Santa Fe, NM
Santa Fe, NM – Our Happy Place
When David and I married back the day we paid for our wedding ourselves and basically had no funds to go on a honeymoon. We figured out a way to make 3-days in Santa Fe, NM work for us! We had never been there before but, it was drive-able so we went for it. Here’s our story…
Oh Santa Fe, NM how we LOVE you! After spending our 3-day honeymoon in Santa Fe, NM it was clear this would not be our last trip; NOT EVEN CLOSE! After the honeymoon we started visiting Santa Fe, NM every year to celebrate our anniversary, then after a few years we started going twice a year, once in the spring and then back again in the fall for our anniversary. Then after some years, we started visiting on holidays where we had some extra time off from work aside from just the weekend. Now, we GO EVERY CHANCE WE GET!
WE LOVE SANTA FE SO MUCH, we hope you do too!
If you ever plan to travel to Santa Fe, NM here’s a list of places to stay, to eat and things to do!
- Hotels
There are so many great places to stay in Santa Fe, we love several of the small quaint hotels and here’s our list. There are of course MANY, MANY more and houses/cabins you can Air BnB etc.
*** Links in the below list, if the website link met the requirement’s of my blog-site (and played nice) I linked them directly, if not, I linked their trip advisor page and you can redirect to their website that way ***
Eldorado Hotel, Las Palomas Bed and Breakfast, La Fonda, Inn and Spa at Loretto Santa Fe, Hotel St. Francis, La Posada de Santa Fe, The Bishop’s Lodge Resort and Spa, The Inn of the Five Graces.
Now, let’s get to what’s really important when traveling to Santa Fe, FOOD!
- Food
We love SO MANY restaurants in Santa Fe and new places open up all the time. It can almost be overwhelming deciding where to eat when only spending a few days in this great mountain town! Maybe this small list will help make your decisions a bit easier!
*Breakfast
Chocolate Maven, The Pantry, Tune-Up Cafe, Cafe Pasqual’s, Counter Culture, Joe’s Dining.
*Lunch
San Francisco Street Bar and Grill, Coyote Cafe Rooftop Cantina, Cowgirl BBQ, Bumblebee Baja Grill, The Shed, The Shake Foundation, Taco Fundacion, Vinaigrette, Blue Corn Cafe.
*Dinner
Some of these suggestions are high-end restaurants so be sure to research them to make sure it’s what you’re looking for and TIP: most places in Santa Fe require reservations for dinner. Most, if not all these suggestions are on Open Table. SOME are just awesome, easy places for dinner but they will still need reservations.
The Bull Ring (we always go to the bar and have their bull wings and baked potatoes, it’s our favorite and we never miss this one when we go to Santa Fe; NEVER. They do have a nice steakhouse restaurant but we’ve never been in that side, the steaks are VERY good though), Geronimo’s, La Casa Sena, Santa Cafe, La Boca (Tapas), Restaurant Martin, El Farol (Tapas), Market Steer Steakhouse, Joseph’s Culinary Pub, El Nido, La Choza.
- Bars/Nightlife – DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE! Uber and Taxis are all over Santa Fe, it’s EASY so just DO IT. Santa Fe does not tolerate drinking and driving! I promise you will have a MUCH better evening knowing you will get home safely and without a DUI/DWI.
Santa Fe pretty much shuts down after dinner time…. It’s probably best because higher elevation is tricky for alcohol. We prefer to have dinner and then go home but if you’re wanting to try to get out and about a bit in Santa Fe here are a few ideas, we do from time to time find ourselves chilling at one of the hotel bars.
Bell Tower and Lobby Bar at La Fonda, Secreto Lounge in the Hotel St. Francis, Evangelo’s (this is where the movie Crazy Heart was filmed). The Bell Tower at La Fonda is great for Sunsets and Cocktails; this bar is seasonal.
Santa Fe Spirits is one of our favorite little spots to have a cocktail or two before dinner!
If you’re looking for a great patio for drinks and dinner try, Coyote Cantina! It is the Rooftop for Coyote Cafe. It’s seasonal and not open in the winter months; just FYI Honey!
- Wine Shops and Wine Bar/Tasting Rooms
Santa Fe has a couple of great little wine shops we like to visit!
La Casa Sena Wine Shop, Susan’s Fine Wine and Spirits (Susan’s typically has a wine tasting on Friday evenings, head over there on your way to dinner!)
Noisy Water Winery/Tasting Room, Herve Wine Bar, Gruet Tasting Room.
Herve – More on Herve in the Wine Menu
Gruet – More on Gruet in the Wine Menu
- Spas
WE LOVE the spas in Santa Fe, being in the mountains is a great place to treat yourself with a spa day!
Absolute Nirvana Spa, La Posada Spa, Eldorado Nidah Spa, Ten Thousand Waves, Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs and Spa, Bishop’s Lodge Resort and Spa.
- Farmers Market
If there’s ever a trip where I cannot make the Santa Fe Farmer Market I am absolutely CRUSHED! I love it so much, the offerings, the smells, the people, the DOGS! The Santa Fe Farmers Market is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays in the Santa Fe Railyard. It’s fantastic, so if it’s in season make sure and take your shopping bags and coolers so that you can take home some of the fresh offerings!
You can just feel how hard the vendors work in their garden’s and such! Most everyone can offer an abundance of education on their beliefs and processes in regard to fresh and organic practices.
Have you ever seen purple greens beans? They turn green when you cook them….. Strange.
And the BEET goes on!
We love carrots and I make them often and many different ways. Honey Sweet, Herb and Butter, Sliced, Shaved you name it! These sweet purple carrots are my fave, if you ever see them GRAB a BUNCH!
We don’t do a lot of Honey but when we do I love to get the raw honey from the Santa Fe Farmers Market, it’s just SO good and sticky!
Santa Fe is known for their vibrate red and green chili powders and chilies in general. Chili season is the BEST time of year in Santa Fe, folks roast green chilies all over town! You know fall is coming when you start to smell the aroma of roasted chilies in the fresh mountain air! AMEN
While you’re in Santa Fe make sure you visit all the historic chapels and churches and art pieces around town.
You can read about the Loretto Chapel history here. It’s a must visit when in Santa Fe.
The art sculptures are AMAZING in Santa Fe, they’re located in various areas of the plaza so walk around and check them out!
And there’s almost never a day where you won’t find a little street music in Santa Fe, this is one of the things I love the most about Santa Fe, aside from the WINE and FOOD of course!
This is one of those blog post that will never be done; I plan to add to it anytime I come across something new in the great town of Santa Fe, NM so stay tuned!
Love,
Olive and Honey