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Palace of Governors
To begin sightseeing in Santa Fe, start where it all began on the city's historic central Plaza, which is dominated by the adobe structure known as the Palace of the Governors, the oldest public building in the United States. The palace was built in 1610 as Spain's seat of government for what is today the American Southwest. It still bears the scars of having survived Indian revolts and occupation, and Mexican Independence; it was later occupied by Confederate forces when they attempted to take New Mexico. Fittingly, in 1909, the building was converted into the Museum of New Mexico and is now the principal of Santa Fe's four museums, preserving 400 years of the state's history from the 16th century Spanish explorations through the frontier era to modern times. Exhibits range from a stagecoach and kitchen utensils to paintings on bison hide and a state seal made from spoons, quills and tacks.
Phone Number: (505) 476 5100
Website: www.palaceofthegovernors.org
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm
Admission: $7 (adults); free for children under 16. Free on Fridays 5pm to 8pm

Museum of Fine Arts
Opposite the Governor's Palace on Santa Fe's historic Plaza stands a prime example of Pueblo Revival architecture, built in 1917, which houses the state's oldest art museum, home to more than 20,000 works of art. The distinguished collection spans the historic art colonies of Taos and Santa Fe of the past 100 years, right up to contemporary art, focussing on the southwest region. There is also a collection of photographs and two sculpture gardens housing traditional and abstract works.
Address: 107 W. Palace Avenue
Phone Number: (505) 476 5072 (recorded information)
Website: www.mfasantafe.org
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm. Guided tours daily 10.30am and 2.30pm, and at 5.30pm on Fridays
Admission: $7 (adults); free for children under 16. Free on Fridays 5pm to 8pm

Museum of International Folk Art
The most important and comprehensive collection of cross-cultural folk art in the world is housed in the Santa Fe Museum of International Folk Art about two miles (3km) southeast of the city's central Plaza, on the old Sante Fe Trail. Fascinating for tourists, and a treasure trove for researchers, scholars and contemporary artisans, the collection of the museum runs to about 125,000 pieces, divided into different categories. Of particular note are the Spanish Colonial collection, the south-western Hispanic art collection of 20th century works, and collections of international textiles and costumes. There are examples of folk art from more than 100 different countries.
Address: Camino Lejo, Museum Hill
Phone Number: (505) 476 1200
Email Address: info@moifa.org
Website: www.moifa.org
Transport: M-line bus service
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10am and 5pm; closed on major holidays. Guided tours are available Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10.15am and 2pm, Thursday to Sunday 10.15am, 1pm and 3pm
Admission: $7 (adults); free for children under 16

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
The museum dedicated to the work of Georgia O'Keefe opened in 1997, eleven years after the death of the artist who loved the state of New Mexico so much. Since then the museum has welcomed more than 1.3-million visitors, who come to enjoy the exhibition of the works of one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Georgia O'Keefe created imagery that expressed 'wideness and wonder', and was a leading member of one of the avant-garde art movements in New York in the 1920s. She featured the high deserts and dramatic cliffs of New Mexico frequently in her work. The Santa Fe museum's permanent collection contains more than 130 O'Keefe paintings, drawings and sculptures, the largest concentration of her work in the world and it is the only museum in the United States dedicated solely to one woman's work. The gallery itself is a former Baptist church with adobe walls.
Address: 217 Johnson Street
Phone Number: (505) 946 1000
Email Address: info@okeeffemuseum.org
Website: www.okeeffemuseum.org
Hours: Daily, except Wednesdays, 10am to 5pm, Fridays until 8pm; from mid-June to October the museum is also open on Wednesdays 10am to 5pm
Admission: $8, concessions available; free on Fridays 5pm to 8pm

Loretto Chapel
Although the Loretto Chapel on the Old Santa Fe Trail is no longer used for worship, it nevertheless remains a place of congregation, mainly for tourists who come to marvel at the chapel's 'miraculous' spiral staircase. The chapel, copied from Sainte-Chapelle Church in Paris, was built in 1873 to serve as chapel for the Sisters of Loretto's school for young women. The story goes that when the building was close to completion workers discovered the design had not left sufficient room for the proposed staircase to the choir loft. The only answer appeared to be a cumbersome ladder, which was not an attractive proposition for the Loretto sisters who decided to pray about the problem to St Joseph. Their prayers were answered in the form of a carpenter riding a donkey, who arrived and offered to build a spiral staircase. He accomplished this with only a saw, hammer and T-square, manufacturing a miraculous staircase, which is held aloft by no visible means of support.
Address: 207 Old Santa Fe Trail
Phone Number: (505) 982 0092
Email Address: information@lorettochapel.com
Website: www.lorettochapel.com
Hours: Monday to Saturday 9am to 6pm (until 5pm in winter), Sunday 10.30am to 5pm

El Rancho de las Golondrinas
The 'Ranch of the Swallows' (El Rancho de las Golondrinas) is a living history site that was originally a real ranch, founded in the early 1700s, today offering an entertaining and educational attraction about 15 miles (24km) south-east of Santa Fe's central Plaza, on the Los Pinos Road. The ranch was once the last stopping place on the thousand-mile (1,609km) El Camino Real (Royal Road) between Mexico City and Santa Fe. It has been fully restored as a living village with costumed villagers portraying life in early New Mexico. The first weekend in June brings the spring Festival, and the first weekend in October is devoted to a Harvest Festival, which are highlights on the ranch calendar. Every day, however, visitors can explore the hacienda, village store, schoolhouse, chapels, kitchens and other buildings on the ranch, pet farm animals and watch operations in the working molasses mill, blacksmith shop, shearing and weaving rooms, winery and so on.
Address: 334 Los Pinos Road
Phone Number: (505) 471 2261
Email Address: mail@golondrinas.org
Website: www.golondrinas.org
Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm (June to September). Tours can be organized from April to October
Admission: $5 (adults), $2 (children 5-12). Festivals and theme weekends: $7 (adults), $3 (children 5-12)

Taos
The laid-back mountain resort town of Taos, about 70 miles (113km) north of Santa Fe, is in the center of New Mexico's most sparsely populated region, serving as a popular ski resort in winter and artist's colony all year round. The main attraction at Taos is Taos Pueblo, the largest of northern New Mexico's Indian pueblos where life has changed little since ancient times. In the town, which sits between the majestic peaks of the Rocky Mountains and the deep Rio Grande Gorge, the old Spanish plaza is full of shops and museums and an unusual community who live in half-buried houses and reject materialism. The arts scene is particularly lively, and there are some excellent restaurants. Some of the diversions on offer include llama treks, hiking, biking and white-water rafting.
Phone Number: (505) 758 3873
Website: www.taosguide.com

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