Recommended guide books for Santa Fe

About a week and change before our trip, I hit Buns & Noodles for a Santa Fe book to give to Margie.  It was actually tough, because most the guide books are New Mexico in general, or Santa Fe  / Taos / Albuquerque all rolled into one (which means spending a lot of money for just a portion of the book if all you want is Santa Fe).

I finally ended up with the Insiders’ Guide toSanta Fe.  It covers the area very nicely — history, restaurants, places to visit, galleries, lots of explanatory text, etc.  Recommended.  Except …

Well, if you’re too cheap to buy a book, and don’t feel the need to read and plan before you get there — well, once you’re here, you can’t swing a dead kokapeli without finding extensive guide books for free in any gallery or hotel you visit.  Canyon Road Arts Compete Visitors Guide to Santa Fe; Inside Santa Fe; Santa Fe Circle Art Buyers Guide; Collectors Guide (Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos) … plus numerous maps and brochures and whatnot at every stop. 

Each of the guides tends to be long on advertisements and short on other stuff, but most have maps, a nice description and reference pages for the various galleries and restaurants in the area (at least the ones that paid to be included), a few interesting articles, etc.  Lacking a “real” guide book, they can help you get by without too much trouble — but it was nice to have figured out ahead of time some places we wanted to eat (and/or visit).

It’s also worth noting that a lot of hotels and B&Bs carry a collection of local guide books beyond the advertisement-ridden ones. They may be a year or two out of date, but a lot of the info still pertains.