7. Santa Fe, Albuquerque & Taos, New Mexico
Why go: To expertise genuine New Mexico means studying extra about its Indigenous historical past. Luckily, there are many alternatives to take action. The state is residence to 19 Pueblo tribes, every a sovereign nation whose attain as soon as unfold so far as Colorado and Arizona. In the present day their affect survives not solely in historic villages set other than on a regular basis life however on each single road nook.
Santa Fe, like many cities within the state, is crammed with magnificent adobe buildings made within the Puebloan type, which was copied by Spanish settlers. Even the town’s Palace of the Governors, which dates again to Santa Fe’s founding in 1610, was constructed this fashion. It’s been modified over time however stays the USA’s oldest European-built public constructing in steady use. Elsewhere within the metropolis, you’ll see many adobe-style recreations (‘faux-dobe’), however the previous is in all places on this tiny capital of 80,000 the place cultures – Spanish, Mexican, Puebloan – mingle throughout meals, artwork, festivals and faith.
That’s to not give the impression Santa Fe exists in some historic bubble. It has a thriving meals scene (chilli peppers are a complete culinary style right here) and an outdoorsy vibe, with snowboarding, climbing and climbing all on supply within the surrounding Sangre de Cristo vary. Certainly, at 2,195m above sea stage, the town is the best state capital within the US. It was these landscapes that captivated the artist Georgia O’Keeffe, who lived right here in her later years. A downtown museum devoted to her work is because of transfer and triple in dimension, hopefully opening in 2025. Santa Fe can also be a hotbed of Puebloan artwork, and its 250 galleries have turn out to be a mecca for collectors, whereas the Museum of New Mexico oversees a variety of establishments in a metropolis the place Indigenous historical past and folks artwork usually take centre stage.
Puebloan affect extends all throughout the state. Pueblos (villages) encompass the cities of Santa Fe and in addition Albuquerque, a metropolis whose annual hot-air balloon pageant (October) sees tons of of balloons embellish the skies over the Sandia Mountains. Albuquerque’s Indian Pueblo Cultural Heart presents a superb primer on native historical past, however it’s in Taos, additional north, the place you’ll discover the oldest Indigenous neighborhood. The five-storey adobe complexes right here, thought to have been accomplished between 1000 and 1450 AD, nonetheless seem a lot as they did when the Spanish first encountered them.
Within the twentieth century, Taos turned a bohemian escape for artists and thinkers. There are wonderful Hispanic artwork museums on the town, whereas the alien-like Earthships (sustainable houses constructed into the land) nod to the extra ideological elements of outsider residing. A becoming finish to any go to.
Additionally see: Ascend on Albuquerque’s Sandia Peak Tramway, which affords sweeping views of the valley under from a top of three,165m.
