Sights Overview

Humorist Will Rogers said on his first visit to Santa Fe, "Whoever designed this town did so while riding on a jackass, backwards, and drunk." The maze of narrow streets and alleyways confounds motorists, but with shops and restaurants, a flowered courtyard, or an eye-catching gallery at nearly every turn, they're a delight for pedestrians. The trickle of water called the Santa Fe River runs west, parallel to Alameda Street, from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the open prairie southwest of town, where it disappears into a narrow canyon before joining the Rio Grande. But in New Mexico there's a dicho, or old saying, "agua es vida" -- "water is life" -- be it ever so humble.

There are five state museums in Santa Fe, and purchasing a Museum of New Mexico pass is the most economical way to visit them all. The four-day pass costs $15 and is sold at all five of the museums, which include the Palace of the Governors, Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Museum of International Folk Art, and Museum of Spanish Colonial Art.