Compass American Guides: Santa Fe, 5th Edition

We have visited the Santa Fe area several times over the past 30 years and have recently decided to buy a second home there for my wife's health. We have really enjoyed using Top 10 Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos (Eyewitness) on our trips. We found the 5th edition of the Compass American Guides: Santa Fe during our last trip, and it added an entirely new dimension to our guide book experience. Written originally by Lawrence W. Cheek and seamlessly updated by Andrew Collins, this volume provides all the normal guidebook information, but also achieves Fordor's objective for the Compass Series: "Evocative text that captures the character of a place." Cheek/Collins write: "This is not a conventional guidebook to Santa Fe. This is the work of a visiting journalist whose decades-long relationship with the city has flitted among love, fascination, amazement, aggravation, and exasperation. This is a guidebook in which no subject is out of bounds, one in which Santa Feans tell their amazing and preposterous stories about work and art and love and trying to build fences." Excellent photographs, an excellent bibliography of books, publications, websites and other sources of information, and much, much more. We gained a real depth of understanding from this book, and we are sure we will continue to do so. Robert C. Ross 2008

I used this guide for a recent visit to Santa Fe, the most interesting and artsy/craftsy city of 60,000 people in the U.S. The photography and the maps in the guide are outstanding. Hotels and restaurants are described in helpful and interesting detail. The guide covers not only Santa Fe but also a good sized chunk of surrounding territory, including Taos, smaller and even more literary and artistic than Santa Fe; the atomic city of Los Alamos; scenic, old Hispanic mountain towns; and even Chaco Canyon, the prehistoric ruin hidden in the desert now inhabited by the Navajo. Nearby Albuquerque, however, is not covered in the book -- an omission that probably should be remedied as Albuquerque has attractions of its own -- excellent museums and a walk through the bosques of the Rio Grande, for example. Nor did I find directions to the grave of author D.H. Lawrence near Taos so I made my way there unguided. Another criticism is that the author's brief essays about Chaco Canyon and Taos' most famous resident, Kit Carson, were eccentric and perhaps not to the point. The Indian/Hispanic/Anglo culture of New Mexico is probably the most unique and colorful regional culture of the United States and is celebrated in enough art galleries and literature to last a lifetime. My favorite places to visit: a tie between the Bradbury Museum of Science in Los Alamos, which has a mock-up of the first atomic bomb, and remote Chaco Canyon. All in all, this is an attractive and reliable guide to the attractions of Santa Fe and its region. Smallchief

I love Santa Fe and have been there numerous times. I'm always looking for new aspects of the city to see. I like this guide book because it is not mearly a list of places to stay and eat. I agree with the places recommended as some of the highlights of the city. I look forward to my next trip to enjoy some of the new things I've read to do in Santa Fe and the surrounding areas.

We just got back from Santa Fe. This book was wonderful! It has history, what to see (museums, ruins, architecture), where to eat (an interesting list -- we didn't particularly use it because we had personal referrals). It had great tips -- like buy the 5-museum pass for slightly more than a one-museum, one-day pass. I was very pleased I'd read it BEFORE I went and it was very useful while we were there.

We found this book to be very, very informative on where to go in Santa Fe as well as fun side trips complete with a "how to find the onion lady" on the road from Taos. Fabulous photography. Great historical and cultural detail as well. Highly recommend the Compass American Guides.