Readers of Travel + Leisure named Santa Fe—the enclave of adobe walls, art galleries and chile-spiked cuisine—the best city in the United States for the second consecutive year.
In the magazine’s 2026 World’s Best Awards, released this week, Santa Fe earned the top domestic spot with a reader score of 88.85, narrowly edging out Charleston, S.C., which slipped to second place after a remarkable 12-year run at No. 1 that ended only last year. Savannah, Ga., New Orleans, and Chicago completed the top five.
The results, based on a survey of more than 200,000 readers, highlight a shift in American travel tastes toward destinations that blend cultural depth, natural drama and year-round accessibility. Santa Fe, perched at 7,000 feet in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, delivers these qualities in abundance.
Santa Fe has more than 300 days of sunshine annually. It offers a rare versatility: family-oriented skiing in winter and a vibrant outdoor scene in summer. Readers praised Santa Fe’s food culture, rooted in New Mexican traditions, and its massive concentration of museums and galleries, including the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. One repeat visitor told the magazine that “every trip exceeds the last, with so many new things to discover,” calling Santa Fe “a true gem of a place in America.”
Santa Fe’s back-to-back victory marks a notable evolution. Charleston’s cobblestone streets, Lowcountry cuisine and historic charm made it the consensus favorite for over a decade. Its dethroning in 2025 and second-place finish this year with a score of 87.30 suggest travelers prefer something distinct. Santa Fe embodies those distinct qualities: the spare beauty of the Southwest, historic Indigenous and Spanish influences, and a walkable downtown with more than 250 galleries and shops.
“Travelers today have many options for where to spend their vacation time, so to be singled out as the top city destination in the entire country is an extraordinary achievement,” Randy Randall, TOURISM Santa Fe Executive Director, said in 2025 when the city first claimed the top spot, dethroning Charleston. “This honor is indeed gratifying and recognizes not only the uniqueness of The City Different but also underscores the diligent and hard work of our hospitality partners, who welcome and care for our visitors on a daily basis.”
The award comes as Santa Fe builds momentum. New nonstop flights, boutique hotel openings and events linked to Route 66’s centennial are drawing fresh attention. The city also ranked 19th among the world’s best cities—behind global heavyweights but ahead of many larger U.S. metropolises, including New York, which placed eighth domestically.
Critics of such reader-driven lists often chide their subjectivity. But the sustained enthusiasm for Santa Fe points to broader trends among travelers. People are seeking authenticity over spectacle and destinations where art, landscape and food connect inseparably.
Amid competing destinations, Santa Fe showcases the enchantment of its sun-drenched plaza, green-chile stew, and gallery stroll all at once. The crown, at least, remains firmly in the high desert for two consecutive years.
