Think you know Santa Fe? Get away from downtown

Santa Fe, N.M. - La Mama, a natural wine bar and restaurant set in a 1910s craftsman bungalow, doesn't feel like it belongs here. Unlike most of the city's adobe-clad hangouts, the space is spare and whitewashed. Margaritas and chiles are nowhere to be found on the menu.

"How does this city look the same but feel so different," said a young woman to her friend as they sat beside me sharing a bottle of piquette. "It seems more lived-in than it did before."

It's true. In the last few years, there's been a sea change beneath the city's sun-baked exterior, which appears stuck in time due to strict building ordinances that prioritize rehabilitation over new construction.

Because of this facade, a downtown that primarily caters to visitors, and local haunts scattered around its periphery, it can sometimes be hard to shake the feeling that you live in a "destination." That and the fact that the mountain town of only 85,000 people has always punched above its weight, attracting some 2 million visitors a year.

But new developments have decentralized Santa Fe, drawing focus away from its Spanish colonial plaza and its posh, gallery-lined Canyon Road. The rise of the Railyard District has created an alternate epicenter, and new spots there and elsewhere have redefined the food and drinks scene. The latest hotel stays, full of Southwestern charm, still nod to what has long made Santa Fe a popular place to relax.

Here are just a few reasons to visit - or return to - the artsy city.

The locals' downtown

In 1880, a train pulled into the city for the first time, connecting it to the rest of the country. For decades, the area around the depot boomed with development, before gradually falling behind other interests. In the early aughts, Santa Fe sought to revitalize the area and turn it into a commercial center, and 20 years later, the Railyard District has finally come into its own.

"It's become both a place for community and an incredible destination for visitors seeking culture," says Louis Grachos, director of SITE Santa Fe, one of the Railyard's first arts institutions.

Since the late '90s, the area has hosted the city's famed markets - spotlighting farmers, eclectic artists and artisans - and has long seemed on the cusp of becoming a rare hub for residents.

But it's only in the past few years that the micro-neighborhood has filled out; its new and repurposed spaces house design stores, galleries and restaurants. There's also the Sky Railway, a refurbished diesel locomotive created by Game of Thrones author and Santa Fe resident George R.R. Martin that takes visitors on a scenic ride toward the old Western town of Lamy.

A day at the Railyard could also include an afternoon of gallery hopping, followed by a stop at the new distillery As Above So Below. Predinner cocktails there incorporate local botanicals such as juniper and pinyon.

"It's like you're tasting New Mexico," says Virgil Ortiz, an artist from Cochiti Pueblo who unwinds at the industrial space between work on an ongoing series about the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Part of that project is on display at House of Eternal Return, a wonderland of immersive, fun-house-like exhibits run by the arts collective Meow Wolf.

Once you've whetted your appetite, you can have dinner, catch a band and order one of the 60 New Mexican beers on tap at Nuckolls Brewing, a long-awaited gathering place that opened in July. Originally a 1920s-era meatpacking facility, the building has been renovated with clever, historical nods at every turn, like railroad tracks repurposed as fencing and floors made of wood salvaged from a nearby wildfire.

Outside, on its expansive beer garden, are outposts of longtime local haunts Jambo Cafe, with its homestyle African-fusion dishes, and a pizza truck by El Farol, one of the oldest restaurants in Santa Fe.

New spaces for clothes, art and culture

The city has no shortage of cultural draws, and beyond its more than 250 galleries are contemporary institutions such as the Institute of American Indian Arts' downtown outpost and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. But the fact that most reside in traditional adobe buildings has meant hosting collections suited to limited spaces.

When the New Mexico Museum of Art began outgrowing its early 20th century building in the Plaza, the idea of Vladem Contemporary took root. The annex space, which opened in September, is dedicated to large-scale, performance and multimedia works that have been created after 1980.

The inaugural exhibition focuses on pieces inspired by New Mexico's pervasive sunlight, from a room-scale shadow-play work by Nancy Holt to another chapter of Ortiz's "Revolt 1680/2180" series.

But you don't have to step inside to experience it. An LED installation by Albuquerque artist Leo Villareal is displayed on the breezeway connecting the museum to the train depot, and window boxes along the building's exterior showcase the works of emerging artists.

Attractions beyond the Railyard

Santa Fe's thriving happy-hour scene goes beyond the Railyard - if you know where to look.

The beloved Albuquerque hotel Los Poblanos has launched an outpost of its farm shop near the plaza, in a 1930s-era gas station that for decades housed various banks. Bar Norte is a favorite of Amy Denet Deal, a Diné designer whose new Canyon Road boutique, 4Kinship, is the first Native-owned clothing store in the city. The intimate tasting room showcases the hotel's recent turn to distilling gin, using botanicals its farm and products are known for: lavender, pinyon resin, rose, violet, hawthorn and chamomile.

Another Albuquerque import, Vara Vinoteca, has just as much New Mexican heritage. One of its winemakers, Laurent Gruet, is part of the family that owns the renowned Gruet Winery. Set within an adobe building off the plaza, the spare space carries Vara's beloved sparkling wines, house-distilled spirits and a menu of tapas (order the Silverhead Brut, sweet vermouth and fried artichokes).

The hotel scene has gotten an upgrade, too. The buzziest opening has been Bishop's Lodge (from $899), a property that has had many iterations, including as the home of Santa Fe's first archbishop (the chapel he built still stands), a boarding school and a residence of the Pulitzer family.

With 317 acres bordering Santa Fe National Forest, the hotel feels a world apart from town, despite being only five minutes away. It also leans heavy on New Mexican motifs, with a healing-arts studio, an Orvis-run fly-fishing shop that provides complimentary casting sessions at an on-site pond, and an updated Southwestern look.

A trip to the high desert isn't complete without a soak in a natural hot spring. For the resort route, my favorite is Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa (from $209), which fully reopened in October after a multimillion-dollar renovation.

An hour north of town, the hotel's nine mineral-spring pools sit in the shadow of sunset-hued cliffs and attract just as many locals as visitors. And its 65 rooms, from vintage trailers to lavish suites that come with private pools, offer options at every price point.