Lexie HammesfahrSanta Fe, New Mexico, is a town with enough culture to make you forget you're in the United States, and trendy enough to make your co-workers jealous.
There's incredible Southwestern food, scenery and prairie dogs. Really, what more do you need? Sneakers. You need comfy shoes to walk in.
Try to plan your visit around the Santa Fe Indian Market or Albuquerque's annual balloon festival. But if you can't, there's still plenty to do.
First, book a hotel reservation somewhere downtown — Hotel Santa Fe is an affordable boutique hotel that's within walking distance of the town square. Or if you're fancy, try Inn of the Anasazi.
And while you're at the Inn, make a dinner reservation at Anasazi Restaurant. If gazpacho is an appetizer special, get it. You won't regret your decision.
For breakfast, Cafe Pasqual's is a Santa Fe institution. But go early or prepare to stand in line. The organic cafe doesn't take reservations for breakfast or lunch.
While it's fun to tour the historic downtown and hit shops like Jackalope, where you can hang with prairie dogs, there are great day trips, too.
Bandelier National Monument is a protected park where you can check out petroglyphs and cave dwellings dating back more than 11,000 years.
Ojo Caliente is a spa outside the city that boasts four mineral hot springs. For about $30, you can relax in pools of lithia, iron, soda or arsenic, or take a dip in the mud pool.
You could also plan a day trip to the Taos Pueblo, which is about an hour and a half north of Santa Fe. Make sure to take the High Road — it's the more scenic route and allows you to grab some enchiladas and sopapillas at Rancho de Chimayó.
In Chimayó, swing by Santuario de Chimayó. It's a small shrine built next to a prayer room that boasts having holy dirt that heals.
And at the end of a long day of touring, grab a prickly pear margarita at the Coyote Rooftop Cantina.
This video includes an image from Larry Lamsa / CC BY 2.0.
