Springtime, when the weather has warmed but the summer festival season (with its attendant crowds) has not yet begun, is an ideal time to visit this perennially sunny, chile-obsessed Southwestern city.

Despite a population of only about 90,000, Santa Fe, N.M., supports an outsize cultural scene, with more galleries, museums, theaters and arts institutions than anyone can hope to explore over a single weekend.

The mix of cultural influences is evident everywhere, from the Spanish Pueblo architecture to the breadth of fine art that encompasses contemporary Native American works, the modernist paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe and the original experiential Meow Wolf installation.

Add to that hundreds of miles of hiking trails in the surrounding mountains, a new contemporary art destination in the revitalized Railyard district, a craft-beer boom and the distinctive regional cuisine that demands visitors all learn their preference for New Mexican chiles: red, green or, if you want a little of both, Christmas?ITINERARY

Friday

3:30 p.m. | Scout out arts and crafts

Visitors hoping to understand the allure of northern New Mexico should start downtown at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (admission $22). The artist’s adoration of the high-desert landscape is on full display inside, as is the distinctive Southwestern style she adopted in later years — a flat-brimmed hat, black dress and silver accessories. Conclude a visit not in the gift shop but on nearby Santa Fe Plaza, the heart of downtown. On the north side of this historic square sits the Palace of the Governors, an adobe building dating to the 1600s. Beneath its long portico, where Native American artisans sell high-quality, handmade jewelry, textiles and other turquoise-studded crafts, you’ll find an O’Keeffe-ian souvenir that’s just right for you.

6 p.m. | Relish local flavors

Street-art-style murals of Native American women welcome passersby to Tesuque Village Market, a funky roadhouse and longtime local favorite in rural Tesuque, a neighborhood about a 10-minute drive north of downtown. It’s worth the detour for the atmosphere alone at this all-day restaurant with a backroom bar specializing in tequila and mezcal drinks and a market of local sundry items (hot sauce, bottled chile, locally roasted coffee beans).

Once you’re seated in the colorful dining room or on the covered patio, start with the chips and roasted salsa ($11). Overwhelmed by the extensive menu? Try the New Mexican combo platter with a cheesy enchilada, carne adovada taco, homemade tamale, tequila-lime rice and pinto beans, all smothered in your choice of chile ($21).

8 p.m. | Sample the craft brew boom

One of the most interesting breweries around, Rowley Farmhouse Ales, began in the garage of John Rowley, a home brewer and trained chemist. Visit the rustic taproom, located in an industrial area southwest of downtown, to sample the range of wild-fermented sours and farmhouse ales. Most of the 24 taps are dedicated to the brewery’s own European-style beers, so start with a few samplers (from $2 each); recent standouts included Amber Is the Color, a habanero-infused doppelbock, and Fields of Rye, a hazy rye saison. Later, roll over to Second Street Brewery’s Rufina Taproom for a pint of the effervescent, easy-drinking 2920 IPA ($6.50). This popular location often hosts local folk bands and jazz groups on Friday nights (and is one of the few spots around open past 9 p.m.).

Saturday

7 a.m. | Head for the high country

Get an early start before the desert sun heats up the Dale Ball Trails, a 24-mile network of interconnected hiking and mountain-biking trails in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, just east of downtown. Anyone not yet acclimated to the altitude — over 7,000 feet — can take it easy on the 1.25-mile nature trail that begins at the Cerro Gordo Trailhead and loops through the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve, past beaver ponds and native fourwing saltbush shrubs. More experienced hikers can follow the well-marked trails up Picacho Peak, a strenuous 3.7-mile climb through pinyon-juniper woodlands with great views along the way.

9 a.m. | Replenish with a treat

Refuel after a hike on Lena Street, an artsy enclave south of downtown packed with small art studios, creative workspaces and a fantastic bakery called, simply, Bread Shop. High-altitude baking is tricky business, but you wouldn’t know it from the perfect sourdough boules and baguettes. Pick one of the seasonal pastries, like the frangipane toast, a square of house focaccia topped with gooey raspberries and rich almond cream ($4.75). And for a hit of espresso, head next door to

Iconik Coffee Roasters, an eclectic cafe with local art on the walls, cozy reading nooks and a sweet house specialty: a subtly cinnamony horchata latte ($6).

10 a.m. | Find artisans at the Railyard

The revitalization of the Santa Fe Railyard has transformed the district into a multiuse community hub with year-round farmers’ and artisan markets, contemporary art galleries, an urban park, and various entertainment, shopping and dining options. One of the newest additions, Vladem Contemporary, opened in 2023 as a satellite museum of the New Mexico Museum of Art, with spacious galleries that showcase many works from New Mexican artists like Agnes Martin and Emmi Whitehorse (admission is $12 and includes entry to both locations). Another spot worth seeking out is SITE Santa Fe, an ambitious contemporary arts institution that features local artists (free admission).

Noon | Devour tacos from top chefs

The side-street location, across from a strip-mall parking lot south of the Railyard, seems an unlikely spot for one of the city’s top lunch spots. But that’s precisely where you’ll find El Chile Toreado, a beloved food truck run by Luis and Berenice Medina, a father-daughter duo from Mexico and semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2023. For lunch, try a medley of tacos (four for $13) filled with shredded pork carnitas, slow-cooked barbacoa or pineapple-adobo al pastor, all drizzled with their signature jalapeño-cilantro sauce.

1:30 p.m. | Gallery crawl along Canyon Road

A half-mile stretch of Canyon Road lined with ochre-hued, Spanish Pueblo-style buildings is home to more than 100 commercial art galleries and shops. It’s a lovely street to stroll, past doorways decorated with ristras (strings of dried red chiles), but the quality of the art varies widely. Some of the best finds are hidden down narrow alleyways, like Smoke the Moon, a small gallery that opened there in 2022, showing paintings and sculptures from emerging artists in an airy, two-room space and a backyard casita. Across the driveway, step inside Raymond Nordwall’s gallery and studio to meet the artist who paints the vivid Native American and wildlife scenes on display. Then pop into Desert Moss Vintage to shop for secondhand Southwestern flair like bolo ties, silver belt buckles, cowboy boots and fringed suede jackets.

3:30 p.m. | Admire dioramas

One could spend the better part of a day on Museum Hill, about 10 minutes southeast of downtown, between the four top-notch museums and the Santa Fe Botanical Garden. When time is limited, those traveling with kids will delight in the Museum of International Folk Art, where an entire wing of enchanting dioramas offers more than 10,000 pieces of folk art from around the world, including a pint-size Puebloan village, a miniature Spanish corrida and a dollhouse Italian villa. Continue through temporary exhibits that currently include moving works from incarcerated artists (through Sept. 2) and an upcoming retrospective of Nuevomexicano textile artist Policarpio Valencia (beginning June 8). Admission $12, 16 and younger free.

6 p.m. | Try chile-based classics

An order of mezcal to sip is the move at Paloma, an agave-focused restaurant in the Railyard district with more than 40 varieties on the menu (from $7) as well as mezcal-based cocktails like a citrusy Paloma made with Jarritos soda ($12). Pair a drink with a piquant ceviche of Baja sea bass, lime, pico de gallo and serrano pepper ($18) and crispy fish tacos with jalapeño slaw ($20). Or try for a table at Tomasita’s, a lively family-run restaurant nearby. Every local has a favorite old-school spot for northern New Mexican classics; for many, this is it. Start with a margarita — the Silver Coin ($11) is great, but more refreshing is the frozen version with reposado tequila ($9). Then order the chile rellenos ($16.95), fried, cheese-stuffed New Mexican chiles served with refried beans, green chile and sopaipillas (pillows of fried dough best drizzled with New Mexican honey).

8 p.m. | Catch a desert sunset

The Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe, a longtime player on the city’s vibrant cultural scene, reopened after a brief closing in 2023 as an independent, nonprofit cinema in a beautiful Pueblo-style building south of downtown. Take a seat in one of the two intimate screening rooms, where showings include independent and foreign films, documentaries, and art-house classics (tickets $14). Nothing that piques your interest on the schedule tonight? Then head to the Cross of the Martyrs, a hilltop park on the edge of downtown. Follow the path lined with plaques noting important dates in the city’s history to a panoramic overlook with excellent views of the sunset, which is often magically vibrant because of the clear high-desert air, cloud formations between the mountains and the expansive vista.

Sunday

10 a.m. | Start the day a better way

Greet the morning at Betterday Coffee, a bustling cafe in a strip mall west of downtown. This easygoing hangout attracts a cross section of locals, from young families in the kids’ play area to artists and eccentrics debating state politics at the sunny sidewalk tables outside. Grab a booth if you can, and start with a small drip coffee ($2.50) and a classic breakfast burrito with a handmade flour tortilla, cheesy scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and yep, you guessed it, your choice of chile ($8.99).

Noon | Ascend ancient cliff dwellings

It’s about an hour’s drive through gorgeous scenery — past striated mesas and magnificent canyons — to Bandelier National Monument (admission $25 per vehicle). This 33,000-acre park is home to thousands of ancient dwellings where the Ancestral Puebloans built settlements from approximately 1150 to 1550. Trace the history of a culture that endures nearby today along the Pueblo Loop Trail, a 1.4-mile path passing the remains of a communal meeting hall, petroglyphs and multistory homes carved into the soft volcanic tuff of the steep canyon walls. Wooden ladders allow visitors access to a few cavates (carved rooms), but continue deeper into the canyon to reach the Alcove House, where a series of vertiginous ladders and stone steps lead to a complex of homes 140 feet above the canyon floor — a prehistoric penthouse overlooking the ponderosa-pine-covered canyon below.

KEY STOPS

• Santa Fe is an ambitious contemporary arts institution firmly rooted in the region, with rotating exhibitions, many from Native American artists, in the Railyard district.

• At the Cross of the Martyrs, a hilltop park on the edge of downtown, the panoramic overlook offers an excellent view of Santa Fe’s unusually vibrant sunsets.

• Bandelier National Monument, a 33,000-acre park about an hour northwest of Santa Fe, is home to the Ancestral Pueblo people’s ancient cliff dwellings carved into the steep canyon walls.

• Tesuque Village Market, a funky roadhouse in the rural Tesuque neighborhood, is an atmospheric all-day restaurant with a backroom bar specializing in tequila and mezcal drinks and a market of local sundry items.

WHERE TO EAT

• Rowley Farmhouse Ales is a craft brewery known for its wild-fermented sours and farmhouse ales.

• Second Street Brewery’s Rufina Taproom is a popular spot with about a dozen craft beers on draft and, often, local folk bands and jazz groups performing on Friday nights.

• Bread Shop, a fantastic bakery in the artsy Lena Street area, sells whole-wheat sourdough loaves as well as seasonal fruit-filled pastries.

Iconik Coffee Roasters is an eclectic cafe with local art on the walls, cozy reading nooks and a sweet house specialty: a subtly cinnamony horchata latte.

• El Chile Toreado is a beloved food truck serving excellent barbacoa and al pastor tacos that’s run by a father-daughter duo who were semifinalists for the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2023.

• Paloma, an agave-focused restaurant in the Railyard district, has more than 40 varieties of sipping mezcals on the menu along with Mexican-inspired dishes like a piquant sea bass ceviche.

• Tomasita’s is a lively family-run restaurant serving northern New Mexican classics like chile rellenos and honey-drizzled sopaipillas as well as great frozen margaritas.

• Betterday Coffee is the place for a classic breakfast burrito filled with cheesy scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and your choice of New Mexican chile.

WHERE TO STAY

• La Fonda on the Plaza, at the southeastern corner of the city’s historic square, is a grand Pueblo Revival-style hotel built in 1922 with classic terra-cotta tiles and hammered-tin chandeliers, an upscale restaurant, and 180 modern rooms and suites. From $220.

• The Palace Modern is a boutique property that opened downtown last year. The hotel, a short walk from Santa Fe Plaza, offers an on-site art gallery and 16 contemporary rooms with calming, beige-hued décor. From $198.

• El Rey Court, a motor inn that originally opened in 1936, has been updated in a cool — and eminently Instagrammable — Southwestern style, with 86 guest rooms spread across five acres of old-growth gardens. It also features a seasonal swimming pool, hot tub and popular cocktail bar. From $130.

• Look for a short-term rental — available through Airbnb and Vrbo — with on-site parking east of downtown, a residential area with many traditional adobe-style homes and casitas within walking distance of the Plaza and Canyon Road.