Last summer Dave and I took a little trip down to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had a blast and absolutely loved that little town!  I really didn’t know what to expect and I probably wouldn’t have thought to go there until I heard a few of my co-workers talk about how cool it was. We decided to go for a long week and loved that it was driving distance from where we live, the food was absolutely delicious, and it was pretty relaxing as well. We felt like two and a half days there was the perfect amount of time and that we were able to see all the things that we had hoped to at a leisurely pace.

Here are 9 things to see and do in Santa Fe:

Stroll through the Old Town

Santa Fe’s old town/downtown area is super cute and perfect for walking around and window shopping. We loved hopping in and out of stores and admired all the local shops, the different types of artwork, and beautiful architecture. Make sure you walk through the Palace of the Governors, it’s where some of the locals sell their handmade jewelry and artwork. Also make sure you pass by St. Francis Cathedral and Loretto Chapel, both were beautiful! Our favorite though, was just exploring some of the smaller streets that were off the main drag.  We stumbled upon some precious courtyards and quiet little streets.

Stop in La Fonda Hotel for Coffee

The hotel is right off the main road in the downtown area, so you can’t miss it. It’s a beautiful hotel inside and out. We particularly loved peeking into the La Plazuela garden restaurant. I wish we were hungry at the time because I would’ve loved to have eaten there, but we just stopped for coffee instead.

Check out the Art Galleries on Canyon Road

This was so fun and we loved hopping in and out of some beautiful art galleries. Every gallery was so different and you never quite knew what to expect from the next. We walked the entire thing and my favorite part was towards the end of Canyon Road when we stumbled upon The Teahouse for a late lunch. We sat outside, sipped some tea, and split a sandwich. It was so peaceful and felt like a true escape.

Visit Meow Wolf

I highly recommend checking out Meow Wolf if you haven’t done anything like it before. It’s an indoor interactive art maze. It was super unique and we spent about two hours exploring all the weird/cool art.

Eat all the Mexican Food

Santa Fe has some of the best Mexican food we’ve ever had! We ate it every evening and went to The Shed one night and La Choza the other night. We got enchiladas, tacos, tamales, all different kinds of margaritas, chips and salsa… it was delicious! If we had more time I would have loved to have gone to Cafe Pasquals. I’ve heard amazing things and their menu looks awesome.

Hike Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

Dave and I always love exploring the outdoors wherever we go and we were so excited to explore the tent rocks in Santa Fe. The Kasha-Katuwe National Monument is only about a half hour drive from downtown Santa Fe.  The hike itself was fairly easy to moderate and about 3 miles long. It was a great way to get out in nature and get some exercise in. It was really hot so definitely bring water and sunscreen.

Explore the Santa Fe Railyard

The Railyard district is a great place to walk around and enjoy the contemporary art and architecture. They also have a farmers market there on Saturdays, but unfortunately we didn’t make it. Instead we went in the evening and stopped in Second Street Brewery for some drinks after dinner.

Relax at Your Airbnb

We stayed at this Airbnb and absolutely loved it. It was in a great location and was walking distance to the Railyard District, a few local bakeries, restaurants and even a Trader Joe’s. One night we got some cheese, crackers, and wine and spent the night in our little abode to watch movies. We also loved the neighborhood that our Airbnb was in and decided to go jogging around the streets in the morning, mostly to check out all the pretty houses in the neighborhood. Our Airbnb was also close to a bakery called Clafautis. Honestly, you can’t miss out on visiting this amazing spot because it was a highlight of our trip. We’d go there in the morning and pick up pastry treats and coffee for the day and also had brunch there one morning. It’s a very sweet french pastry/eatery and everything there was amazing. I swear, to this day we still talk about how tasty it was!

Stop at Taos

On our way back home we decided to take the longer scenic route home. It was definitely the longer route to take back but the views were unreal and it felt like we were out in the wild wild west. We stopped in Taos to stretch our feet and to take in some of the views.