✦ Top pick
Taos is the best all-rounder for a full day or overnight; choose Madrid for the easiest half-day art-and-lunch run, or Ojo Caliente if you just want to soak.
Santa Fe sits at the center of one of the most scenic and culturally dense corners of the American Southwest, and the small towns around it punch well above their size. Within a two-hour radius you can stand in a 1,000-year-old adobe pueblo, soak in mineral hot springs, walk a former coal-mining boomtown reborn as an artist colony, or eat the plate of red chile that started a family recipe generations ago.
Most of these towns work as a half-day or full-day trip, and several string together along two famous drives: the Turquoise Trail (NM 14) south toward Albuquerque, and the High Road to Taos, which climbs through mountain villages north of the city. A few, like Taos and Ojo Caliente, reward an overnight.
This list is ordered best-first for an all-around visit, but the right pick depends on your mood: art and adobe, history and science, hot springs, or a good green-chile lunch. Drive times below are from the Santa Fe Plaza.
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1tours from $165Taos Google
Taos is the region's great overnight town, a compact adobe grid of galleries, historic plazas, and mountain views backed by 13,000-foot peaks. The main draw is Taos Pueblo, a continuously inhabited multi-story adobe community and UNESCO World Heritage Site that is open to visitors for much of the year. Beyond the pueblo, wander the historic plaza, visit the Harwood and Millicent Rogers museums, and walk out onto the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which spans a 650-foot-deep chasm just west of town. Come winter, Taos Ski Valley is a short drive up the canyon.
- Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO World Heritage adobe village
- The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge and its dramatic overlook
- Galleries and history around Taos Plaza
- Rafting or hiking the Rio Grande Gorge
Best for art, history, and a scenic overnight
Getting there About 1.5 hours by car via US-84/285 and NM-68 (the Low Road along the river) or the slower, prettier High Road
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2
Madrid Google
A onetime coal-mining ghost town on NM 14, Madrid (locals say MAD-rid) reinvented itself as a colorful strip of galleries, craft studios, and cafes tucked into a narrow canyon. The old company houses now hold jewelry makers, potters, and glassblowers, and the whole main drag can be walked in an afternoon. Grab a green-chile cheeseburger at the Mine Shaft Tavern, a rowdy old miners' bar, then browse the shops and the small coal-mining museum next door. It is the easiest, most rewarding half-day escape from Santa Fe.
- Independent art and jewelry galleries along NM 14
- The Mine Shaft Tavern and its green-chile burger
- The Old Coal Town Museum
- Live music on summer weekends
Best for an easy art-and-lunch half day
Getting there About 40 minutes by car south on NM-14 (the Turquoise Trail)
3Chimayó Google
Chimayó is a small farming village famous for two things: faith and weaving. El Santuario de Chimayó is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the United States, drawing tens of thousands of walkers each Holy Week to its adobe chapel and its 'holy dirt,' said to have healing powers. The Chimayó area is also the ancestral home of the Ortega and Trujillo weaving families, whose Rio Grande-style blankets and rugs have been made here for generations. Cap the visit with New Mexican food at Rancho de Chimayó, a beloved restaurant in a century-old hacienda.
- El Santuario de Chimayó, a national pilgrimage church
- Family weaving shops like Ortega's
- Lunch at Rancho de Chimayó
- Local Chimayó chile
Best for history, faith, and traditional crafts
Getting there About 45 minutes by car via US-84/285 and NM-503, or as a stop on the High Road to Taos
4Abiquiú Google
Abiquiú is Georgia O'Keeffe country, a scatter of adobe homes above the Chama River surrounded by the red-and-ochre cliffs she painted for decades. You can tour her preserved home and studio in the village by advance reservation, then drive north to Ghost Ranch, the sprawling landscape that inspired much of her work and now offers hikes and guided tours. The nearby Plaza Blanca ('white place') badlands and the turquoise Abiquiu Lake round out the scenery. Book the O'Keeffe home tour well ahead, as spots sell out.
- Georgia O'Keeffe Home and Studio (reserve ahead)
- Ghost Ranch hikes and landscape tours
- The white-rock cliffs of Plaza Blanca
- Abiquiu Lake overlooks
Best for art lovers and landscape photographers
Getting there About 1 hour by car northwest on US-84
5Los Alamos Google
Perched on the finger-like mesas of the Pajarito Plateau, Los Alamos is the town where the atomic bomb was built, and its history is the main reason to visit. The Manhattan Project National Historical Park and the Bradbury Science Museum tell the story of the secret wartime lab that still anchors the town today. Just up the road, Bandelier National Monument preserves cliff dwellings and ancestral Puebloan sites you can climb into via ladders. Together they make a fascinating full-day pairing of 20th-century science and 800-year-old history.
- Manhattan Project National Historical Park
- The free Bradbury Science Museum
- Bandelier National Monument cliff dwellings
- Mesa-top views over the Rio Grande valley
Best for history buffs and families
Getting there About 45 minutes by car via US-84/285 and NM-502
6Ojo Caliente Google
Ojo Caliente is a tiny village built around one of the oldest natural mineral hot springs resorts in the country. The waters here are unusual for combining several different mineral pools (iron, soda, arsenic, and lithia) in one place, and you can soak day-of or stay overnight at the historic resort. It is the region's go-to for a slow, restorative half-day, especially in cooler months when steam rises off the pools against the desert hills. Reserve a soaking pass in advance, particularly on weekends.
- Multiple natural mineral soaking pools
- Mud pool and spa treatments
- The historic resort's restaurant
- Quiet high-desert scenery
Best for a relaxing soak and spa day
Getting there About 1 hour by car north via US-285
7Cerrillos Google
Even sleepier than neighboring Madrid, Cerrillos is a dusty former mining village whose unpaved streets and low adobe buildings have stood in for the Old West in more than one film. The turquoise mined in these hills was prized by Ancestral Puebloans and later Tiffany & Co., a story told at the quirky Casa Grande Trading Post and its small mining museum. Cerrillos Hills State Park offers easy walking trails through old mine country just outside the village. It pairs naturally with Madrid on a Turquoise Trail loop.
- Casa Grande Trading Post and turquoise mining museum
- Hiking trails in Cerrillos Hills State Park
- The historic St. Joseph adobe church
- Old-West film-set streetscape
Best for a quiet detour and mining history
Getting there About 35 minutes by car south on NM-14
8Truchas Google
Strung along a high ridge on the High Road to Taos, Truchas is a small mountain village with some of the best views in northern New Mexico, looking straight across to the 13,000-foot Truchas Peaks. Founded as a Spanish land-grant settlement in the 18th century, it retains a strong crafts tradition, with weaving studios and galleries scattered along the road. Robert Redford filmed 'The Milagro Beanfield War' here, and the setting still feels frozen in time. It is best visited as a stop on the scenic High Road drive between Santa Fe and Taos.
- Panoramic views of the Truchas Peaks
- Weaving studios and art galleries
- The historic Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Rosario church
- The scenic High Road to Taos drive
Best for scenic drives and mountain crafts
Getting there About 50 minutes by car via NM-503 and NM-76 (the High Road)
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✦ Good to know
Before you go
Getting aroundYou will need a car for nearly all of these towns; public transit is minimal. Roads are good, but mountain routes like the High Road to Taos are slower and can be icy in winter.
Two great loopsCombine Madrid and Cerrillos on the Turquoise Trail (NM 14) south, or link Chimayó, Truchas, and Taos on the High Road north and return via the faster Low Road along the Rio Grande.
Book aheadThe Georgia O'Keeffe Home in Abiquiú and soaking passes at Ojo Caliente both sell out, especially on weekends and in summer. Reserve in advance.
Check pueblo accessTaos Pueblo closes to visitors for periods each year for ceremonies and a roughly 10-week quiet time in late winter/early spring. Confirm it is open before you go.
When to goSpring and fall bring mild days and fewer crowds. Summer afternoons often see brief thunderstorms, and winter turns the mountain towns snowy and quiet but scenic.
Whether you want the layered history of Taos, the art-lined lanes of Madrid, or a quiet soak at Ojo Caliente, the towns around Santa Fe turn one base into a week of very different days. Pick a loop, fill the tank, and let the high desert do the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Which town near Santa Fe is best for a day trip?
For an easy half-day, Madrid on the Turquoise Trail is the top pick: it is only about 40 minutes away and packs galleries, cafes, and a famous green-chile burger into a short, walkable strip. For a fuller day, Taos offers the most to see but is a 1.5-hour drive each way.
How do you get from Santa Fe to Taos?
Taos is about 70 miles (1.5 hours) north. Most people drive the Low Road (US-84/285 to NM-68) along the Rio Grande, or take the slower, more scenic High Road through mountain villages like Chimayó and Truchas one way and the Low Road back.
Which small town near Santa Fe is best for hot springs?
Ojo Caliente, about an hour north, is built around a historic mineral springs resort with several different natural soaking pools. Reserve a day pass ahead, especially on weekends.
What is the closest small town to Santa Fe?
Cerrillos, about 22 miles (35 minutes) south on the Turquoise Trail, is one of the closest, followed by Madrid a few minutes farther. Both make an easy combined half-day trip.
Which towns are on the High Road to Taos?
The High Road (NM-503, NM-76, NM-518) winds through Chimayó, Truchas, Las Trampas, and Peñasco before reaching Taos, passing historic adobe churches and mountain views along the way.
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