Santa Fe: Second Best City to Visit in the U.S.
It comes as no surprise to us that Santa Fe keeps making the headlines as a great place to live, work, and play. Just a couple months back we reported that Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine had ranked Santa Fe fourth best place to live out of the nation’s small to midsize cities, and here we are again with another accolade to add to the collection…
Santa Fe was rated second best place to visit in the entire country by readers of the prestigious Conde Nast Traveler website. The city took the number two spot in the Readers’ Choice Awards, scoring its best marks for culture, atmosphere, and restaurants, and these are definitely features of Santa Fe that we love too!
Santa Fe is a Cultural Gem
Culture is bountiful in Santa Fe, and it goes hand-in-hand with the wonderful architecture that graces the city’s streets. We’re famous for our high number of art galleries, and you’ll find many an artist living in the city and its’ surrounds, attracted here by the beautiful scenery. Georgia O’Keeffe lived in Santa Fe for a time, and you can see some of her works at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, and the New Mexico Museum of Art, both of which are right in the heart of the historic downtown.
There are plenty more museums, some of which are located in the same area, around the Santa Fe Plaza, such as the New Mexico History Museum, while the aptly named Museum Hill is home to four more.
Come for the Atmosphere
Conde Nast Traveler readers also suggested its Santa Fe’s atmosphere that makes this such a great city. It’s the capital of New Mexico, but did you know that Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United States? Full of attractive adobe style architecture, Santa Fe is the place to come to see traditional New Mexican buildings, including what is thought to be the oldest standing church in the U.S., San Miguel Chapel, with its walls that were built around 1610.
History and architecture aside, Santa Fe is surrounded by natural beauty and has a mountain backdrop where you can hike for miles in the summer, and ski for hours in the winter!
A Different Restaurant Every Day of the Year
Santa Fe has so such a high number of restaurants that it rivals many of the nation’s largest cities, so it’s no surprise that the city scored very highly in the ‘restaurants’ category. From the small and affordable fast-food places to the fine dining, expensive restaurants and everything in between, you could literally eat in a different restaurant every day of the year in Santa Fe!
Southwestern cuisine is what most visitors to the city expect, but in actuality there are countless other cuisines offered in Santa Fe’s restaurants too, so whatever you like to eat you’re bound to find it here.
To find out which other American cities made it to the Top 10 take a look at the story on the Conde Nast Traveler website. http://www.cntraveler.com/readers-choice-awards/united-states/best-cities-america