We were in SF for two nights in May 2022. The Loretto Chapel is a must see and there is another old church, San Miguel, that is worth a stop but they have limited hours.

You will exit Loretto Chapel through a gift shop (big surprise, I know) but when you exit the shop you enter a hall that will take you by some upscale shops and then into the lobby of the Inn and Spa at Loretto. It looked like a very nice hotel and it is in a very good location. We stayed at the Hilton at the end of Water Street and it was fine but not in the center of things.

A friend recommended Coyote Cafe and we had lunch there on the 2nd floor bar/patio that overlooked Water Street.

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We got these stuffed peppers for an appetizer; they were good but we couldn't eat them all and the main course too. Gave 1/2 of them to a guy next to us.

There is a visitor center about a block and 1/2 from the Inn and Spa; stop there and get a map.

You can hike up or drive to the site of the Cross of the Martyrs/Old Fort Marcy Park to see an overview of the city. There is not much there but its where the U.S. built a fort before we acquired SF from Mexico if IIRC. We drove.

Out of town down the Old Santa Fe Trail is Museum Hill where they have 5 museums and the botanical gardens. We went in the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian and it had a lot of silver items; beltbuckles, etc. It was interesting but about 2 hours in one museum is enough.

Check out Los Alamos if you go to Bandelier. The Manhattan National Historical Park is there and we spent about 30 minutes in the visitor center (it's small) and then walked around the town for a while. They'll give you a map. Before the Manhattan Project about all that was there was a ranch where the sons of wealthy Easterns would come to be cowboys.

About 30 miles east of SF is the Pecos National Historical Park. There are ruins there and a walking trail.

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We didn't walk the trail because we got there about 30 minutes before closing so the ranger would just let us walk to the ruins. They have signs that say "Beware of the Rattlesnakes".

When we were there they were having a lot of wildfires and some places were closed. My wife is a big fan of Longmire (the TV show) and we wanted to see his cabin he lives in on the show but the road was closed. It's at Valles Caldera National Preserve on NM Hwy 4, 16 miles from Los Alamos. The view on the show just looks amazing.

The historical area of Santa Fe is a great area. You will enjoy it.

This post was edited on 5/28/23 at 6:39 pm