Santa Fe is famous for its dramatic and rugged desert landscape, situated as it is in the spectacular Sangre de Cristo foothills, as well as its historic architecture, quaint and crooked cobbled streets, delicious cuisine, and globally recognised vibrant arts scene. Explore the vibrant, multicultural, creative capital of New Mexico with an expert, English-speaking private guide including tickets to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum.
On your private tour you will:
- Start your tour from Santa Fe Plaza - the historic heart of the city and discover the vibrant Plaza, the cultural hub of the city;
- Admire the Palace of the Governors, the old capitol building of New Mexico, built in 1610 of the traditional adobe (mudbrick in Spanish) that the city is renowned for;
- Learn about the history of New Mexico, its confluence of Spanish, Native American, Mexican and American cultures reflected in its cuisine and creativity;
- Soak up the rugged desert views and dramatic scenery, enjoy the vibrant colours - and famous turquoise and immerse yourself in the artistic atmosphere of the city;
- Visit the impressive Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi - dedicated to the city’s patron saint, it was built in the 19th century, and its rose window was imported from France in the 1800s;
- Pass by Loretto Chapel, and hear the story about the "miraculous staircase";
- Walk down De Vargas Street and see the city’s oldest two-roomed adobe house which is now a small but fascinating free museum;
- Pass by San Miguel Mission - the oldest church in America dating back to 1610;
- See a hidden gem on Palace Avenue - a little-known drop-off point for spies and scientists involved in the Manhattan Project for the onward journey to the hidden research facility in Los Alamos, where they developed the atomic bomb;
- End outside the Georgia O’Keefe Museum where your guide will give you tickets and tell you all about this iconic 20th-century artist, her fascinating life, her influential style in American modernism, and her lasting legacy, so you can enjoy the museum at your own pace!
Santa Fe Plaza is where your private walking tour begins, the hub of this multifaceted city that is by turns majestic, vibrant, quirky, creative, historic, and modern. Santa Fe was founded in 1610 by Spanish settlers and is today a total melting pot of culture and cuisine, famous for the rugged beauty of its desert and mountainous landscape, and its many art galleries for which it is justly world-famous - including the Georgia O’Keefe Museum.
Enjoy this welcome tour of the historic centre of Santa Fe, taking in all the main highlights, including the Palace of the Governors, San Miguel Church (the oldest church in America and dedicated to the Archangel Michael), the Basilica Cathedral of St Francis, De Vargas Street and more. You’ll soak up the vibrant atmosphere of this uniquely artsy city, and enjoy the banter of the market vendors selling beautiful jewellery, tapestries, weavings, paintings, folk art, and photography; combined with the city’s history and unique adobe architecture Santa Fe is truly a perfect destination for curious travellers and art enthusiasts.
Your tour ends outside the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, where your guide will hand you tickets and tell you all about the extraordinary life and legacy of the artists. O’Keefe lived and worked just an hour from Santa Fe, and is considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Her work is instantly recognizable and includes large-scale depictions and abstractions of flowers, rocks, shells, leaves, bones and other natural phenomena, as well as cityscapes of New York and landscapes of New Mexico. The Museum houses over 3000 works by O’Keefe including 140 oil paintings, 700 drawings, and hundreds of other works until 1984 when the artist’s eyesight forced her to retire.
