This historical capital city of New Mexico is known for its art and food scenes, but has so much more to offer! It’s such a walkable city, and with several options for day trips, it’s a great spot to base out of for a long weekend. Santa Fe sits at over 7,000 ft of elevation, so the temperatures are generally cooler; just be sure to stay hydrated! We traveled in and out of Albuquerque, so we spent one afternoon there, plus a day trip to Taos. All are included in this itinerary. My husband and I did a long weekend trip in late August, but look forward to going back during winter with our kids!
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Here is a sample 3-day itinerary for Santa Fe, New Mexico based on our couple’s weekend getaway in August:
DAY 1: AN AFTERNOON IN ALBUQUERQUE AND EVENING IN SANTA FE
To get to Santa Fe, the best options are to either fly in to the Santa Fe airport (SAF) or the Albuquerque airport (ABQ) and drive one hour Northeast. We chose to fly in to Albuquerque and drive, so we spent the afternoon there before heading to Santa Fe. The Sandia Peak Tramway is definitely worth visiting if you have a couple of hours and the weather is cooperative (the gondola does shut down in inclement weather). We bought tickets in advance on their website, but the tram runs every 15-30 minutes and the ride to the top takes 15 minutes each way (the gondola takes you to just over 10,000 feet). Once you arrive at the top, there are beautiful views, several options for hikes, and the Ten 3 restaurant..be sure to check their hours in advance if you plan to eat there.
We decided to do the Crest Trail to Kiwanis Cabin once we arrived at the top. The hike is a little under 2 miles round trip, and has an elevation gain of 374 feet. It sounds super easy, but remember you’re at over 10,000 feet! The trail runs through the woods, then a meadow, up a rocky hill, finally arriving at the Kiwanis Cabin. The views from here are spectacular!
After the hike, rather than stay up top for lunch, we headed in to town to Sadie’s of New Mexico. Sadie’s is said to be the best New Mexican food in the area, and it didn’t disappoint. There are two locations to choose from. We had the chips with salsa and queso, Sadies’s chalupa with carne adovada, tacos, and of course plenty of red and green sauce, and the sopapillas with honey!
Next, we made the drive up to Santa Fe to check in to our hotel and explore the city. We stayed at the El Dorado Hotel and Spa, right in the center of Santa Fe, just a couple of blocks from the historic Santa Fe Plaza. Another option to consider is the Hotel St. Francis; the oldest hotel in Santa Fe. It has the most beautiful lobby featuring handcrafted furniture made by local artisans, and there is a Gruet Tasting Room located there as well!
Before heading to dinner, we walked around the plaza and then checked out the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. It was already closed for the day, so we were only able to walk around the outside, but there are beautiful gardens that you can walk through and do a self-guided tour.
There are so many good restaurants to chose from within walking distance of the plaza, but on our first evening we were craving pasta so we chose Lino’s Trattoria and Pizzeria. We split a salad, and had the Sophia Loren and the Frank Sinatra pasta dishes…both were amazing!
DAY 2: DAY TRIP TO TAOS, WINE TASTING, AND TAPAS
Taos has been on my list to visit for a while (you know how I love a ski town in summer!), and with a variety of things to do there and it being just a 1.5 hour drive away, we set aside one full day there in our itinerary (you could probably do two days there if you had time). Our plan was to hike along the Rio Grande Gorge, visit the Taos Pueblo, explore the downtown area, and then do some wine tasting on the drive back to Santa Fe. Unfortunately, we missed one of these major activities (more on that later)!
Before hitting the road, we grabbed breakfast near the hotel at Tia Sophia’s. It was highly rated, and one of the only places open for early breakfast (Santa Fe is a pretty sleepy town)…it was delicious, and prices were reasonable. From there, we grabbed coffee at Henry and the Fish across the street, and then headed on our way to Taos.
We left Santa Fe by 9AM so that we could get a little hike in before lunch. We drove straight to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. There’s plenty of parking, restrooms, and items for sale by local artisans. The views of the gorge, bridge, and surrounding mountains are spectacular. You can walk the bridge itself, or choose one of the trails along the gorge…we chose to do the West Rim Trail, which was 3.8 miles and basically flat. Definitely a site to see!
After the gorge, we were ready for some food! We were craving pizza (what else is new), so we decided to try out Taos Mesa Brewery…there are two locations; we went to the Tap Room and loved it. We tried several of their local beers, and then split the beet and avocado salad, and a pepperoni pizza. Everything was so good…definitely a great find in Taos!
After lunch we walked around downtown Taos; it’s small, quaint, and has so many cute shops and restaurants. If you’re looking for a sweet treat, check out Taos Cow or Chokola. We stopped in to Chokola and tried one of their homemade chocolate mousses topped with whipped cream (there were 3 varieties that day)…so rich and delicious!
We couldn’t stay long, because we wanted to get to the Taos Pueblo and have time to tour before they closed at 4PM. Taos Pueblo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States, and the top thing to do in Taos. It’s located just outside Taos, and when we arrived we were turned away because they were randomly CLOSED…for two weeks! No warning of this on their website when we planned the trip, but here we were. I guess we will have to make another trip back! One other highly rated activity that we didn’t have time for is to visit the Black Rock Hot Springs…sounds like it can get really busy, so the best time to visit is in the morning!
We headed back toward Santa Fe and since we had extra time, we stopped at Vivac Winery for a tasting on their patio along the way. They have a variety of reds and whites for tasting, along with handmade chocolates and a few other food items to accompany the tasting.
We had a late reservation for dinner on Day 2, so we stopped in to Vara Santa Fe Tasting Room near the hotel (it was raining at this point, so we didn’t want to walk far!) for some drinks and tapas. What a great find! Beautiful space, a variety of cocktails made with their own liquor, wines, bubbly, and tasty tapas.
Once the rain stopped, we were able to walk around town a bit (shops were all closed already…sleepy town indeed!), and then made it to La Boca for our dinner reservation. One of the best rated restaurants in Santa Fe, their Spanish / Mediterranean menu features plenty of Tapas and delicious paella. That was it for us on Day 2…we were spent! What an action-packed day we had…
DAY 3: FOOD TOUR, GEORGIA O’KEEFE MUSEUM, AND BUBBLY TASTING
For Day 3, we had one major activity planned (a food & history tour in the afternoon), and a long list of other things we wanted to check out while exploring Santa Fe on our last day. We started with breakfast at BoulTawn’s Bagelry and Cafe, known for having the best bagels in town…and they were! We had breakfast bagel sandwiches that were fantastic, and a great start to our day. This was just a short walk from the hotel as well (we really only used our car for the Taos day trip while in Santa Fe).
From there, we had a few hours to kill before our 2PM food tour, so we explored the shops around Taos, Good Stuff record store and coffee shop, Palace of the Governors, Loretta Chapel, Kakwawa Chocolate, Burro Alley, and more. We did not have time to check out Meow Wolf which is a really popular thing to do in Santa Fe, but we did have time to check out the Georgia O’Keefe Museum and pick up some fun finds in their gift shop. It’s a really nice little museum that takes about an hour to fully experience.
Finally, it was time for the highlight of Day 3, The Railyard Sip, Savor, & History Walking Tour with Vigilante Guides. If you’ve checked out my itineraries before, you know how I love a good food tour, and this was one of my all-time favorites! We started with craft cocktails at our first stop, then New Mexican essentials at the second stop (sopapillas with sauce and honey, margaritas, etc.), local beer tasting in a haunted bar for our third stop, and then finished with a delicious grilled cheese and cider tasting. The entire experience took us through the Railyard disctrict, where we learned all about the history and culture from our local guide Jerard (he also owns the tour company). Highly recommend this!! In total, the tour was about 3.5 hours and was enough food that we didn’t need dinner that night.
Jerard gave us lots of great recommendations for other things to see / eat / drink in Santa Fe, so we took his advice and headed to the Gruet Tasting Room inside the Hotel St. Francis. Gruet is known for their sparkling wine. Gruet was already an established champagne brand in France, but upon traveling in the US in the 1980’s Gruet decided to attempt sparkling wine making in this region of the Southwestern US. The hotel and tasting room are really beautiful and worth a stop. And the bubbly and chocolate tasting were fantastic!
Since we were too full for dinner, we walked around Santa Fe to burn off some of those food tour calories, and then called it a night. The next morning we would drive back to Albuquerque and fly home from there. Santa Fe is a great spot for a long weekend, offering a variety of things to do and experience. For our next visit, we plan to bring the kids in the winter to ski (there are ski resorts in Santa Fe and Taos)…this would be a magical place to see in the winter!