A Good Tour: Museum Hill

This tour begins 2 miles southeast of the Plaza, an area known as Museum Hill that's best reached by car or via one of the city buses that leaves hourly from near the Plaza. Begin at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, which is set around Milner Plaza, an attractively landscaped courtyard and gardens with outdoor art installations. On some summer days the Plaza hosts Native American dances, jewelry-making demonstrations, kids' activities, and other interactive events; there's also the Museum Hill Café, which is open for lunch (daily except Mondays) and serves delicious and reasonably priced salads, quiche, burgers, sandwiches and wraps, ice cream, and other light fare. To get here from Downtown, drive uphill on Old Santa Fe Trail to Camino Lejo. Across Milner Plaza is the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA). From Milner Plaza, a landscaped pedestrian path leads a short way to the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art. Return to Milner Plaza, from which a different pedestrian path leads west a short way to the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. Across the street from the parking lot below Milner Plaza, you can visit the new Santa Fe Botanical Garden. To reach the Santa Fe Children's Museum, you need to drive back down the hill or ask the bus driver to let you off near it.

Timing

Set aside a full day to see all the museums on Old Santa Fe Trail and Museum Hill. Kids usually have to be dragged from the Children's Museum, even after an hour or two.