Things to do in Santa Fe
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Santa Fe
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best overall window in early fall: monsoon gone, chile roasting, golden aspens and cool nights.
Late spring is second best: clear skies, hiking before the heat and lower prices than summer.
Peak and priciest, with Opera and art markets plus monsoon afternoons; plan hikes for mornings.
Winter: ski season, farolitos and value, with January and February the cheapest and quietest.
Spring wind, possible late snow and mud on high trails; late March is the weakest value.
What's on
- Santa Fe Opera season late June/early July to late August
Open air opera season in the foothills north of town.
- International Folk Art Market July
Summer folk art market listed among the season's major festivals.
- Traditional Spanish Market July
Summer Spanish market listed among the season's major festivals.
- SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market mid-August
The largest Native art market in the world; book lodging months ahead.
- Burning of Zozobra Friday before Labor Day
A 50 foot marionette, Old Man Gloom, is burned before a huge crowd.
- Fiestas de Santa Fe September
Fiestas commemorating the 1692 re-entry.
- Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta late September
The food traveller's festival.
- Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta early October
About an hour away; day trip it and sleep in Santa Fe if you can.
- Plaza tree lighting Friday after Thanksgiving
The start of the winter holiday season on the Plaza.
- Winter Indian Market after Thanksgiving
Winter edition of the Native art market.
Best things to do in Santa Fe
Santa Fe Plaza
The living centre since the 1600s, ringed by adobe, the Cathedral and the Palace portal artisans.
Canyon Road
Half a mile of adobe galleries and sculpture gardens, best as a slow walk with artists often present.
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
Compact single artist museum explaining how this desert changed American painting.
Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return
A Victorian house opening into 70 plus surreal rooms, part art installation and part sci-fi mystery.
Santa Fe Opera
Open air opera at sunset over the Jemez Mountains, with a tailgate picnic culture before the show.
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture
The essential context setter for the Pueblo cultures you will see across northern New Mexico.
Museum of International Folk Art
A vast, joyful and genuinely global folk art collection, the crowd favourite on Museum Hill.
Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
Spanish colonial and Nuevo Mexicano heritage arts, one of the four museums clustered on Museum Hill.
Where to stay in Santa Fe
The Plaza / Historic District
first trip, all-round base
Walk to the Plaza, O'Keeffe Museum and Canyon Road, and leave the car parked for days.
Canyon Road / Historic Eastside
art, quiet and romance
Residential adobe lanes with galleries on the doorstep and the Plaza a short walk away.
Railyard / Guadalupe District
repeat visitors, food and value-with-character
Farmers Market, local restaurants and slightly lower prices, ten minutes from the Plaza.
Tesuque / Bishop's Lodge Road foothills
resort escape
Casitas in pinon country with spas and mountain views, a shuttle ride from town.
Think twice about
- Cerrillos Road motel strip
A multi-lane commercial strip with no walkable connection to the Plaza core, and more panhandling and property crime complaints.
- Southside / Santa Fe Place mall area and Airport Road
Residential and retail sprawl with no adobe charm or walkability, a 15 to 20 minute drive to the Plaza.
- Far-flung casitas beyond the ring road
Beautiful rural rentals 20 to 30 minutes out suit a retreat, not a first visit, with dark roads and thin rideshare.
Best restaurants in Santa Fe
Geronimo
Santa Fe's benchmark fine dining room in a 1756 adobe on Canyon Road, with polished service.
Sazón
Chef Fernando Olea's mole centred Old Mexico cooking near the Plaza, small menu and all.
The Compound
The quieter, old guard Canyon Road institution for seasonal American cooking in a landmark adobe.
Restaurant Martin
Ingredient driven cooking from chef Martin Rios, the credible alternate if the Canyon Road rooms are full.
La Choza
The locals' choice for red and green chile, family run since 1983 in an old adobe by the tracks.
The Shed
Plaza classic since 1953 in a 1692 hacienda, famous above all for its red chile.
Café Pasqual's
Folk art filled corner institution with the best breakfast to dinner range in the core.
Paloma
Oaxacan leaning Mexican food and agave cocktails, best on the back patio.
Outdoor things to do in Santa Fe
Dale Ball Trails
A 22 mile well signed foothill trail network minutes from downtown, built from numbered junctions.
Atalaya Mountain Trail
The classic Santa Fe summit hike, about six miles round trip to 9,121 feet.
Picacho Peak
A short, steep foothill climb locals recommend for sunset and one of the best views near town.
Sun Mountain Trail
A shorter, sharp climb locals suggest for visitors who overestimate moderate at altitude.
Nambe Lake Trail
A real alpine hike to a glacial lake under the Sangre de Cristos, about 6.8 miles round trip.
Bandelier National Monument
Cliff dwellings, cavates and petroglyphs in Frijoles Canyon, best early on a weekday.
Tsankawi
The quieter Bandelier unit, a mesa loop with ladders and ancestral footpaths worn into the rock.
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
Striped cone hoodoos and a slot canyon, reached only with a timed reservation and tribal pass.
Best hotels in Santa Fe
Inn of the Five Graces
Intimate adobe casitas around quiet courtyards a short walk from the centre, the connoisseur's luxury pick.
Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi
Refined, intimate hotel one block off the Plaza with handcrafted Southwestern interiors.
Bishop's Lodge, Auberge Resorts Collection
Historic lodge turned full resort on 100 acres, with spa, pool and a free downtown shuttle.
Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe
Spacious casitas with fireplaces and mountain views ten minutes north, in genuine Santa Fe style.
Inn and Spa at Loretto
Terraced adobe landmark next to Loretto Chapel, with a spa and a walk everywhere location.
La Fonda on the Plaza
The historic 1922 grand dame on the Plaza itself, at the end of the Santa Fe Trail.
Inn of the Governors
Forum favourite value in the core, with free parking, free breakfast and a pool.
Inn on the Alameda
Two acre adobe compound between the Plaza and Canyon Road, with generous breakfast and free parking.
Is Santa Fe expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $110 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $240 a person |
| Splurge | $600 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: a few days ahead
- Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return: a few days ahead
- Santa Fe Opera: weeks ahead
- Ten Thousand Waves: weeks ahead
- Santa Fe School of Cooking: a few days ahead
- EntreFlamenco: a few days ahead
- Prairie Dog Glass: a few days ahead
- Bandelier National Monument: a few days ahead
- Hotels for Indian Market, Zozobra, Opera opening weeks and Christmas book months ahead.
- Opera prime nights, Geronimo, Sazon, The Compound and Ten Thousand Waves private tubs book weeks ahead.
- Meow Wolf, the O'Keeffe Museum and Tent Rocks need timed tickets days ahead, Tent Rocks is a hard gate.
Is Santa Fe safe?
- Leave nothing visible in a car, ever; trailhead and hotel lot break-ins are the main property crime.
- Visible homelessness and panhandling concentrate on the Cerrillos Road corridor, not the Plaza core.
- At 7,000 feet hydrate, halve day one exercise, go easy on alcohol for 48 hours and use sunscreen.
- Never enter an arroyo or slot canyon with storms building anywhere in the watershed.
Santa Fe travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Plaza souvenir pricing for turquoise and Native goods varies wildly; buy from Palace portal artisans or reputable galleries.
- Tomasita's is decent but locals route chile seekers to La Choza and The Shed first.
- Loretto Staircase is a 20 minute visit, not a half day destination.
- Meow Wolf on a Saturday afternoon in July is crowded; go at opening or in the evening.
Getting around Santa Fe: public transport and more
- The core is walkable plus bus, but Bandelier, Tent Rocks, Taos and rafting need a car or booked tour.
- Fly into Santa Fe Regional for a 20 minute transfer, or Albuquerque for more nonstops plus the Rail Runner train.
- Downtown parking is paid and tight in festival season; Railyard garages are the easier fallback.
Who Santa Fe suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Santa Fe your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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