25 Things to Do in Santa Fe
Santa Fe is a small city that behaves like a much larger one. It has more than 250 galleries, about 20 museums, a world-class opera and a four-hundred-year head start on most of the country. You could spend a week here and still leave things undone.
So here is a list. Twenty-five things, sorted by what kind of day you're having, with a few notes from people who live here. Start anywhere.
Around the Plaza
1. Sit in the Plaza. It has been the center of town since the early 1600s, and it's still where everything begins. Get a coffee, find a bench, and watch for a while. At sunset, the rooftop Bell Tower Bar at La Fonda has the best view of it (the bar is seasonal, so check before you climb).
2. Buy directly from the artist under the Portal. Every day, Native American artisans from 23 tribes and pueblos sell their own jewelry, pottery and weaving beneath the portal of the Palace of the Governors. The person across the blanket made what you're holding. Ask about it.
3. Step inside the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis. It's a block east of the Plaza and impossible to miss. Go in the late afternoon, when the light comes through the rose window.
4. See the staircase at Loretto Chapel. A spiral staircase with two full turns and no visible central support. The story of who built it is a good one, and nobody tells it quite the same way twice.
5. Walk De Vargas Street. San Miguel Chapel is often called the oldest church in the country, and a few doors away is an adobe known as the Oldest House. Both are small. Both are worth ten minutes.
Art
6. Walk Canyon Road. Half a mile, more than a hundred galleries, and a lot of sculpture gardens you're welcome to wander into. Go on a weekday morning if you'd like to talk to the gallery owners.
7. Visit the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. The only museum in the world dedicated to her work. Book ahead, because timed tickets do sell out.
8. Spend a morning on Museum Hill. Four museums share one hilltop, including the Museum of International Folk Art and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. The café patio has views that run for a hundred miles.
9. Get lost in Meow Wolf. The original House of Eternal Return has more than seventy rooms. Open the refrigerator. You'll see.
10. Wander the Railyard. Contemporary art at SITE Santa Fe, galleries in old warehouses, and the Jean Cocteau Cinema, an independent theater owned by George R.R. Martin.
Eat and drink
11. Answer the question. "Red or green?" is what your server will ask, and it means chile. If you can't decide, say "Christmas" and you'll get both.
12. Go to the Farmers' Market on Saturday morning. It runs all year at the Railyard, with more than 150 vendors. In fall, follow the smell of roasting green chile.
13. Follow the Margarita Trail. More than fifty bars and restaurants each pour their own signature margarita. There's a passport. Pace yourself.
14. Take a cooking class. The Santa Fe School of Cooking will teach you to make the things you've been ordering all week, which is a souvenir that keeps.
Out of doors, and just out of town
15. Hike. There are more than 300 miles of trails around the city, and several start ten minutes from the Plaza. Remember that you're at 7,000 feet. Bring water and take it slowly on day one.
16. Drive up to Ski Santa Fe. It's sixteen miles from downtown. In winter, there are ninety trails. In late September and early October, people come for the aspens, which turn the whole mountainside gold.
17. Climb a ladder at Bandelier National Monument. Cliff dwellings carved into soft volcanic rock, about an hour away. You can climb into some of them.
18. See Tent Rocks. Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is as strange as its photos. Entry is by reservation only and it closes seasonally, so book well ahead.
19. Soak. Ten Thousand Waves is a Japanese-style bathhouse in the mountains above town. Ojo Santa Fe has spring-fed pools to the south. Either one will fix whatever the altitude did to you.
20. Take the High Road to Taos. A slow, winding drive through mountain villages. Stop at the Santuario de Chimayó along the way.
After dark
21. Go to the opera. The Santa Fe Opera performs in July and August in an open-air theater, with the sun setting behind the stage. People tailgate in the parking lot beforehand, often in formal wear.
22. Ride Sky Railway. Themed train rides out into the desert, with music, drinks and a view. Reserve in advance.
23. See flamenco. Santa Fe has five generations of flamenco behind it. Find a small room, sit close, and book ahead.
24. Take a ghost tour. A city this old has collected its share of stories. Walking tours leave from downtown hotels in the early evening and cover the Plaza's better-known hauntings.
25. Attend a séance. This one is ours, and it's the one we can't quite explain.
Phasmagorica is a paranormal experiment and curated journey into the unknown. Thirteen guests gather in an opulent Chamber, with a 13-speaker sound system overhead and the old instruments of spirit communication in their hands. There are no actors and no jump scares. Skeptics are welcome. Most people spend the drive home trying to work out what happened.
It runs Thursday through Sunday, takes about two hours, and is for guests 21 and over. The address is shared when you reserve.
By season
Summer brings the big art markets to the Plaza, including the International Folk Art Market, Spanish Market and Indian Market.
Late summer ends with the burning of Zozobra, a fifty-foot marionette stuffed with the town's written-down worries.
October may be the best month of all. We wrote a separate guide to it: Halloween in Santa Fe.
Christmas Eve means the Farolito Walk on Canyon Road, with thousands of paper lanterns and bonfires on the corners.
A few practical notes
Book ahead. The O'Keeffe Museum, Tent Rocks, Sky Railway, flamenco and Phasmagorica all require or strongly reward a reservation.
Respect the altitude. Drink more water than you think you need. One margarita here counts as two.
Bring a layer. The desert cools quickly after sundown, even in July.
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