Santa Fe, NM, Guide and Information

Your Guide to Santa Fe NM.

Santa Fe, NM Guide

Printed Map

Explore the area with the illustrated printed maps you know and love

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Santa Fe for Cultural Connoisseurs

If you only have two days in Santa Fe, make sure to....

A 48-hour taste journey through the culinary capital

A little taste of Santa Fe...

The Railyard

Interested to go where the locals go? Head to the Railyard, which hosts nearly one million visitors annually.

About Santa Fe

The nation's oldest capitol is new again! Santa Fe’s nicknames nod to aspects of this storied Southwestern city. Locals publicly prefer the town’s tagline “Capital City,” a fitting moniker since New Mexico’s state capital doubles as the oldest in the U.S. thanks to the Spanish hoisting a flag over their New Spain in the 1500s. Its name means “holy faith,” which reflects the city’s religious ties. Although local boosters gave the city its other moniker the “City Different,” the sobriquet is well earned. It captures the distinctive blend of experiences you can have here. Where else in the U.S. can you amble past rambling adobes and head inside only to have equal changes of finding a James Beard Award–winning restaurants or a high-tech art installation?

Undoubtedly, the best reason to visit Santa Fe is its Old World/New World vibe. Start off in the Plaza, where a hundreds-year-old adobe is the oldest public building in the U.S. and nearby stained glass of a Romanesque cathedral glitter. Explore Western art galleries and enough silver-and-turquoise necklaces, earrings, and bracelets to fill thousands of jewelry boxes. Then, as night falls, perch at a rooftop bar for a cocktail – perhaps a margarita, if you’re following a trail devoted to the city’s signature cocktail’s – or grab a partner to merengue at an alfresco Latin music concert.

Santa Fe has a real-deal art scene – it’s one of the top markets in the country. Window shop along the sensory feast of Canyon Road, or spot mind-expanding installations in the galleries and museums of the Railyards district. In that city hotspot, you can also screen an indie flick or shop for freshly roasted green chile at the farmer’s market that pops up there twice a week. While you’re headed toward the Southside, grab a cortado at third-wave coffee shops or a pint of craft beer, and explore Meow Wolf – an art collective whose immersive installations are poised for world domination.

If airy art galleries still aren’t enough fresh air for you, trek to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Hiking trails ribbon across the mountains’ gentle ponderosa- and aspen-studded hills and there are routes for everyone, whether you’re a casual nature walker and endurance athlete.

The city is also a departure point to explore Native American pueblos, including the Puye Cliffs, tufa-carved buttes at Santa Clara Pueblo; the renowned pottery studios of San Ildefonso; and the traditional feast days and dances at Ohkay Owingeh, to name a few.