A Weekend in Santa Fe: Where We Stayed, Ate & Shopped

Santa Fe wasn’t necessarily somewhere that had been high on my travel list, which might be why I enjoyed experiencing it so much.

We flew in for a weekend and had essentially two days to explore. I didn’t go with a huge itinerary. I’m much more of a wander-around-and-see-what-we-find traveler than someone who needs an activity scheduled every few hours.

And Santa Fe has a lot to take in.

The adobe architecture, the art, the jewelry, the galleries, the vintage shopping, and chile everywhere. You learn pretty quickly that when someone asks red or green?, they’re talking about chile. And if you want both, you order it “Christmas.”

There is so much culture and history woven into the city, and it felt completely different from anywhere we’d traveled recently.

We stayed outside of town at the Four Seasons and spent our weekend eating, shopping, wandering galleries and asking locals where we should go next. We definitely didn’t see everything, but here are the places we loved, plus a few recommendations I saved along the way.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe, about 20 minutes outside of downtown Santa Fe.

The property was beautiful and incredibly peaceful. We didn’t arrive until around 2 a.m. Friday night, so waking up there Saturday morning was really the beginning of our trip.

We ordered room service for breakfast, which was great, and then headed into town to start exploring.

The Four Seasons is definitely more removed from everything, which we enjoyed, but it’s something I’d consider when deciding where to stay. If you want to be able to walk out of your hotel and immediately shop, eat and explore, there are lots of charming-looking hotels and inns closer to the Plaza.

If you want something quieter with a beautiful setting to come back to at the end of the day, we loved our stay at the Four Seasons.

What I packed

I had fun packing for this trip!

Where We Ate & Drank

One thing Santa Fe does not lack is good food. We had way more recommendations than meals.

Sip & Savor Tour

Saturday we did a Sip & Savor tour, which was a fun way to see some of Santa Fe and try several places at once.

We stopped at Palace for a bite and a drink and also had tacos and margaritas at Santa Fe Brewing Company.

I loved doing this at the beginning of the trip because we got to see more of the city while learning a little about what we were looking at along the way.

Horno

Saturday night we had dinner at Horno, and it was delicious.

I especially loved their chocolate torte-style dessert. Always important information in a Jenny Cookies travel guide.

Dolina Bakery & Cafe

Sunday morning we went a little off the beaten path to Dolina Bakery & Cafe for coffee and pastries.

This was exactly the kind of place I love finding when we travel. The pastries were so good, and Dan ordered a spicy chicken sandwich that he loved.

Chainé

We also stopped at Chainé, a really cute bakery with coffee, matcha and pastries.

More Santa Fe Restaurants to Save

We asked locals for recommendations throughout the weekend, and the restaurant list got long quickly.

A few that came up were The Shed, Tomasita’s, Café Pasqual’s, Market Steer Steakhouse, La Choza, Joseph’s Culinary Pub, Paloma, La Boca, Paper Dosa, Pink Adobe and Tesuque Village Market.

We obviously couldn’t eat everywhere in two days, but these would be good ones to look into depending on where you’re staying and what you’re craving.

Shopping in Santa Fe

I loved the shopping in Santa Fe.

There are plenty of shops around the Plaza, but some of my favorite places were the ones we found a little farther out.

Los Poblanos Farm Shop Norte

This may have been the cutest store we visited.

I’d actually hoped we might make it to Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm in Albuquerque while we were in New Mexico, but there just wasn’t enough time.

Luckily, they have a shop in Santa Fe, Farm Shop Norte, so I at least got a little taste of it.

Beautiful products, beautiful packaging, beautiful store. Right up my alley.

High Noon General Store

Another favorite was High Noon General Store. Such a good shop and definitely one I’d add to your list if you like finding curated home, clothing and lifestyle pieces when you travel.

Overland Sheepskin Co.

We also stopped into Overland Sheepskin Co. It was fun to see everything in person, especially since it’s one of those brands I’d seen before but never really explored in a store.

Santa Fe Has GREAT Vintage

This was probably my favorite shopping surprise.

Vintage on Canyon

Vintage on Canyon was my favorite vintage stop. I found some great Levi’s, a sweater and a few other pieces here.

There is something so much more fun about bringing home a vintage piece from a trip than buying something you could have ordered online from anywhere.

Santa Fe Vintage

Santa Fe Vintage was another shop that came highly recommended. It’s appointment only, so we didn’t make it there with our short schedule, but if vintage is a priority for you, I’d plan ahead and make an appointment.

A few other shops from the local recommendation lists I saved were Desert Moss Vintage, Sign of the Pampered Maiden, Shiprock Santa Fe, The Golden Eye, F.S. Supply Co., Red River Mercantile and The Rainbow Man.

Canyon Road

Sunday we spent part of the day walking Canyon Road, Santa Fe’s famous art district.

There are galleries everywhere, tucked into old adobe buildings along the street. We wandered in and out, talked to people working in the galleries and just explored.

Everyone was so nice.

I’m not someone who needs to spend hours in a museum or have every gallery mapped out ahead of time. I liked being able to walk the street, pop into whatever caught our attention and keep going.

Even if you’re not traveling specifically for art, I’d make time for Canyon Road. It’s such a big part of what makes Santa Fe feel like Santa Fe.

The Plaza + Native American Art

One of the coolest things we saw was the Native American artists selling jewelry and handmade pieces beneath the portal at the Palace of the Governors.

The artists sell their work directly here, and it was one of those experiences that made Santa Fe feel very different from other places we’ve visited.

Take your time looking and talking to the artists. There were so many beautiful pieces.

A Few Santa Fe Things to Know

The first thing you’ll notice is the architecture. Santa Fe is known for its adobe and Pueblo Revival-style buildings, which give so much of the city its earthy, warm look. Even newer construction is often designed to maintain that distinctive Santa Fe style.

And then there’s the chile.

Red chile. Green chile. Chile hanging from buildings. Chile on menus. Chile everywhere.

If someone asks whether you want red or green, they’re asking which chile sauce you’d like. Want both? Order it Christmas.

It’s one of those little things you pick up quickly once you’re there.

More to See in Santa Fe

We were only there for two days, so we barely touched everything there is to do.

One place that people kept recommending was Loretto Chapel, known for its famous spiral staircase. San Miguel Chapel was also on one of the local recommendation lists we picked up.

Other spots that were recommended included the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, New Mexico Museum of Art, New Mexico History Museum, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Santa Fe Farmers Marketand Bandelier National Monument.

And if you’re more of an activity person than I am, there is plenty of that too. Hiking, mountain biking, fly fishing, horseback riding, rock climbing and hot air ballooning are all options in and around Santa Fe.

I’m more of an explorer. I’d rather have a few hours to wander through an area, stop when something looks interesting and see what we find.

Spa & Relaxing

Santa Fe also has some pretty incredible spa options.

Ten Thousand Waves came highly recommended, along with Ojo Santa Fe. There is also the Spa at Loretto and, of course, the spa at the Four Seasons where we stayed.

We didn’t make this a spa trip, but if you’re staying longer than a weekend, it would be easy to add a slower spa day.

Our Weekend in Santa Fe

If you’re trying to figure out how much you can actually fit into a quick Santa Fe weekend, here’s roughly what ours looked like:

FRIDAY
Flew in late
Arrived at Four Seasons around 2 a.m.

SATURDAY
Room service breakfast at Four Seasons
Sip & Savor tour
Explored downtown and the Plaza
Dinner at Horno

SUNDAY
Dolina for coffee, pastries + breakfast
Vintage shopping
Canyon Road + galleries
Shopping and exploring around Santa Fe
Back to Four Seasons for dinner

MONDAY
Headed home

Two full days went surprisingly far, especially because we weren’t trying to cram an activity into every hour.

Santa Fe probably isn’t a trip I would have thought to plan on my own, and I’m really grateful we got to experience it.

It felt so different from home. The adobe buildings, chile hanging everywhere, Native American art and jewelry, galleries tucked into old buildings, vintage stores and so much culture and history everywhere you look.

We didn’t try to do everything. We wandered, followed recommendations, ate really well and saw as much as we could in the time we had.

And maybe that was my favorite part of Santa Fe. It was somewhere I hadn’t thought much about visiting before, and I’m really glad I got to see and experience it.

If Santa Fe isn’t somewhere you’ve thought about visiting, maybe that’s exactly why you should.

And, if you take the trip to Santa Fe, let me know how it went!

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