15 Best Sights in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Located atop Museum Hill, this museum delights visitors of all ages with its permanent collection of more than 130,000 objects from about 100 countries. In the Girard Wing, you'll find thousands of amazingly inventive handmade objects such as a tin Madonna, a devil made from bread dough, dolls from around the world, and miniature village scenes. The Hispanic Heritage Wing rotates exhibitions of art from throughout Latin America, dating from New Mexico's Spanish-colonial period (1598–1821) to the present. The exhibits in the Neutrogena Wing rotate, showing subjects ranging from outsider art to the magnificent quilts of Gee's Bend. Lloyd's Treasure Chest, the wing's innovative basement section, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the museum's permanent collection and explores the question of what exactly constitutes folk art. The innovative Gallery of Conscience explores topics at the intersection of folk art and social justice. Each exhibition also includes educational activities for both kids and adults. Allow time to visit the outstanding gift shop and bookstore.

This impressive, modern museum anchors a campus that encompasses the Palace of the Governors, the Palace Print Shop & Bindery, the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, and Photo Archives (an assemblage of more than 1 million images dating from the 1850s). Behind the palace on Lincoln Avenue, the museum thoroughly explores the early history of Indigenous people, Spanish colonization, the Mexican Period, and travel and commerce on the legendary Santa Fe Trail. Inside are changing and permanent exhibits. By appointment, visitors can tour the comprehensive Fray Angélico Chávez History Library and its rare maps, manuscripts, and photographs (more than 120,000 prints and negatives). The Palace Print Shop & Bindery, which prints books, pamphlets, and cards on antique presses, also hosts bookbinding demonstrations, lectures, and slide shows. The Palace of the Governors is a humble one-story neo-Pueblo adobe on the north side of the Plaza, and is the oldest public building in the United States. Its rooms contain period furnishings and exhibits illustrating the building's many functions over the past four centuries. Built at the same time as the Plaza, circa 1610, it was the seat of four regional governments—those of Spain, Mexico, the Confederacy, and the U.S. territory that preceded New Mexico's statehood, which was achieved in 1912. It served as the residence for 100 Spanish, Mexican, and American governors, including Governor Lew Wallace, who wrote his epic Ben Hur in its then drafty rooms, all the while complaining of the dust and mud that fell from its earthen ceiling.

Dozens of Native American vendors gather daily under the portal of the Palace of the Governors to sell pottery, jewelry, bread, and other goods. With few exceptions, the more than 500 artists and craftspeople registered to sell here are Pueblo or Navajo Indians. The merchandise for sale is required to meet strict standards. Prices tend to reflect the high quality of the merchandise but are often significantly less than what you'd pay in a shop. Please remember not to take photographs without permission.

Once an ambitious visual and musical arts collective, Meow Wolf is now a dazzling multimillion-dollar arts complex located inside the shell of a former bowling alley (with much of the funding coming from Santa Fe–based Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin). Visitors flock to the arts complex's first permanent exhibition: a self-billed "immersive art installation"House of Eternal Return, an interactive phenomenon that has become one of the city's leading attractions. Give yourself at least a couple of hours to tour this sci-fi-inspired, 20,000-square-foot interactive exhibit in which you'll encounter hidden doorways, mysterious corridors, ambient music, and clever, surrealistic, and often slyly humorous artistic renderings. It's a strange and enchanting experience, wildly imaginative, occasionally eerie, and absolutely family-friendly. Tickets are good throughout the day—you can leave and reenter the installation, and perhaps break up the experience by enjoying a light bite and craft beer at the lobby bar/café. Be aware that the experience is highly sensory and can be a little overstimulating for those who are sensitive to noise, changing lighting, and crowds. Meow Wolf is open until 8 most evenings and 10 on Friday and Saturday. It's also a frequent venue for sold-out music concerts.

A 12-acre expanse that helped redefine the neighborhood, Railyard Park is an urban park with orchards, a community garden, a bird and butterfly garden, children’s play areas, picnic areas, and some fantastic public art. In summer, there are free outdoor evening movies. The park runs past SITE Santa Fe to the Railyard Plaza via the walkable and bikeable “Rail Trail.”

At the end of Upper Canyon Road, located at the mouth of the canyon as it wends into the foothills, the 135-acre Randall Davey Audubon Center harbors diverse birds (nearly 200 species have been identified) and other wildlife. Free guided nature walks are given most Saturday mornings at 8:30; there are also two major hiking trails that you can tackle on your own. The home and studio of Randall Davey, a prolific early Santa Fe artist, can be toured on Friday afternoon. There's also a nature bookstore, and be sure to check out the treehouse and seed library. No pets are allowed other than leashed service dogs.

The events at this 18,000 square foot nexus of international contemporary art include lectures, concerts, author readings, films, performance art, and gallery shows. The facility also hosts a biennial exhibition, SITElines, staged every even-numbered year. Exhibitions are often provocative, and the immense, open space provides an ideal setting for the many larger-than-life installations. The on-site museum store, Curated, offers a tasteful selection of unique, artist-made items.

The newest outpost of the New Mexico Museum of Art, Vladem boasts a more modern approach to the artistic experience than the city’s historic buildings provide. The striking structure was purposefully designed to accommodate large-scale installations, multimedia exhibitions, performances, educational programs, and much-needed art storage, including a photography vault for fragile historic photos. With nearly 10,000 square feet of gallery space and over 2,500 square feet of outdoor space, plan to spend at least a couple of hours exploring the artwork and grounds. The $12 admission also gets visitors into its sister museum at 107 West Palace Avenue in the Plaza.

Believed to be the oldest church still in use in the United States, this simple earth-hewn adobe structure was built around 1610 by the Tlaxcalan Indians of Mexico, who came to New Mexico as servants of the Spanish. Badly damaged in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, the structure was restored and enlarged in 1710. On display in the chapel are priceless statues and paintings and the San José Bell, weighing nearly 800 pounds, which is believed to have been cast in Spain in 1356. In winter the church sometimes closes before its official closing hour. Latin mass is held daily at 2 pm, and new mass is on Sunday at 5 pm.

Also operating as a community gathering space with lectures and classes, the 31,000-square-foot El Museo celebrates New Mexico's rich Hispanic heritage with a wide range of events, from children's theater to musical concerts. It also hosts the Antique American Indian Art Show, during which dozens of craftspersons and artists exhibit their work in early August along with the Mercado, held on weekends from late September through late May and featuring a varied array of vendors selling folk, tribal, and Western art and memorabilia. A small gallery shows contemporary art by Hispanic artists.

Sometimes dubbed the "Colonial Williamsburg of the Southwest," El Rancho de las Golondrinas ("Ranch of the Swallows") is a reconstruction of a small agricultural village with buildings from the 17th to 19th centuries. Travelers on El Camino Real would stop at the ranch before making the final leg of the journey north, a half-day ride from Santa Fe in horse-and-wagon time. By car, the ranch is only a 25-minute drive from the Plaza. It's also a 10-minute drive from where the Turquoise Trail (NM 14) intersects with Interstate 25, making it a fun stop—especially for kids—on your way to or from Albuquerque. Self-guided tours interpret the lives of locals in those bygone eras while farm animals roam through the barnyards on the 200-acre complex. During the ranch's many festivals—Spring & Fiber Fest, the Herb & Lavender Festival, Viva México, La Panza Llena New Mexico Food Fest, Santa Fe Wine Festival, the Renaissance Faire, and others—music, dance, food, and crafts are offered. In April, May, and October, the museum is open weekdays, by advance reservation only.

A fonda (inn) has stood on this site southeast of the Plaza for centuries, and architect Isaac Hamilton Rapp built the area landmark that stands there today in 1922. The hotel was sold to the Santa Fe Railway in 1926 and remained a Harvey House hotel until 1968. The property completed its latest major renovation in 2013, its guest rooms receiving a smart but still classic makeover, but the historic public areas retain their original design elements. Because of its proximity to the Plaza and its history as a gathering place for everyone from cowboys to movie stars (Errol Flynn stayed here), it's referred to as "The Inn at the End of the Trail." Free docent tours, which touch on the hotel's rich history and detail key pieces in the astounding public art collection, are offered Wednesday through Saturday morning at 10:30. Step inside to browse the shops on the main floor or to eat at one of the restaurants, including the impressive greenhouse glass-topped La Plazuela. The lobby bar often has live music. In warm months, enjoy a drink at the fifth-floor Bell Tower Bar which offers tremendous sunset views.

The symbol of the Zía Pueblo, which represents the Circle of Life, was the inspiration for the state's capitol building, also known as the Roundhouse. Doorways at opposing sides of the 1966 structure symbolize the four times of day, the four directions, the four stages of life, and the four seasons. Take time to walk through the building to see the outstanding 600-work collection of the Capitol Art Foundation, historical and cultural displays, and handcrafted furniture—it's a superb and somewhat overlooked array of fine art. The Governor's Gallery hosts temporary exhibits. Six acres of imaginatively landscaped gardens shelter outstanding sculptures.

Also called the DeVargas Street House, this adobe dwelling is said to be the oldest in the United States—a sign on the exterior puts the date at 1646. Some say it's much older, but historians currently can verify only that it dates back to the mid-1700s. Inside the tiny museum, a small gift shop features Harvey House jewelry, kachinas, paintings, pottery, and more.

This 14-acre garden, located across the road from the Folk Art and Native American museums, provides another great reason for exploring Museum Hill. Situated on a bluff with fantastic views of the surrounding mountains, the facility is divided into four sections that emphasize distinct elements of New Mexico's flora and terrain: the Orchard Gardens, Ojos y Manos: Eyes and Hands, the Courtyard Gardens, and the Arroyo Trails. You can gain a much fuller sense of what's planted and why by embarking on one of the free guided tours, offered daily (call for hours). Also be sure to check the website to see which events might be happening at the outdoor amphitheater.

Stimulating hands-on exhibits, a solar greenhouse, oversize geometric forms, and an 18-foot indoor rock-climbing wall all contribute to this museum's popularity with kids. Outdoor gardens with climbing structures, forts, and hands-on activities are great for whiling away the time in the shade of big trees. Puppeteers and storytellers perform often.