Old Town Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Museum

Albuquerque was founded in 1706 as a Spanish colonial settlement on the Rio Grande, named for a Spanish duke, and laid out in the traditional form of a central plaza with a church, homes, and fields fanning out toward the river. It was farming country, watered by irrigation ditches called acequias drawn from the Rio Grande, some of which still run today.

This valley was long home to Pueblo peoples before the Spanish arrived, and the colonial town rose amid that older world. Old Town remained the center of the community for well over a century, until the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s pulled the city's growth eastward and left the original plaza as the historic quarter it is today, preserved rather than paved over.

The plaza is the soul of Old Town, a shaded square where you can sit, stroll, and watch the day go by, ringed by adobe buildings that now hold galleries, shops, and restaurants. Narrow side streets and tucked-away courtyards branch off it, rewarding a slow wander with small discoveries.

Anchoring the plaza is San Felipe de Neri Church, whose adobe walls and twin towers have watched over the square for centuries. It remains an active parish, its interior cool and dim after the bright plaza, and it stands as one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city, a direct link to the colonial village that started it all.

A block from the plaza, the Albuquerque Museum tells the broader story of the region through both art and history. Its history galleries trace the long human presence in the middle Rio Grande valley, from the Native peoples and Spanish colonists through the coming of the railroad and the modern city, with artifacts, maps, and Spanish colonial art among the highlights.

Its art collection reaches from historic works to contemporary art of the Southwest, and an outdoor sculpture garden lets you wander among large works in the open air. The museum gives context to everything you see on the plaza, turning a pleasant stroll into a deeper understanding of the place.

Old Town and the museum are enjoyable year-round. Spring and fall bring ideal weather for lingering on the plaza and wandering the side streets, while the museum offers a cool, welcome refuge on hot summer afternoons. Winter is quieter and, around the holidays, the plaza glows with luminarias, the little paper-bag lanterns that are a New Mexico tradition.

The two sit close enough to combine easily on foot, and both lie within walking distance of other attractions on Mountain Road, including museums of natural history and science. Give yourself an unhurried half-day to take in the plaza, the church, the shops, and the museum together.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.