People have gone out of their way for centuries to travel to Santa Fe, despite the difficulty in getting here. There’s no airport and there’s no train station. The New Mexican town sits on a 7,000-foot (2,140 m) high desert plateau with mountain ranges on every side.

Yet, there is a mysterious draw to this place. Native Americans settled here centuries ago. El Camino Real (The Royal Road), the lifeline of Spain’s New Mexican colonies has run through town since the 1600s. The Santa Fe Trail ended here and Route 66 — the most famous road in the U.S. highway system, dedicated in 1927 and linking Illinois with California — made a detour for this enchanted city.

Santa Fe is the soul of the American Southwest. Its natural beauty is stunning and has inspired artists for generations. The city has carefully preserved its architectural heritage. Strict building codes mandate Territorial and Spanish Revival style. There are no high rises obstructing the mountain views. It is a natural-grown town, full of nooks and crannies. Mark Twain reportedly said that Santa Fe was “laid out by a drunk riding backward on a horse.” Streets don’t follow an artificial grid pattern, but the lay of the land.

Friday

Strict building codes mandate Santa Fe's Territorial and Spanish Revival style.

Wake up in the Eldorado Hotel (309 West San Francisco Street, 800-955-4455; http://www.eldoradohotel.com/). Pull back the colorful curtains and see the sun rise over beautiful Santa Fe. Adobe-style houses in warm earth tones with blue doors and window frames radiate the golden morning light.

The Eldorado is Santa Fe’s first four-diamond, four-star hotel. Built in New Mexico’s celebrated pueblo revival style, it is centrally located just off the town’s historic Plaza. All rooms have handcrafted furniture and are decorated with original works by local artists, reflecting Santa Fe’s vibrant southwestern spirit. There are even kiva-style fireplaces, fashioned after the round ceremonial chambers of Native Americans.

Start the day with a few laps in the turquoise waters of the hotel’s rooftop pool with a grand view of the surrounding Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Order room service for breakfast before you leave for your swim and steaming hot coffee will be waiting for you when you return all refreshed, wrapped in a crisp terry-cloth bathrobe and ready to explore.

You are probably curious to get a first glimpse of the pulsating heart of Santa Fe: the Plaza. It is a grassy square with shady trees, benches and an obelisk in its center. Sit down and try to picture the turbulent history that happened at this very spot.

The plaza was built in 1610 by the first Spanish settlers and even had a bullring then. In 1680, a minority of Pueblo Indians revolted against the harsh rule and drove away the Spanish colonists. They then reclaimed their ancestral lands and camped out in the Plaza and nearby Palace of the Governors. The Spanish abandoned the province for 12 years before they returned. The Indians surrendered without a fight and the Spanish ruled Santa Fe until 1821, when Mexico broke free from Spain and New Mexico fell under Mexican authority.

Since 1821, the Plaza has marked the end of the 800-mile (1,290 km) long Santa Fe Trail. Until the railroad was constructed in 1880, it was the major trade route from Independence, Missouri to the Southwest. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine wagon trains and stagecoaches rumbling through the square bringing the first gringos (white settlers). Adventurers, entrepreneurs and fortune seekers poured in and the town was quite a rowdy place with bars and brothels galore.

At the outbreak of the 1846 Mexican-American War, New Mexico was occupied by U.S. troops and became U.S. territory two years later. Walk up to the obelisk and read the plaque. It recalls the brief Confederate occupation in 1862. Within only a month’s time, the town was retaken by the Union and became the capital of the 47th state in 1912. In the late 19th century, legendary outlaw Billy the Kid was supposedly kept in chains in the Plaza before he was transferred to a secure jail.

Today, the Plaza is still an exciting site, the place for fiestas and fairs, political debate, romantic rendezvous and business affairs.

For almost 400 years, Native American artisans have spread their small blankets under the long portico, or porch, of the Palace of the Governors (105 West Palace Avenue on Santa Fe Plaza, 505-476-5100; http://www.palaceofthegovernors.org/) and sold their handcrafted goods. This is the best place to shop for Native American jewelry.

The adobe-style fortress was constructed by the Spanish in 1609-1610 and is the oldest public building in the United States. Today, it houses the state’s history museum and features a selection of outstanding pre-Columbian artifacts such as mysterious arm-length ceremonial gold tweezers (ca. BC 100-AD 700), for example, that makes a non-historian wonder if bushy eyebrows or nose hair must have been a really big problem in the old days?

It’s already lunchtime. Try Tia Sophia’s (210 West San Francisco Avenue, 505-983-9880), a local favorite for Northern New Mexican fare. But beware: “Not responsible for too hot Chile” warns the menu.

Fueled up, take a City Tour with Fiesta Tours (505-983-1570). The open-air Santa Fe-style brown bus with blue window trim departs at the northwest corner of the Plaza. The hour and 15 minute narrated trip will give you a great overview. There’s plenty to see in this town of about 63,000 people — museums, galleries, churches, and an abundance of hiking trails only minutes from downtown. Most likely you won’t be able to fit it all into your weekend. After taking the tour, you know what sites you want to go back and explore.

The Loretto Chapel (207 Old Santa Fe Trail, 505-982-0092; http://www.lorettochapel.com/) with its miraculous staircase should definitely not be missed. Built in 1873, it is the first gothic structure west of the Mississippi. Unfortunately, there were no steps to the choir loft, which was not unusual at the time. Most choirs consisted of male singers who would just climb up on ladders. This of course didn’t quite work for the Sisters of Loretto, an order of nuns originating in Kentucky, who wore long and cumbersome habits. But a regular staircase would take up too much seating space. What now?