Things to do in  New Mexico

The narrow colonial streets of Old Town Albuquerque are filled with colorful shops, curbside craft stands, and the rich aromas of Southwest cooking. You can explore the winding alleyways, shop for souvenirs, and discover the history and culture surrounding Old Town Plaza and the city’s oldest church—18th-century San Felipe de Neri Church.

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge spans the Rio Grande River over a landscape scarred by ancient volcanic activity and water erosion. Ten miles (16 kilometers) outside of Taos, the area offers both a man-made and natural attraction stunning in its beauty. The bridge appears in several Hollywood films, including Natural Born Killers, Wild Hogs, and Terminator Salvation.

Taos Pueblo is a community of adobe homes and ceremonial structures built into terraced tiers outside of Taos, New Mexico. Its extraordinary 1,000-year history has rightly earned the site recognition as a National Historic Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Roughly 1,900 tribal members, known as the Red Willow People, live on Taos Pueblo lands, with 150 people that live within the pueblo year-round.

Boasting some of the “rarest and most collectible pieces of turquoise and turquoise jewelry in the world,” the Turquoise Museum offers a deep dive into New Mexico’s state gemstone in the elevated setting of an enormous castle mansion. The private museum is the only one of its kind on the subject, offering a highly personable, interactive, and well-curated experience.

Bandelier National Monument is one of the Southwest’s most important archeological sites, protecting cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, and over 33,000 acres (13,355 hectares) of rugged desert. One of the National Park Service’s first protected areas, the monument was established in 1916 and the site holds evidence of life dating back 11,000 years.

One of Santa Fe’s most mind-bending attractions, Meow Wolf Santa Fe (House of Eternal Return) is a vast immersive experience that transports visitors to new dimensions. Comprising 70 artist-created rooms and environments—all seemingly contained within a normal-looking Victorian home—the exhibition tells the story of a family’s mysterious disappearance, and the resulting warping of space and time.

Northern New Mexico's Chimayó may just have a few thousand residents, but it makes up for its small population with an extremely rich culture. The town is known for the sacred Catholic site El Santuario de Chimayó, a centuries old weaving tradition, and a village-like atmosphere with beautiful adobe architecture. Another local signature is the Chimayó red chile pepper.

A Roman Catholic church dating to 1873, the Loretto Chapel would be lost to travelers without one claim to fame: its staircase. Dubbed the “Miraculous Stair,” this winding, helix-shaped staircase seems to float—even modern woodworkers have difficulty explaining its structure. Today, the chapel attracts hordes of visitors looking for a piece of Santa Fe mystery.

The Sandia Peak Tramway whisks visitors to the top of the Sandia Mountains in just 15 minutes, scaling over 10,000 feet (3048 meters). Once aboard the tram, you’ll enjoy impressive panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and forests. An upscale restaurant at the top of the tramway draws visitors seeking dining with a view.

Dinosaur skeletons, a planetarium, and interactive exhibits draw visitors to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, near Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza. Its offerings have all-ages appeal, and the museum is of particular local interest as it highlights discoveries made right in New Mexico, such as a skull of a sub-species of the Tyrannosaurus rex.

One of the most unusual attractions in Albuquerque’s Old Town, the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Capilla de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe) has an unusual origin story. Created for the former Sagrada Art School and its students, it was designed and built in the 1970s by Sister Giotto Moots and her fellow nuns, who believed that the location was the planet’s center of creativity. Today, the church is both a tourist attraction and wedding venue.

Situated in Santa Fe’s scenic Museum Hill neighborhood, Santa Fe Botanical Garden offers 12 acres (5 hectares) of landscaped gardens and wooded areas that showcase the natural beauty of New Mexico’s flora and desert terrain. The garden opened in 2013 and continues to grow and expand.

The High Road to Taos is a scenic road that links Santa Fe and Taos. The road winds through the towns of Chimayo and Truchas, Carson National Forest, and high desert scenery. Two famous churches are also along this route: Santuario de Chimayo, a popular pilgrimage site, and San Francisco de Asis Church, made famous by Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams.

Birdwatching opportunities and scenic hiking trails draw visitors to the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park on the Rio Grande flyway. This 38-acre (15-hectare) preserve is home to a wide range of New Mexico wildlife and 300 bird species, including roadrunners and hummingbirds. It's also home to a native plant garden, a pollinator garden, and a visitor center with exhibits on plants, animals, geology, and more.

The ABQ BioPark Zoo in Albuquerque brings visitors up close to Earth’s wildest creatures, from giraffes and polar bears to Mexican wolves, orangutans, crocodiles, and more. At 64 acres, it’s a sizable facility, and kids will especially delight in the zoo’s variety of exhibits, which include biomes from Africa, Australia, and beyond.