Santa Fe, Chaco & Taos: Ancient Cultures & Living Traditions

Independent arrivals in Santa Fe. Make your own way to the Inn of the Governors located a few steps away from the historic Santa Fe Plaza. The rooms here are rich in color and decorated in a charming southwestern style. 

Meet in the lobby for a glass of sherry and to meet your travel companions. 

Enjoy a lovely welcome dinner at Coyote Café where we have reserved the private Coyote Den room on the street level for the group.

Overnight: Inn of the Governors

Meals: R, D

After breakfast enjoy a walking tour of downtown Santa Fe. Begin in the Santa Fe Plaza, the city’s historic heart since the early 1600s. The Plaza itself is lively, with benches, shops, and galleries framing the square.

From the Plaza, stroll a few blocks east to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. This Romanesque-style cathedral, built in the late 19th century, contrasts with the surrounding adobe structures. From the cathedral, continue to Canyon Road, one of the most celebrated art streets in the U.S. This narrow road is lined with adobe houses converted into galleries, showcasing everything from Native American and Hispanic traditions to contemporary works. 

Close by is the Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery where we have arranged for an introduction to Southwest Native American pottery. Each piece is an authentic, traditionally made work of art and is presented categorically by Pueblo. Enjoy the works of master potters, such as Margaret Tafoya, Lucy Lewis and Maria Martinez, plus the pottery of the very finest contemporary artists.

Stroll to the IAIA’s Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) which holds the premier collection of contemporary Native American art in the world from Native American, First Nations and other Indigenous peoples. This unique collection, known as the “National Collection of Contemporary Native American Art,” documents the art movements of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) and its impact on the Native American fine art movement.  

Enjoy lunch at The Museum Hill Café before walking to the Museum of International Folk Art, one of the world’s largest museums dedicated to folk art. We are also very excited to have confirmed a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum with a curatorial team member. 

Return to the hotel at the end of the afternoon. Enjoy dinner this evening at SantaCafé, a 10-minute walk from the hotel where local chef Dale Kester follows Santa Fe's culinary traditions, while infusing contemporary flavors, local ingredients and modern tastes into his dishes. 

Overnight: Inn of the Governors

Meals: B, L, D

Depart the hotel for an hour drive to Abiquiú for a day of sightseeing. 

Arrive at the O’Keeffe Welcome Center from where we will be visiting her home and studio. Her home in Abiquiú reveals her commitment to design and the aesthetics of her surroundings. Traditional adobe structures are found throughout the region, but O’Keeffe made her home distinctly modern, with abundant natural light, updated amenities, and midcentury modern furniture. She also decorated it with rocks and bones from her collection and cultivated a garden that provided food for her and her guests. 

Depart and enjoy a spectacular drive to Ghost Ranch. made famous by painter Georgia O’Keeffe. The ranch encompasses 21,000 acres of towering rock walls, vivid colors and vast skies. Enjoy a simple buffet lunch here at Ghost Ranch. 

After lunch delve into the world of Georgia O’Keeffe, who found solace and inspiration in this captivating landscape. With its vivid landscapes and iconic landmarks, Ghost Ranch provided O’Keeffe with the freedom to paint what she saw and felt. 

Return to Santa Fe for an evening at leisure. 

Overnight: Inn of the Governors

Meals: B, L

After breakfast drive to the Pojoaque Pueblo and the Poeh Cultural Center which was established by the Pojoaque Pueblo's Tribal Council to preserve and revitalize Pueblo communities of the northern Rio Grande Valley. The Poeh Center emphasizes cultural preservation and revitalization through the arts and cultures of all Pueblo People — with a focus on the Tewa-speaking Pueblos of Nambe, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Clara and Tesuque; and the Tiwa-speaking Pueblos of Picuris and Taos. Since its inception, the Center’s mission has been to support the future of Pueblo people by: teaching the arts, collecting great works of art, and promoting public understanding of, and respect for, Pueblo history and culture.

Depart for a thirty-minute drive to the San Ildefonso Pueblo. known for its traditional black on black pottery with a highly polished finish and black matte design, as well as red and polychrome pottery. We have arranged for a pottery demonstration during our time in San Ildefonso.

Enjoy a traditionally prepared indigenous lunch which has been prepared by local residents Deborah and Elmer Torres. Our meal will include the Three Sisters (corn, squash and beans) as well as red pork tamales and more. 

After lunch, drive to the Bandolier National Monument. Set in a dramatic canyon carved from soft volcanic tuff, Bandelier National Monument preserves the remains of ancestral Pueblo settlements that date from roughly the 12th to 16th centuries. Along the floor of Frijoles Canyon, a looping trail reveals the foundations of a once-thriving village—circular kivas and low stone walls—set against sheer cliffs honeycombed with cavates, hand-carved rooms hollowed directly into the rock. 

Return to Santa Fe for an evening at leisure. 

Overnight: Inn of the Governors

Meals: B, L

After breakfast drive to Chimayo, one of the Southwest’s most historic villages located in the Chimayó Valley, a verdant oasis extending from the foothills of the majestic Sangre de Cristo mountains to the expanse of the Rio Grande valley. 

Visit the Santuario de Chimayó, the second most important Catholic pilgrimage centers in the United States. The sanctuary itself is an adobe structure that dates to about 1813, built by Bernardo Abeyta, who led a band of Catholic devotees known as Los Penitentes. Meeting our group will be historian Patricia Trujillo-Oviedo, a seventh-generation descendant of original settlers to Chimayó and author of Chimayo published by Arcadia Press in 2012. 

Enjoy an early lunch at Rancho de Chimayo restaurant. honored as one of New Mexico’s Culinary Treasures in March 2014, one of only a handful of restaurants awarded with this wonderful distinction.

Continue on about three hours to Aztec and the Aztec Ruins National Monument where over 1,000 years ago, ancestral Pueblo people constructed a large planned community that served their society for over two centuries. The site, which is part of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park World Heritage Site, preserves the remains of this well planned community, which is the largest ancestral Pueblo community in the Animas River Valley. 

Close by is the Fairfield Inn & Suites Farmington for an overnight. Enjoy dinner in town this evening. 

Overnight: Fairfield Inn & Suites Farmington

Meals: B, L, D

Depart Farmington early this morning to drive about two hours to Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

Arrive and switch to smaller vehicles to drive along the Chaco Canyon Loop Drive (a graded dirt road, usually passable in dry conditions) toward the central cluster of great houses. After parking begin the 5-mile Pueblo Alto loop trail. The path begins across the desert floor before climbing sharply up the canyon wall. The ascent is steady but not long, and as you gain elevation, the geometry of Chaco reveals itself—the great houses below begin to align in a way that is impossible to grasp from ground level. Once you reach the rim, the entire canyon opens out in a wide, architectural panorama. On top, the trail becomes flat traversing across the mesa. Cross sections of ancient Chacoan roads, faint but deliberate lines cut into the earth, and occasional stone stairways carved directly into the cliff face—evidence of a sophisticated, integrated system connecting the canyon to the wider region

The trail leads to Pueblo Alto, a great house positioned not in the canyon bottom but on the mesa above it. This trail helps showcase Chaco moving from a collection of impressive buildings to a planned, interconnected cultural landscape. Continuing the loop, the trail gradually descends along the canyon edge before returning toward Kin Kletso and the valley floor. 

Continue on about 3.5 hours to Taos with an early evening arrival at the Hotel Willa.

Overnight: Hotel Willa

Meals: B, L

Today is feast day in the Pueblo of Taos. Set about 3 miles north of Taos, the Pueblo is striking for its multi-storied adobe structures—some dating back over 1,000 years—built from earth, straw, and water, and still occupied today. The village is divided by Red Willow Creek, with North House and South House rising in sculptural tiers against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Visitors can enter certain homes or rooms that have been opened to the public, offering a glimpse of traditional interiors with thick earthen walls, wood-burning stoves, and a way of life that balances continuity and adaptation. 

Return to Taos and after lunch visit the Millicent Rogers Museum. This museum gives visitors a chance to see a wide range of objects including Native American jewelry, pottery, weavings, baskets as well as Hispanic folk art, blankets and so much more. The museum is named for fashion icon Millicent Rogers who came to Taos following the end of her relationship with Clark Gable. She collected Native American jewelry and rugs during her time here and when she died, her youngest son created the museum to honor their mother's passions. Today, the museum is host to a wide range of permanent and changing exhibitions that focus on the museum's mission of sharing and celebrating the arts and cultures of the American Southwest. 

Enjoy a farewell dinner this evening.

Overnight: Hotel Willa

Meals: B, L, D

After breakfast, transfer to the airport in Santa Fe for flights home

Meals: B