10-Nights Southwest Native Trails End Santa Fe from $4,046

Trafalgar

OFFER ID 1506042

Southwest Native Trails End Santa Fe
This immersive Native American Cultural Heritage tour dives deep into the captivating culture and traditions of the Southwest. From Chaco Canyon’s Pueblo structures to Hovenweep National Monument’s villages through local historians, you’ll embrace history of the Ancestral Puebloans and thriving Native American cultures.

Dining Summary

10 Breakfast (B)
2 Lunch (L)
2 Dinner (D)
1 Welcome Reception (WR)

Be My Guest

Santa Fe: Visit Nambé Pueblo, a Native American community in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains famous for its public ceremonies and traditions, strong agriculture, traditional textiles and world-renowned pottery. Once the primary cultural and religious center for the northern New Mexican pueblo communities, Nambé Pueblo has existed at this site since the 14th century. Take in the sprawling land of nearly 20,000 acres of towering cottonwoods, junipers, scrub oak and an occasional outcropping of sandstone on your cultural visit including lunch with the community elders.

Dive Into Culture

: Visit Trujillo's weaving shop and admire the New Mexico weaving tradition that dates back to Spanish Colonial times. Learn about the Trujillo family, whose members have been weavers in the Chimayo tradition for eight generations.

Iconic Experience

Albuquerque: Home to one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America, featuring designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers 400 to 700 years ago. These images are a valuable record of cultural expression and hold profound spiritual significance for contemporary Native Americans and for the descendants of the early Spanish settlers.
Albuquerque: Visit the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, gateway to the 19 Pueblos. Learn about the pueblo from ancient times to modern day through the museum and art galleries.
: See the graceful red sandstone arch geological formation for which the capital is named Tségháhoodzání (Window Rock). The small Memorial Tribal Park is not only home to Window Rock, but also to the Veterans Memorial, built to honor the many Navajo people who served in the U.S. military.
Canyon De Chelly National Monument: See an ancient community built into a sandstone cliff as you peer over the edge of the White House Overlook to see the mastery of Ancient Puebloan construction. Watch nature defy gravity when you encounter Spider Rock and hear the legend of the mythical Spider Woman who is said to live in this towering stone spire.
Bluff: Visit Hovenweep National Monument, one of the most intriguing pre-historic settlements in the Southwest, known for its six major villages and more than 300 additional sites within the National Monument.
Taos: Experience Taos Plaza, a Historical Landmark and artist colony in the heart of the Taos Historic District, home of 65 galleries, shops, restaurants, and 21 landmarks.
Taos: Explore Taos Pueblo with Local Specialists who call Taos Pueblo home. Gain insight into the history of the pueblo and what it is like to live there today.
: Cross the Rio Grande Bridge, a steel deck arch bridge, roughly 600 ft above the Rio Grande and one of the highest bridges in the United States.
Taos: Journey through arid landscapes as you travel along High Road, a cultural and geographical feast for the eyes. Arrive in Santa Fe, the 'City Different' and one of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network, as City of Design and City of Crafts and Folk Art.

MAKE TRAVEL MATTER®

Chaco Canyon National Historic Park: Stop at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park Visitor Center, and enjoy a picnic lunch with a Local Specialist.
Canyon De Chelly National Monument: Meet a Navajo Local Specialist and take 6X6 vehicles to the bottom of Canyon De Chelly for the most incredible natural sites.
Monument Valley: Immerse yourself in the landscape of the Navajo people journeying through the desert to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park accessing roads, places, sites that are closed to the general public. Get a feel for the land and its people climbing aboard an open-air, all-terrain vehicle to explore the valley with your Navajo guide as you pass its towering sandstone buttes and mesas, many of which have been featured in prominent Western films including John Wayne’s ‘Stagecoach’. Your exclusive Navajo Tribal Park tour with a Navajo guide helps preserve the integrity of the land and culture. Your visit directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reducing Inequalities.
Durango: Visit the Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum, Southwest Colorado's leading archaeological museum, displaying exhibits on archaeology, local history and Native American cultures.
Santa Fe: Meet Emigdio Ballon the agricultural director at the Tesuque Pueblo Community Farm. Learn about this Indigenous community and their efforts to achieve food sovereighty by preserving heirloom seeds and by growing their own food.

Must-see Highlights

Explore Pueblo Bonito "Great House" and the North Rim scenic drive with a Local Specialist
Visit Petroglyph National Monument, Chaco Canyon National Historical Park, Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, Hovenweep National Monument, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Monument Valley Tribal Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Durango, Taos Pueblo, Santa Fe, Tesuque Pueblo, Bandelier National Monument
View Square Tower Unit at Hovenweep, Chaco Canyon's White House, Bandelier National Monument
Scenic Drive along Colorado's Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway
: Visit the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, dedicated to the life, art, and legacy of

10 nights from $4,046 per person

Itinerary

Trafalgar Tours: Southwest Native Trails End Santa Fe

Day 1 - Arrive in Albuquerque
Start your cultural encounter with New Mexico in its warm heart - Albuquerque. Join your Travel Director and fellow travelers this evening for a Welcome Reception.
Accommodations: Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown
Meals: Welcome Reception

Day 2 - Uncover the History of the Ancestral Puebloans
Trace centuries-old stories etched in stone by Ancestral Puebloan peoples and early Spanish settlers at the Petroglyph National Monument. Marvel at the designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks 400 to 700 years ago, a valuable record of cultural expression and of profound spiritual significance for Native Americans and the descendants of the early Spanish settlers. Continue to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center as you appreciate insights into the pueblo from ancient times to modern day through the museum and art galleries. The rest of the day is yours to enjoy at leisure. Perhaps join an optional visit to Sandia Peak Tramway to ascend one of America’s most stunning urban peaks where an 11,000 square mile panoramic view awaits.
Accommodations: Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown
Meals: Breakfast

Day 3 - Explore Chaco Canyon Stays With Stories Make Travel Matter
You’ll love this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience along your Southwest Journey as you visit the Chaco Canyon inside Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Head on a field trip with your Local Specialist to Pueblo Bonito, an important “Great House” in modern day culture (should weather conditions render the dirt road to Chaco Canyon unsafe, your Travel Director will arrange visits to more accessible destinations of historical and cultural significance). Tonight, your Stays With Stories is historic El Rancho Hotel, home to many starlets in the 'Westerns' genre during the 1930s-40s.
Accommodations: El Rancho Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4 - Delve Into the Legacy of the Navajo Make Travel Matter
This morning, stop at Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation, where you'll see the Window Rock geologic formation and the World War II Navajo Code Talkers' Memorial and learn how Navajos helped the United States win WWII. Take a step back in time and visit the Hubbell Trading Post National Historical Site, and learn how the Navajo and settlers once traded. Delve into the story of Lorenzo Hubbell, who had a major influence on Navajo rug weaving and silversmithing. After a visit to the Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center, meet your certified Navajo Local Specialist and board your 6X6 vehicle to marvel at the stunning scenery with sandstone cliffs, canyons, and beautiful artwork in the forms of pictographs, petroglyphs and ruins in this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience.
Accommodations: Holiday Inn Canyon de Chelly
Meals: Breakfast

Day 5 - Marvel at Canyon de Chelly National Monument Make Travel Matter
See an ancient community built into a sandstone cliff as you peer over the edge of the White House Overlook to see the mastery of Ancient Puebloan construction. Watch nature defy gravity when you encounter Spider Rock and hear the legend of the mythical Spider Woman who is said to live in this towering stone spire. Enter Monument Valley National Tribal Park, a symbol of the American West with its iconic landscape of enormous rock features, including mesas, cliffs, and buttes made famous as the location for dozens of films stretching back almost a century. Meet your Navajo Local Specialist for a private guided excursion of Monument Valley in this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Continue deeper into the valley while experiencing the sights of Monument Valley through the eyes of your Navajo guide. Travel along backroads and trails unavailable to the public while learning the history and local culture of the Dineh people.
Accommodations: Goulding's Lodge
Meals: Breakfast

Day 6 - Time Hop to Prehistoric Settlements in the Southwest Stays With Stories Make Travel Matter
Head to Hovenweep National Monument, an intriguing prehistoric settlement. As you travel through the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, stop at Southwest Colorado's leading archeological museum at the Canyon of the Ancients Visitor Center for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Then have an insightful viewing of the Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites at Mesa Verde National Park. From the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum, you can see the park's third largest cliff dwelling, Spruce Tree House. This evening your Stays With Stories is at the historic Strater Hotel in Durango.
Accommodations: Strater Hotel
Meals: Breakfast

Day 7 - Dive into Durango
Spend your day at leisure exploring the historic town of Durango. Choose to go farther afield taking an optional scenic drive on Colorado’s Million Dollar Highway (U.S. Route 550), from the town of Ouray, known as the Switzerland of America, to the historic mining town of Silverton. Enjoy the panoramic views of one of the most scenic drives in the U.S. as you reach the summit at Red Mountain Pass at over 11,000 ft. Take time to explore and have lunch in Silverton before heading back to Durango. You can even choose to book a ride back onboard the historic Silverton narrow gauge steam train, an unforgettable step back in time aboard a coal-fired, steam-powered train. Chug along rails originally laid at the end of the 19th century winding through a spectacular wilderness (dependent on availability and season). If you are feeling more adventurous, opt for a white water rafting trip on the Animas River.
Accommodations: Strater Hotel
Meals: Breakfast

Day 8 - Discover Taos Pueblo Dive Into Culture Connect with Locals
Make your way through the mountains and into New Mexico, arriving at the Rio Grande Gorge, a geological feature where the watercourse of the Rio Grande follows a tectonic chasm. Cross the Taos Landmark Site of the Rio Grande Bridge, a steel arch bridge that stands roughly 600 feet above the Rio Grande. This afternoon, Dive Into Culture in charming Taos beginning at Taos Plaza, a Historical Landmark and artist colony in the heart of the Taos Historic District, home of 65 galleries, shops, restaurants and 21 landmarks. Join a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience when you tour Taos Pueblo, a World Heritage Center and National Historic Landmark, with a Local Specialist. Connect with Locals who call the Pueblo home and learn about these iconic, multi-storied adobe buildings, built roughly 1,000 years ago. A piece of the past in the present, about 150 Puebloans still live within the pueblo today. Gain insight into life in the pueblo and leave with stories one can only hear from locals.
Accommodations: Don Fernando De Taos, Tapestry Collection by Hilton
Meals: Breakfast

Day 9 - Uncover the High Road from Taos to Santa Fe
Start the day taking the High Road from Taos to Santa Fe and visit Trujillo's weaving shop. Dive Into Culture learning first-hand how these eighth-generation weavers use one of a kind handwoven techniques. Visit Nambe Village, an active indigenous community at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains along the Rio Grande River, for a traditional feast day meal prepared by elders at the Pojoaque Pueblo Seniors Center. During this Be My Guest experience, learn more about Nambe culture over lunch and conversation. Continue to Bandelier National Monument and delve into the history of the people that inhabited this area 1,000 years ago. These fascinating cliff dwellings have been designated as one of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network, City of Design and City of Crafts and Folk Art.
Accommodations: Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 10 - Savor the Culture of Santa Fe Make Travel Matter
This morning, we head to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum where you will explore the complex and inspiring world of an American modernist painter. This afternoon you’ll love the eye-opening MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience where you'll meet Emigdio Ballon, the agricultural director at the Tesuque Pueblo Community Farm. Learn about this Indigenous community and their efforts to achieve food sovereignty by preserving heirloom seeds and growing their own food.
Accommodations: Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 11 - Depart Santa Fe
Our journey through the desert landscape at its end, you will bid farewell and make your way to Santa Fe Airport.
Meals: Breakfast

Featured Destinations

Santa Fe

Taos

This town tucked into the Sangre de Christo Mountains, 70 mi/113 km northeast of Santa Fe, has attracted artists since the late 1800s because of its beautiful setting and dramatic light. Today, it's still full of artists, galleries and travelers who want to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and the relaxed, creative vibe. There is an interesting mixture of three cultures—Native American, Hispanic and Anglo.

To get to the roots of the town's character, start with Taos Pueblo, which was there centuries before the town of Taos. The first view you get of the historic pueblo village is unforgettable—a jumble of adobe buildings posed in front of Taos Mountain.

Back in the town of Taos, be sure to visit the plaza, which is ringed by shops and restaurants. The Kit Carson Home and Museum is nearby and contains period furnishings and artifacts related to Carson, the controversial explorer and "Indian fighter" who lived for a time in Taos. Carson and several other important Taos residents are buried in the cemetery in Kit Carson Park.

The town is also home to El Monte Sagrado, an ecoresort complete with plush rooms, fine dining and an exciting bar scene. The resort reuses much of its water and relies on solar power.

Several museums showcase the town's artistic legacy. They include the Millicent Rogers Museum (strong collection of Native American and Hispanic artists) and the Harwood Museum of Art (works by prominent figures in the Taos arts scene). The homes of two artists, Ernest L. Blumenschein and Nicolai Fechin, have been converted into museums. If the atmosphere of the town inspires you to create your own works (but you need a little help), art workshops are offered in the area.

One of the best-known figures associated with Taos is English author and artist D.H. Lawrence, who spent time in the area in the 1920s, shortly before his death. A shrine dedicated to his memory is located northwest of the city (take Highway 522, and look for the signs—you'll have to make a dusty drive up a dirt road to get there). Some of Lawrence's paintings are on display in the manager's office of the La Fonda Hotel, on the plaza in Taos. The hotel features a restaurant run by nationally acclaimed chef Joseph Wrede.

Buildings of historic and architectural interest in the area include the Hacienda Martinez, an imposing 21-room hacienda decorated in early-1800s style. The Mission San Francisco de Asis at nearby Ranchos de Taos was built in 1730 but exhibits a much-admired simplicity of form that looks absolutely contemporary. You may have seen the church in photographs by Ansel Adams or paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe. Folks visiting in June can take part in the annual re-mudding of the church, which allows parishioners and strangers to help preserve the church.

Travel north on Highway 64 out of town to reach the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which is perched 650 ft/198 m above the river. You can park at either end and take a walkway out onto the bridge, but those with a fear of heights will find it terrifying. If you're up for a little adventure, Route 507—not the best of roads but passable—takes you down through the gorge itself. In summer, adventurers can board rafts to shoot the white-water rapids of the Rio Grande.

In winter, skiers will find varied and challenging slopes at Taos Ski Valley, the state's pre-eminent ski resort. The ski experience in Taos is unique because of the blend of European-style accommodations and group-oriented skiing. Ski lessons for all visitors, from tots to experts, are encouraged. These sessions, coupled with family-style dining in the base lodges, create an extremely friendly atmosphere.

With a variety of deep-powder bowls, gladed runs and steep chutes, the mountain has a reputation for being tough: There are beginner and intermediate trails, but they tend to be a bit more difficult than at many other resorts. Of the resort's 72 trails, more than half are rated expert. Snowboarding is not permitted at Taos Ski Valley.

The area also offers great cross-country skiing. Enchanted Forest has more than 25 mi/40 km of trails, and Wheeler Peak Wilderness Area has ungroomed trails for the more adventurous.

Accommodations at the resort lodges at Taos Ski Valley are more utilitarian than luxurious, but the quality of service is outstanding. Space is limited, so reservations should be booked at least a year in advance for the peak season.

It's also possible to stay in the town of Taos and drive to the slopes, but it can be a long trip, especially if the winding road to the ski valley is covered in snow. If you want to make a stop on the way, the charming village of Arroyo Seco has some shops and restaurants. Frequent skiers often rent condos or houses rather than stay in hotels.

Skiers have several other options in the area. Both Angel Fire Resort in Angel Fire and Red River Ski Area in the town of Red River have downhill slopes, and both permit snowboarding (unlike Taos Ski Valley). From Taos, you can drive to Red River and Angel Fire on the "Enchanted Circle" route (formed by Highways 522, 38 and 64). It makes a scenic day trip at any time of year. Be sure to stop at the Vietnam Veterans National Memorial near Angel Fire.

Some of the annual events in Taos include the Spring Arts Celebration (art shows, auctions and a three-day arts and crafts fair—May); the Taos School of Music Summer Chamber Music Festival (concerts, seminars and open rehearsals—June-August); the Taos Pueblo Feast Day (with vespers and a mass, sundown dance and an arts fair—29-30 September); the Hot-Air Balloon Festival (October); and the Taos Pueblo Dances (including the eloquent Tiwa deer dance—December-January). Of special note is the Christmas Eve procession at Taos Pueblo, featuring bonfires and the carrying of a likeness of the Virgin Mary through the village.

Durango

Monument Valley

Canyon de Chelly

Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Albuquerque

Vacation Details

Valid Date Ranges

05/31/2025 - 06/10/2025

from $4,046 per person *

06/14/2025 - 06/24/2025

from $4,136 per person

09/13/2025 - 09/23/2025

from $4,226 per person

09/27/2025 - 10/07/2025

from $4,226 per person *

* This departure has been designated a guaranteed departure by the operator, meaning that the minimum number of guests has been met, although still subject to weather and other conditions.

Prices Start At

from $4,046 per person

Length

10 Nights

Air City

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Vacation Rating

Deluxe
Fine dining, on-site bars or lounges and room service with extended hours are characteristic of deluxe establishments. Guest services usually include valet parking, concierge services, baggage assistance and laundry services. Other on-site facilities often include shops and boutiques, full service spas, full fitness facilities with pools and tennis courts. Business amenities may include available up-to-date technology and support staffs available for services. Attention to detail is apparent in the guestrooms which typically have stylish furnishings, quality bedding and bath products and often provide an evening turn down service.

Remarks

Trip prices are per person, land only, based on double occupancy and reflect applicable discounts. Trip prices and discounts are subject to change. Airfare is additional. Tour prices, dates and itineraries are correct at the time of the website going live, however are subject to confirmation at the time of booking. Other restrictions may apply.

All fares are quoted in US Dollars.

OFFER ID

1506042

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San Simeon Travel

1253 Knollwood Circle - Suite 102
Cambria, CA 93428
USA

805.927.4696
800-266-3359