The town center / square was beautifully decorated for Christmas. We loved the feeling of peace and tranquility that we felt there.
So much in so little square footage. Art receptions and gallery hopping, earthship, adobe building, and home pondering, nightly music and lecture listening, theaters, museums, eateries galore, and athletic activities, such as rock climbing and 24-hour fitness. Get the local paper as soon as you get there and read the Tempo for weekly, daily, up to the second info on goings-ons. I live in a bigger town near Boston, and there is not an iota of activity there as is in Taos.
After starting to relax just by reading the website, I chose Taos Sage Waters for a massage experience.The surroundings are tranquil, soothing and spotless. Therapist Lee Hester can't help but make you release those tensions as she incorporates her methods of massage magic to every muscle and vertebrae. From lavender to tuning forks to superbly manipulated hot rocks, I was just on the edge of sleep during the whole experience.The prices are extremely reasonable, particularly in view of the therapeutic experience that Ms. Hester brings. Bookings and payments can be made on line. Go!! You won't be disappointed.
The immediate downtown plaza area of Taos is kept very nice ,but step one foot away from that area and it's trash and litter in your face everywhere you go. Driving to the Pueblo or the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge you have to drive through a corridor of trash and litter to get to those destinations. A big turn off. Don't waste your time and money in this town when there are so many other destinations in the West that have their act together and are Not trashed out. When you see a lot of graffiti and trash and litter that's always a red flag that these people don't have pride or respect in their community.
From our visitors center, to our 1,000 plus year old Taos Pueblo, Museums, Restaurants, Hotels, Spas, Church's, Artist Galleries, Youth and Family Center activities, Schools, UNM-Taos, Taos Gorge, Enchanted Circle, Views ( Sunrises to our sunsets) Skiing/Snowboarding, Hiking trails, Sports (great soccer fields-Eco Park), WOW I can go on forever but come and see and experience Taos, NM for yourself. "A VERY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE" We are a melting pot of people that welcome you as family.
We fell in love with Taos and are considering moving there permanently. People are friendly, lots of restaurants and shopping and the setting is beautiful.
We are frequent visitors to Taos; have a vacation home in Red River. I love to travel to Taos for the shopping, great restaurants, the Taos Mtn Casino, the Plaza, a great hair stylist, the Taos Pueblo!, Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, Kit Crson's Home/Museum. (We ski Red River.) We love Michael's Kitchen; LOVED Antonio's,122 Dona Luz, near the plaza, now a new name, but still great; like the Bent St. Cafe, Eske's. The Ace Hardware is great, have bought appliances at the Sear's there.
Taos at Christmas. The imagine is Rockwellian isn’t it? A holiday set in the snow-laden mountains of northern New Mexico. Just close your eyes and you can see the luminary-lined sidewalks, the holiday-lit trees, the Macy’s-like store fronts filled with animated elves and toy trains? Breathe deep through your nose. The crisp arctic air perfumed with cedar smoke stings your nostrils. Now cock your head a little. Can you hear it? Floating through the still winter eve, bouncing off the falling snow - carolers. Sounds lovely doesn’t it? Alas, this was not what we found. In fairness, though inspired by pictures and accolades I found on the web, the scene I described was one of my own fiction though some proved accurate. The snow, the lights, and the wood smoke were present. But before you race to book your stay for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, there are a few things you should consider. In a word: preplan, however this may prove more difficult than you’d expect. According to one resident, the town operates on Taos time. Much like the Caribbean version, this implies a certain lackadaisical approach to event planning. Hotel staff and town web sites were vague about event details such as dates and times. This extended to churches. The web site for Our Lady of Guadalupe Church didn’t even list service times for Christmas Day! Planning should not be limited to your activities, don’t forget about eating. One of the many draws to Taos is the abundance of eclectic coffee houses, brew pubs, and restaurants. We arrived on Christmas Eve and found pretty much all of these fine establishments open for business. But come Christmas morning, the town was silent. Had our hotel not offered breakfast we would have been left hungry until lunch at the earliest. Even dinner plans should be made in advance to ensure you have a place to go. Now lest you start hurling Scrooge monikers at me, let me agree that the employees of these businesses deserve to spend Christmas morning with their families. I’m only pointing out that you had better plan for this! The Pueblo remained open (sort of), but I found it wanting (see my review on Christmas at the Pueblo). If Taos at Christmas is still on your bucket list, I suggest you visit during one of the weekends preceding Christmas Day. The town features a variety of parades, and you won’t face the issue of closed shops or restaurants. That said, you may need to do a fair amount of calling to get through the Taos time issue to learn when events are actually scheduled to occur.Without question, the Carson National Forest is one of the most beautiful areas of our country. For those interested in outdoor events you would be hard pressed to find more breath-taking vistas anywhere else, many only a short drive from Taos. But keeping the season’s hidden speed bumps in mind will help prevent a frustrating derailment of your holiday spirit.
what's not to like in Taos? a few miles and you're hiking or skiing near cristobal, going to the lama foundation for spiritual rejuvenation, experiencing all the off the road hikes, and if you absolutely must, purchasing every thing available.
Our large extended family from Texas and Kentucky met in Taos for an after-Christmas get together! The 21 of us stayed (for the 2nd time) in the Ross House. We enjoyed Snow Tubing and the fireworks/New Year's Eve Parade at Taos Ski Valley! We have some veteran shoppers in the group and we spent several hours at The Spotted Bear! We appreciated the excellent customer service and loved looking (and buying) some unusual items at this boutique. We hit two new recommended restaurants on this trip: Orlando's and Michael's Kitchen. Both were excellent. No doubt we will be back again! Taos is breathtakingly beautiful.