We spent a long winter weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico and want to share the best (and frankly the coolest) things to do in Santa Fe with kids! This city is full of great artists, delicious food, and just enough weirdness to make it super cool. We've shared as an itinerary (to ideally make it super easy), but you can also move stuff around! So look no further if you want to know what to do in Santa Fe with kids.
Saturday
8:30am: Eat breakfast at Cake's Cafe.
If you're up for a simple breakfast (more coffee shop vibe than restaurant) with lots of entertainment for kids, this is your place! The older kids played chess, and the younger two did some coloring and playing with simple board games - all provided by the cafe. Also the cinnamon roll is a must!
10am: Visit Old Churches - San Miguel Mission + Loretto Chapel.
This may not seem super exciting for kids, but you can't miss these historic stops, and these places are so small that it's easily manageable (and definitely worth the "shh!" factor on the adult side!). San Miguel Mission + Loretto Chapel are both within a block of each other and are a must see. Depending on your preference, you could even do a full mass at San Miguel (schedule is here) earlier in the morning.
11am: Wander the Shops in the Old Town.
There are countless shops to wander in and out of, some of them are ultra touristy, but many are actually little local gems.
Collected Works Bookstore + Coffeehouse: According to Google, there are a lot of great independent bookshops in Santa Fe! This particular one is right in Old Town, and I will say that it had some of the best staff recommended books I've ever seen! They are super thoughtful and diverse in their picks. I'm a sucker for a good recommendation, and after buying an armful of their favorite picks here, I can safely say that many of them made it into my 'top books of the year' post!
Sequoia: This little shop is next to Collected Works, and it's just an example of some of the great treasures you can find in the area. It's mostly a furniture shop, but they had little handmade pueblo houses that made the perfect souvenirs too! (Note that the alien babies pictured are from Wistful Soul Studio, who was at the Sunday Artisan Market - see Sunday's itinerary below!)
Noon-ish: Run Around Santa Fe Plaza + Eat Lunch.
The square is a perfect spot (even in the winter) for the kids to run around to get out their energy within walking distance of the sites and hotels. There is no formal playground, but there is lots of space (and other kids running around). For lunch, you can try to get into The Shed, as it's a highly rated but casual family restaurant, but know that reservations (or willingness to wait) are key here! Instead, there are plenty of food stands if you're in a rush! And option here to head back to your hotel if you did a lot of shopping (or you can check things at the museum below if needed)!
3pm: Visit the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.
This is another "must see" (and a must get tickets in advance)! We got tickets just a couple days in advance, but it does sell out, which makes it unlikely you'll get in same-day. So don't forget to book ahead!
It's a small museum but is packed with beauty and covers most of her time as an artist. At the entrance, there is a guide distributing the kids packet - and this was key for us. It included a mini clipboard, activity book, and a pencil. The older kids loved it!! The packet encourages thinking, reading, and also drawing - it was the perfect mix to keep them engaged.
On special exhibit while we were there (and going on through November 2024) was "Making a Life" which includes pieces of Georgia's everyday life (including clothes, paints, utensils - and this original recipe pictured on the far right). Her former home is actually only ~50 miles outside Santa Fe and open to tours, but it was closed for the winter (plus is a challenge to get tickets), so this special exhibit was a perfect compromise!
5pm: Eat dinner at Maria's New Mexican Kitchen.
To end the night, head to Maria's New Mexican Kitchen! It's just outside the Old Town area, and it's the perfect way to end the day. It's casual and delicious (table-side guacamole) and has plenty of variety. They also take reservations only by phone, but it's big enough to accommodate large groups and also some last-minute walk-ins. Their claim to fame is having 100 types of margaritas... which is kind of overwhelming, but the key part is that they are delicious and they even have a variety of virgin versions! ;) And not sure who needs to hear this, but Santa Fe is at 7K feet, so pay attention to the amount of margarita consumed...!
Sunday
8am: Eat breakfast at The Pantry.
This is the cutest little diner, so make sure you arrive early to get a seat! It has the perfect kids menu (smiley face pancake, check!), and it also has a big breakfast menu full of both sweet and savory items. I can never decide, so we went with both the chilaquiles and the stuffed French toast - amazing. The staff were also super friendly (and of course used to lots of kids)!
9am: Explore the House of Eternal Return (by Meow Wolf).
Get your tickets NOW because you can NOT miss this place, and it books up. We let the available time slots drive our entire weekend itinerary, as this was one of the main reasons we wanted to go to Santa Fe. So with such a rave review... you may ask...what is it?!? And actually, it's hard to explain. LOL. Yeah... They call it immersive art, so technically it's an art exhibit... but it is SO. MUCH. MORE. It's a massive space (70+ rooms) full of surprises and twists and turns - with every square inch decorated in weird but thoughtful art. For kids, it's like a massive playground - lots of doors to go through, stairs to climb, buttons to press, places to pretend... and for adults, there is an additional (optional) element of a mystery to be solved. Here is a video of just a sliver of the space to give you a small sense of what goes on:
Basically, you can't miss it. They also have the coolest gift shop - full of weird Meow Wolf items (including some items from the Vegas Omega Mart exhibit - which inspired us to go there next!). (Side note: Each kid selected one thing, and Emily picked a doll with a Barbie body and a dinosaur head (somehow seamless) with a colonial dress on... and she still plays with this strange item as part of her Barbie world.)
In total, we probably spent a little under three hours there (which is a LONG time for us!). They also have a little cafe in the front, but we elected to eat elsewhere - as there are just too many other restaurants to try!
Noon: Shop LocalE at the Railyard Artisan Market.
More shopping! Apparently I was so excited to be here that I forgot to take any pictures inside...but this little market is full of local artists selling gifts and housewares. Some of it includes your standard farmers' market type wares. They had soaps, balms, ornaments, candles, earrings, etc. But it's Santa Fe - so there is lots of unique, weird, cool stuff too! My absolute favorite was Wistful Soul (aliens pictured in the shopping picture from Saturday) as she made the cutest gifts (plus I kept a few and also ordered directly from her once I got home too - they are just too cute!). I also got some bizarre and lightweight earrings from Zia Peach, a beautiful ul modern vase and a mini chest of drawers made from a tree branch and embellished with jeweled knobs. Here is a picture of ALL the goods we got in Santa Fe (except Emily's dino head barbie that she couldn't part with for a photo lol), including so many from this market!
For a somewhat small market, there was definitely a lot of artistic talent!
1pm: Lunch at a Mexican place on Cerrillos Road -or- at Restoration Pizza
If you're up for a short drive and casual and delicious Mexican, just drive along Cerrillos Road and look for Google reviews and hours - there are SO many options to pick from. This birria plate was amazing!
But if you're hungry and want something easy (or just not Mexican if you've been overdoing it!), you should walk across the tracks from the Artisan Market to this pizza place in the Railyard! If you're lucky, you may even see the train go by!
3pm: Leave Town for a Mini Day Trip
At this point, we headed out of town to see the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. The pictures are exceptional, and we wanted so badly to see it! Notice that is it not pictured though... ;) that is because our rental car (minivan) did not have 4WD, and we couldn't make it up the last mountain since it had just rained... it was definitely a bummer, but there was a lot of scenery along the way on the famed 'High Road to Taos'- plus some unexpected vineyards for wine-tasting. More options for mini day trips from Santa Fe include:
If Bandelier had been open, we would have definitely made that our mini day trip, as we had friends who went and said it was absolutely amazing. But for us, it was closed due to some issues with the local tribes. Check the site to see if it's open when you take your trip!
Another cool spot outside the city is Chimayo, which has a small chapel (El Sancutario) known for having 'holy dirt'.
And lastly, we hit this spot on the way up from Albuquerque, but the Turquoise Trail with a stop in Madrid for coffee (and local galleries if you need more browsing/shopping) was also scenic and cute. Java Junction (an adorable coffee shop with local merch) is pictured above. Delicious hot cocoa and coffee and cute gifts! The only downside of stopping in Madrid is that the sidewalks are either non-existent or super bumpy in that area, so I wouldn't recommend a stroller and you'll likely need the kids on hand-holding, but it was worth the stress to us!
5pm: Take-In from Cafe Pasqual's
We had some big plans to go out to dinner, but we were so pooped that we ended up ordering in instead from Cafe Pasqual's. The actual restaurant is super cool (so eat there if you can!), but even the take-out with lots of different creative local dishes was great! It was a great last meal of the trip!
In summary, if you want the FULL experience...
Where to Stay:
We stayed at the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza right on the edge of the Old Town. We stayed there initially since we're loyal Hilton members (with points!), but I'd definitely recommend to others too. It's walkable to almost everything in Old Town (even in the winter) and it has a strong southwestern-y charming vibe (especially for a chain hotel!). Pictured above is this ambiance as our crazy crew arrived in the lobby on the first night. ;)
And that is a wrap on Santa Fe! Hope we convinced you to head to Santa Fe for a weekend of cool with your kids!
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