Celiac and Gluten Free Road Trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico

At Christmas time this place is indeed magical. Clean air and beautiful architecture everywhere. We planned our trip to include a self-paced scavenger hunt throughout downtown Santa Fe, a trip to Bandelier National Monument, Ski Santa Fe day for an intro lesson on downhill skiing for the kids and the Sandia Peak Tramway in Albuquerque. It was a fun filled trip with the delicious flair of New Mexican food and we are here to talk all about it! We hope this blog post helps you plan your next trip to the beautiful city of Santa Fe! I must note that the state of New mexico at the time had a mandate that we wear masks indoors so that is why you see us all in masks inside in these photos.

Our first night was an interesting foray into the world of Santa Fe gluten free food. We started by eating out at the Apothecary Restaurant and they were unfortunately dealing with staffing shortages like many restaurants are now days. The owner was so nice, but our son ended up getting incredibly sick, throwing up immediately after eating his dinner right in the restaurant. I am not sure if he was allergic to something he ate or if he was nauseas from traveling all day in the car - I really dont know so I will not speculate. I will say I think the apothecary aspect with all the medicinal herbs included in the food and drinks may be a red flag for some kids and what their bodies can tolerate. We didnt end up going back there just out of caution. He had eaten the Yucca Flatbread in case you are wondering.

One of the things our family always does when we travel is to rent a place with a kitchen and find the best grocery store in town for healthy food…typically we stock up the first day. We found that Whole Foods had most everything we needed. There is one close to the square but far enough where we couldn’t walk it and ended up driving to the store.

The next day was the 1000%…worth it…self-paced scavenger hunt in downtown Santa Fe through www.urbanadventurequest.com. First off, there are a lot of tourism companies that will offer this at a premium of $35 or more per person so be careful who you buy this package from - there are some that say “Wacky Scavenger Hunt” or something like that. I paid $49 for all 4 of us in our family. They provide you the link to your email. Log in when you start the scavenger hunt whenever you want and it’s a timed quest with riddles you have to solve in order to get to the next location in downtown Santa Fe. It actually goes in a circle so you end up back at your car if you stick with it. The BEST part about this is you can see all the best historic sites with your kids while playing the game, so you are not dragging them around town. This makes it a challenge for them. My kids were on a mission to get our family name on the leader board at first. I will say this quest takes from mid-morning to dinner time. I am not sure who was able to finish this in a few hours, they must have been single and partly jogging. Wear comfortable shoes and park near the city hall if you cannot find parking along the street. We ended up forgetting the “race” aspect toward the middle given our multiple bathroom breaks and being hungry for lunch then went back to it, which is why it took us longer than other reviews suggested. The link to your quest gets automatically saved and picks up where you leave off. I definitely give this a MUST do rating if you want to spend a day in downtown Santa Fe seeing all the historical sights.

That evening we ended up eating at Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen and went back every single day we were there. This place is entirely safe for celiac’s and they have a ton of dairy free options! I was super impressed with the menu and the food was delicious. If you have celiac or just want healthy New Mexican food - this is a must for anyone visiting Santa Fe!

The next two days were spent at Bandelier National Monument and Ski Santa Fe. Bandelier was incredible and is a very easy walk (I dont know if i would call it a hike) for families of all ages. We stuck to the 1 mile walk since we had a 6 year old with us… but we didnt miss out on all of the beauty and history. I think the drive took us about 45 minutes from our rental in Santa Fe to the park and we left early in the morning so we could be the first on the trails. It was a bit cold but warmed up mid-morning where we were shedding our jackets so be mindful of how many layers you wear. Before leaving we sat down and ate lunch at the picnic tables by the parking lot. We left the cooler safely in the car, zipped up, so bears wouldn’t be attracted to the smell. The parking lot was getting really full at about 11am when we were headed out so morning time is a great option if you want fewer people on the trails with you. If you can, check out the inside of the caves by climbing up the ladders - it was my kids favorite part of it all. Mom tip: Bandelier has nice bathrooms on-site and they take donations for the park to keep it clean for everyone. The caves have ladders that are pretty steep but you don’t have to climb up them if you have small kids or are afraid of heights - the walking trail goes right past them if you prefer not to engage in that part.

Here is a picture from our lunch at Bandelier National Monument. Also, the road to this park is on the side of a mountain so take caution and check the road conditions before you venture out to bandelier that day.

Last day there was spent at Ski Santa Fe. First, I had no idea there was a ski slope closer to Santa Fe than Taos, but there is! It was a 30-minute drive, mostly up a mountain and it does get icy and snowy so check your tires and be careful on the way down. There is no guard rail protecting you from the major mountain drop off for a lot of the drive. Yikes! Obviously I am not used to roads like that, but it was super fun and the ski school is a must for those that are new to skiing. We registered online, got there super early in the morning, filled out our forms and spent the next few hours on the bunny slope. My kids and my husband had never been skiing before and although I grew up going to Telluride, CO in the winter, it had been over 20 years for me. It was a fun morning and I am so glad we went. It’s a small ski resort with not much to it other than the slopes. Get there early in the morning otherwise parking can be difficult.

If anyone is curious about the Albuquerque Sandia Mountain Tram… and you have trouble with your ears equalizing (if you are a scuba diver you know what I mean) or get nauseas at high altitudes this may not be the thing for you. The tram takes you up over 10,000 feet up. You cross over a gorge that was once a graveyard to a plane wreck that was famously stuck for days because it was so difficult to get to by land or air rescue teams. This same gorge is one you hover over going slow up the mountain in a glass tram…which brings me to my next point…if you are claustraphobic it may be a bit challenging. They load in as many humans into that tram as they possibly can. Mom tip: it’s super cold when you get to the top (about 10-15 degrees colder) so plan for it with extra clothing and the height caused me and my kids to suffer from dizziness and nausea almost immediately. We only stayed up there for a short while and then came back down. It is very pretty and we were able to catch the tram during sunset hour which was beautiful.

Lastly, my favorite part of Santa Fe is the square. The lights and energy from the town is simply amazing and a perfect little Christmas time getaway with the family. I hope this was helpful and feel free to reach out to me with any questions!