Frommer's Santa Fe, Taos & Albuquerque

by Lesley S. King

Book Overview

With its abundance of cultural offerings, outdoor adventures, and fantastic shopping, northern New Mexico has something for everyone. Named one of the top three U.S. art cities, Santa Fe also boasts natural venues for the sports enthusiast, and so much more. This book includes: * A shopping guide to the Indian and Spanish markets, with tips on buying Native American pottery, jewelry, and rugs * Listings of cultural events, from opera to art galleries...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764567004
• ISBN13: 9780764567001
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Frommer's
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

guide book

I recommend Frommers tourist guides and their comments will help in my decisions on what to see and do in Santa Fe. Highly recommended to new visitors to that area of New Mexico.

Great guide

This guide has everything you need to know to discover and enjoy Northern New Mexico.

Thank you Lesley King!!!

I just returned from five days in Santa Fe, Taos & Albuquerque. Whenever and wherever I travel I always look for the local experience. For this, this guide is fantastic!! Lesley is a real local. Her descriptions are passionate, personal and accurate. Lesley - please move to another state and write another book!! I cannot thank you more!!

spot on

we just completed a two-week New Mexico vacation, and found that time after time, hotel after hotel, restaurant after restaurant, attraction after attraction, this guide was absolutely spot on. We brought another guide ("The Insider's Guide to Santa Fe") and wound up relying on Frommer's exclusively.We were most impressed by the recommendations for small out-of-the-way places we _never_ would have gone to otherwise, "Chef du Jour" in Albu. being a perfect example.Our only quibble is that the author praises the food a little over-much. Desserts she describes as the "best you'll ever eat" we would describe as "good", for example, but then again we're from the bay area and i guess we're pretty spoiled.

Informative and not afraid to criticize

We used this guide to plan a couple of trips to Santa Fe and in and around Taos, and were very happy with the results. The book starts with a general introduction to northern New Mexico, covering history, art, architecture and so on. Then there's a chapter on general visitor information for the region, and a section for foreign visitors. The remaining chapters are:Getting to Know Santa Fe; Where to Stay in Santa Fe; Where to Dine in Santa Fe; What to See & Do in Santa Fe; Santa Fe Shopping; Santa Fe After Dark; Excursions from Santa Fe; Getting to Know Taos; Where to Stay in Taos; Where to Dine in Taos; What to See & Do in Taos; AlbuquerqueThe organization is good, with the hotels, for example, clearly broken out by price range ("Very Expensive", "Expensive", "Moderate" and "Inexpensive"). But the real value of the book is the author's candid evaluations. We've been burned in the past by guide books that gave every establishment a glowing review, so it was pleasant to use this book to find lunch in Taos one day last month. Here's some of what we found:Ogelvie's Bar and Grill: "The food here is not flavorful, and the atmosphere is dated"Eske's Brew Pub: "The crowd is local, a few people sitting at the bar . . . . At times it can be a rowdy place, but mostly it's just fun, lots of ski patrollers and mountain guides . . . ."Outback in Taos: "My kayaking buddies always go here after a day on the river. That will give you an idea of the level of informality (very), as well as the quality of the food and beer (great) and the size of the portions (large)."It's clear that the author really loves the area, and knows it inside out; we went to eight or ten places (hotels and restaurants) that she recommends, and didn't regret a single one.