santa fe

The boys have been begging for a road trip this summer. We wanted to go somewhere cooler, but not too far. We ultimately decided on Santa Fe and we are so happy that we did! We broke the road trip into two parts on the way there ( 5 hrs to Amarillo and 4 hours from Amarillo to Santa Fe). We had a great trip and we all loved it!

Santa Fe is such a great destination. It’s so unique, the food is amazing and we loved the cooler temperatures in the morning/evenings. Since we did this trip as a family, this is what worked for us:

Stay

Four Seasons Santa Fe is just 15 minutes North of downtown Santa Fe. Once you pull into the property you realize how peaceful it is! There are only 66 rooms, but the property is sprawling and feels very private. There are a lot of amenities on-site. Restaurants, a pool, spa, game room, hiking trails and an adventure center to plan excursions.

Each room is a casita, so there is a lot of privacy between buildings. We booked a two-bedroom interconnecting casita and we had plenty of space for the five of us. The bathrooms were huge, had heated floors and a huge tub. Four Seasons has the most comfortable beds ever, which we always appreciate! Each room has an adobe fireplace and the hotel has a fire butler who will come light it for you. We took advantage every evening! The patios are spacious too!

We loved visiting in July. The temps were in the mid 50’s in the morning and mid 80’s during the day, which is a welcome change from home! We also loved the late afternoon storms that rolled in – so much fun to see rain!

Eat

There are SO many restaurants in Santa Fe. We found the food to be delicious and the margs, too! Here’s where we ate:

Cafe Pasqual: This is where we stopped for lunch when we drove in. It’s in the heart of downtown and SO good! Everything is made from local and organic ingredients. It’s a small restaurant, so get there early to put your name on the list for lunch or make a reservation for dinner.
Terra: This is the restaurant at the Four Seasons and we had a wonderful dinner here. The cocktails were unique and delicious. For appetizers we had the shrimp and peach burrata salad. So light and fresh! I ordered the halibut and it was one of the best fish dishes I can remember. The perfect amount of spice.
Room service: We did room service the first morning we were there, before our hike that day. We ate on our patio in our robes and enjoyed the 50 degree morning!
Tesuque Village Market: This local market/restaurant is just two miles from the resort. One evening it was pouring rain, so instead of going out to eat, Caleb picked up wood-fired pizzas from here. They were SO good! We ate in our room and played lots of games with the boys. It’s a small restaurant and market that uses a lot of local and organic ingredients, so we went back for breakfast one morning. It was yummy!
Pool Shack: One day we did a cabana day and ate lunch by the pool at Four Seasons Santa Fe. We highly recommend a pool day while in Santa Fe. It was such a great way to relax after a day of hiking. I had the adobo tuna bowl for lunch and it was probably the best thing I had all week!
The Shed: This restaurant has been in Santa Fe forever and it did not disappoint! It was one of our favorite margaritas of the trip!
Iconik Coffee: We stopped here on our way out of town and highly recommend for a coffee!

Do

We barely touched the surface of all that there is to do in Santa Fe, but this is what we did as a family and thought it was the perfect itinerary:

Explore Downtown Santa Fe: There are so many different restaurants, shops and art galleries to explore.
Visit MeowWolf: This is an immersive art experience and worth visiting!
Bandelier National Monument: The Four Seasons Santa Fe has an on-site adventure center to help plan all kinds of different tours/experiences. We booked the “Ancient to Present” tour of Bandelier National Monument. We left the hotel with our guide in a FS sprinter van and made our way to Bandelier National Monument. The drive was about 45 mins and we stopped at a lookout point on the way there. The hike was so much fun and the boys loved climbing the ladders into all the caves! It was a 4 mile hike and very doable for all ages. I did have Ford in a backpack carrier and Caleb carried Henry part of the time. It was such a great experience!
Pool Day: The pool at the Four Seasons is a great place to relax after a morning hike! It has a beautiful view and the water is the perfect temperature. We had a cabana which was the ideal place to rest after our day of hiking! We were greeted with a glass of Chandon Spritz, a fruit tray and snack tray. As soon as we settled in, the boys had a “treat-ment” which was a foot soak in coconut water, followed by a foot massage all while enjoying an ice cream treat! They loved it!

We loved our first road trip as a family so much that the boys are begging for us to plan another soon!