5 minute read
Get Santa Fe Ready
Things are a little different in The City Different, starting with our elevation at 7,000 feet and our multicultural populus. Prepare for your visit with these insightful tips and helpful vernacular.
BRING YOUR …
Openness
Santa Fe is a diverse multicultural community. We welcome you to embrace our expansive way of thinking.
Budget for Native American art
Purchase an authentic piece of jewelry, pottery, a textile or painting directly from a Native American artisans under the portal at the Palace of the Governors, or via many galleries throughout Santa Fe.
Curiosity for art, culture, and history
We’re 413 years old as a capital city, but Pueblo Indians occupied the area as early as 1050 in settlements known as Ogha Po’oge (Tewa for White Shell Water Place). Santa Fe continues to evolve, influenced over the years by diverse, creative, passionate, independently minded peoples. Come with a spirit to learn.
Margarita Trail Passport
Be in know about where to find 40+ signature margaritas made to order just for you!
Camera
Santa Fe is exceedingly photogenic! Capture The City Different’s bright blue skies and white puffy clouds, its mountainous vistas and deep red ristras.
Passion for original art
Shop one of our 250+ galleries and find a painting, a sculpture, or a photograph for your home.
Warm layers
You’re in the mountains now! Regardless of the season, the weather can get cool.
Comfortable walking shoes
Explore on foot. Some of the most enriching adventures are within walking distance of your lodging. Or consider a hike in the Santa Fe National Forest, just minutes from downtown.
Sunglasses
The City Different boasts 320+ days of sunshine a year, so affix those shades to your face!
Best denim, silver and turquoise jewelry, boots, and bangles
Dress the part— you’ll fit right in with this getup!
Brimmed hat or cap
Santa Fe is not only sunny, but located at 7,000 feet. Don a fashionable lid (cowboy hat preferred) to protect yourself from those powerful ultraviolet rays.
Sunscreen
Apply liberally! For every thousand feet of elevation, your exposure increases by 6 to 10 percent.
Excitement for a custom cowboy hat and boots
Take the Southwestern look home with you. Santa Fe is ready to accessorize you!
Lip balm with SPF
Our average humidity is 44%. That’s low, friends, so pucker up and butter up.
Water bottle
Hydrate! Your body loses water through respiration at high elevations twice as fast as at sea level.
Adventurous palate
Santa Fe’s culinary scene is a taste sensation and can involve a lot of chile, both green and red, as well as local craft spirits and beers. Come ready to try new flavors!
MASTER THE LINGO
Christmas
When asked, “Red, green, or Christmas?” at nearly every Santa Fe restaurant, consider answering “Christmas por favor!” and you’ll get to try the best of both.
Farolito
Spanish for little light or lantern, a farolito is a warm and welcoming glow found most often during the holidays lining roofs or walkways. And it’s the simplest design–a small paper bag containing a handful of sand and a votive candle.
Land of Enchantment
The reference dates to the early 1900s when a book titled The Land of Enchantment was published about the wonders and marvels of the Southwestern landscape. Beginning in 1941, every New Mexico license plate bore the slogan forevermore!
Powder Day
That’s a cute way of saying, “It snowed A LOT, so get out and enjoy it!” Did you know that Ski Santa Fe, the 12,075foot mountain, 16 miles from town, enjoys 225 inches of snowfall a year? Yup, and you can, too. With Santa Fe’s average humidity of 44%, just imagine how light and fluffy it is. Don’t miss out on a day of powpow! And forgive us for rarely having long lift lines!
Ristra
It’s Spanish for string, but it’s so much more here in Santa Fe. You will see ristras strung with red chile pods all across The City Different, serving as an iconic and decorative symbol of welcome.
Every year Santa Fe's original burning man Zozobra, a 50-foot tall, storied marionette, is built anew and stuffed with thousands of paper "glooms"—love letters, divorce papers, photos, speeding tickets, bad habits, hurt feelings—that go up in smoke as tens of thousands of locals and visitors chant, “Burn Him!” to rid the gloom from our lives for another year.
Sopaipilla
It is not a stretch to say that every culture has a version of this tasty treat. In Santa Fe, you’ll love this pillowy bread served with most New Mexican dishes. Sop up your chile or douse with honey.
Mañana-land
Spanish for tomorrow, mañana in this instance means taking a moment to slow down, relax, and enjoy yourself—for there’s always tomorrow, and we hope you have lots of tomorrows while you are visiting.
Acclimation
Remember you are at 7,000 feet in Santa Fe! Acclimatize—allow your body to adjust to the elevation by avoiding overexertion in your first 1 to 2 days, increase your water intake, and control your alcohol consumption. We want you to feel great!
Fiesta
A celebration of cuisine and culture! Think Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, the Fall Fiber Fiesta, Fiestas de Santa Fe, and more. Come fiesta with us!
Spicy marg
Rimmed with red chile or infused with jalapeño, the spicy marg is worth a sip even if you are fearful of a little heat. Find your fave along the Santa Fe Margarita Trail.
Biscochito
Our state cookie is so simply delicious— the spice (the fragrant and unique anise), the crunch, the buttery richness.
Breakfast burrito
Beware, the breakfast burrito—a soft, savory scrambled egg, melted cheese, hash browns or rough-cut roasted potatoes, your choice of bacon, sausage, or chorizo, pinto or black beans, red, green, or Christmas, wrapped in a fluffy warm tortilla—may spoil you for any other burrito ever again. Handheld or smothered, the breakfast burrito is always a delicious choice any time of day.
