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Kate Taylor, Server, Ore House, Santa Fe

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Santa Fe is a great town for a margarita roof-top pub crawl. The Belltower Bar atop La Fonda hotel is the premier spot to catch one of those patented New Mexican sunsets while sipping top-shelf margaritas – frozen or on the rocks, both are delish. When it comes to tequila-fueled nightlife, you can’t beat the Cowgirl Hall BBQ & Western Café. Order the Mescalita margarita. It’s super smoky and different tasting (made from a mescal cacti base). Wash it down with the restaurant’s house specialty, BBQ brisket (we like it best in the quesadillas, add green chile of course). At night the bar features some of the rowdiest bands and country dancing in the city. Parents won’t feel left out – their kids will dig the onsite playground.

Spend the night at the Inn of the Governors; not only are rooms elegant with kiva fireplaces, the hotel is within stumbling distance of the Plaza and has a bar that just happens to serve the best-value margaritas in the city. Have a nightcap margarita at the adjacent Del Churro Saloon. Although the quality isn’t the best in the city, you’ll be tipsy enough at this point not to care. Plus for less than $7, you get a huge shaker of the house concoction, which fills your massive margarita glass twice! If your stomach is churning from too much booze, then try one of the delicious cheese-stuffed peppers. It feeds two and costs less than the margarita! It’s no wonder Gov. Bill Richardson chooses to dine here. Take care of your hangover and wake up with a breakfast burrito smothered in spicy green chile and a cup of strong coffee at Tia Sophia’s, where local artists and visiting celebrities alike take their morning nosh.

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THE STRAIGHT-UP TEQUILA TRUTH

Fine tequila is like fine Scotch: meant to be sipped and savored. The most expensive, smoothest sipping tequilas are made from small batches of aged 100% blue agave, a cactus native to the Southwest and Mexico. And just like fine Scotch, the sky is the limit when it comes to price. To sample one of the best tequilas on the market –the 100% blue agave Herradura Suprema – will cost you $50 a shot in a Santa Fe bar!

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With your stomach full, follow the Low Rd to Taos (it’s just as pretty and gets you to the next margarita faster than taking the High Rd). Go straight to the Adobe Bar upon arriving. The packed street-side patio serves the state’s finest margaritas from a classic Taos crash pad. And with creaky chairs and the warm kiva fireplaces, this bar screams New Mexican history.

Taos is a beautiful city, but you have more margaritas to taste. So jot down notes for the future, and drive south on the High Road. The drive is gorgeous, skirting cartoon cliffs and edging past pine forests as it winds through the mountains to charming Chimayó. Originally established by Spanish families with a land grant, it is home to a fabulous old adobe church and an equally fabulous New Mexican restaurant, where you can have your last margarita (or three as you’re sleeping in town).The Rancho de Chimayó restaurant is also famed for the Jaramillo family’s classic New Mexican cooking and wonderful old-school hacienda ambience. Spend your last tequila-soaked night at the unpretentious Casa Escondida just down the road. It features eight beautiful rooms and a hot tub.

Becca Blond

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TRIP INFORMATION

GETTING THERE

Albuquerque is at the crossroads of I-25 and I-40 and is one hour south of Santa Fe.

DO

Adobe Bar

Fabulous margaritas are served at this always-packed bar in a gorgeous old adobe building. 505-758-2233; 125 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos; from noon

Belltower Bar

This rooftop bar is the best spot in Santa Fe for a killer margarita-and-sunset-view combo. 505-982-5511; 100 E San Francisco St, Santa Fe; 5pm-sunset Mon-Thu, 2pm-sunset Fri-Sun May-Oct

Cowgirl Hall of Fame & Western Café

Wacky Western feminist flair and a huge patio, plus delish margs and melt-in-your-mouth BBQ. 982-2565; 319 S Guadalupe St, Sante