New Mexico’s largest city fills the valley that stretches westward from the foothills of the Manzano and Sandia Mountains and across the banks of the Rio Grande. Its modern downtown with its high-tech industries contrasts with Old Town, filled with historic adobe buildings.
t Gift and craft shops on Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza
Experience Albuquerque and Southern New Mexico
n Double-tap image to read the labels
t Dinosaur skeletons in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
This fascinating museum has a series of excellent interactive exhibits. Visitors can stand inside a simulated volcano or explore an ice cave. The “Evolator”is a six-minute ride through 38 million years of the region’s evolution using the latest video technology.
Replica dinosaurs, a state-of-the-art planetarium, and a large-screen film theater are all highly popular with families.
Housed in a castle with beautiful grounds, this museum contains an unsurpassed collection of rare and varied turquoise specimens and jewelry from all around the world. Exhibits include 400 pieces of Native American turquoise art and displays relating to science, turquoise mines and mining, and the mystical qualities of the stones.
Explora!’s child-oriented science center is enjoyable for adults and children alike with its many interactive exhibits, such as stepping inside a soap bubble. In the Children’s Museum, youngsters can look through kaleidoscopes, build wind cars, or practice weaving.
The Albuquerque Aquarium in the ABQ BioPark focuses on the marine life of the Rio Grande and features a fascinating walk-through eel cave and an impressive floor-to-ceiling shark tank. The park also encompasses the Botanic Garden, the ABQ BioPark Zoo, and Tingley Beach, where boats can be rented.
This animal conservation museum explains the life cycles and ecological impor-tance of some of Earth’s most misunderstood creatures. It contains the world’s largest collection of different species of live rattlesnakes, including natives of North, Central, and South America.
EXPERIENCE Albuquerque and Southern New Mexico
EAT Church Street Café This renowned café in an 1800s adobe building is filled with Native American art and rugs, and serves superb regional dishes. ⌂ 2111 Church St NW ∑ churchstreetcafe.com \ Antiquity Consistently voted one of the best restaurants in Albuquerque, this gem serves clever takes on classic American and European dishes. ⌂ 112 Romero St NW ¢ Lunch ∑ antiquityrestaurant.com \ |
The three-story KiMo Theatre was built in 1927, its design inspired by that of the nearby Native American pueblos. It presents a fusion of extrav-agant Pueblo Revival and American Art Deco styles. The theater stages a superb, eclectic range of musical and theatrical performances.
t The Art Deco and Pueblo Revival-style facade of the KiMo Theatre
This impressive cultural center is run by New Mexico’s 19 Indian Pueblos, which are largely concentrated along the Rio Grande north of Albuquerque, but also occupy lands as far west as the border with Arizona. The complex history and varied culture of the Puebloan peoples is traced through their oral testimony and is presented from their viewpoint. The building is designed to resemble Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon, one of the largest pueblo dwellings from the pre-Columbian era. The center also has a restaur-ant with Native-fusion cuisine and an excellent gift shop of Native arts and crafts. Every weekend exuberant dance performances are held in the Puebloan central courtyard.
New Mexico’s largest university is known for its Pueblo Revival-style architecture and its museums. The University Art Museum contains one of the largest fine art collections in the state, including Old Master paintings, sculpture, and other works from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology concen-trates on the culture of the Southwest, with an important collection of art and artifacts. There are also traveling exhibits on regional and international themes, as well as a permanent exhibition that traces human develop-ment through the ages.
⌂ 1 University of New Mexico # 10am–4pm Tue–Fri, 10am–8pm Sat ¢ Public hols ∑ artmuseum.unm.org
⌂ 500 University Blvd NE # 10am–4pm Tue–Sat ¢ Public hols ∑ maxwellmuseum.unm.edu
This museum presents the stories of nuclear pioneers and the history of nuclear development. The exhibits explore the many applications of nuclear energy in the past, present, and into the future. “Energy Encounter” illustrates the amount of wind, solar, or hydro power required to match the output from one nuclear reactor, while “Little Albert’s Lab” introduces children to the concepts of physics. Outdoors, the Heritage Park displays unique military missile systems, rockets, and historic planes including a B-52 bomber.
t Exterior of the Albuquerque Museum, located in the heart of Old Town
This excellent museum showcases the art and history of New Mexico. “Only in Albuquerque” tells an inter-active story of the city from before written history to the present. “Common Ground” celebrates the diversity of artists living in or influenced by this region. The museum also offers walking tours of the historic Old Town (Mar–Nov).
The soaring gallery spaces at this museum contain the world’s most extensive coll-ection of modern and historic balloons and ballooning memorabilia. Named after two of Albuquerque’s legendary balloonists, the museum shows how balloons have been used in adventurous exploits, warfare, and space exploration. Exhibits include artifacts that date from the earliest days of ballooning.
Lying on the western outskirts of Albuquerque, this site was established in 1990 to preserve nearly 20,000 images carved into rock along the 17-mile (27-km) West Mesa escarpment. The earliest petroglyphs date back to 1000 BC, but the most prolific period is thought to have been between AD 1300 and 1680. The depictions from this period range from human figures such as musicians and dancers to animals, including snakes, birds, and insects. Spirals and other geometric symbols are also common. Though the meaning of many of the petroglyphs has been lost over time, others continue to have great cultural significance to today’s Puebloan population.
Hundreds of petroglyphs are accessible along Boca Negra Canyon, 2 miles (3 km) north of the park visitor center, where three self-guided trails wind past them. Touching the petroglyphs is strictly forbidden.
The world’s largest hot air balloon festival takes place in Albuquerque in October.
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