is September or may better? Or what is the best month to go.
Just a slight correction. The town you went to was Madrid, not Madras. Used to be a mining town, then it died. Then the hippies moved in and now it's a very interesting little place. They really do the town up for the holidays. We haven't gone down to see it, but I hear it's pretty spectacular.We went last October, flew into ABQ and explored there a couple of days and then went north to Santa Fe and it was very pleasant.
Really enjoyed the tram at Sandia Peak in ABQ. Also made a trip up to Rancho de Chimayo...Dinner at the restaurant there had the best green chili. Love the galleries. Took a side trip up to Madras ( where they filmed Wild Hogg) Its a fun little town and lots of craftsmen.
We didn't get a chance to go but the flea market on the north side of Santa Fe used to be a lot of fun, not sure current status.
Also check out the singing highway near Tijeras, New Mexico
If you can stand crowds, Indian Market in August each year is worth the trip
Some of the highlights for the holiday are:Luanne, thank you for the wonderful post on things to do in Santa Fe! We've been to Taos in the fall, but wanted save Santa Fe for the lights of Christmas. Your post has me really excited about exploring Sante Fe now! Do you have any tips for a holiday visit?
We caught the Balloon Fiesta on our last day, which was very cool to see, but I wish we would have read up more on where to view it ahead of time.
We flew back into ABQ during balloon fiesta. We didn't get up early enough to see the balloons launch, but thought we would certainly see them up in the air once we were up and about. Found out later that was one of the mornings they didn't go up due to weather.Curious about what you mean about "where to view it". The best place is, of course, Balloon Fiesta Park. If you mean outside the park, that would depend on which way the wind was blowing and would be almost impossible to determine ahead of time. We just got back from our 8th consecutive year at Fiesta. Always a good time, though the winds were not our friends this year. Our pilot only flew 4 of the 9 days. He could have also flown on the final day, but he was going for an early start home.
Sheila
Sheila,
We had an early afternoon flight to catch and were worried about being caught in traffic - having no idea what the event was like. We drove to a side road on the outskirts of town. We could see the balloons but weren't close enough to take any decent photos. We didn't know that the balloons lifted up, did a partial circle and then landed again in different parts of town. I'm sure we could have driven in closer but didn't know the area at all and where we could park.