A Good Walk: Canyon Road

Begin on Paseo de Peralta at the Gerald Peters Gallery, which has an enormous, museum-quality collection. Continue a half block north to Canyon Road. Turn right (east) and follow the road, which unfolds in shadows of undulating adobe walls. Street parking is at a premium, but there's a city-owned pay lot at the corner of Camino del Monte Sol, a few blocks up, and you can often find free parking on nearby residential streets (just read signs carefully to be sure you don’t park in a section zoned for residents). Between visits to galleries and shops, take a break at one of the courtyards or grab a bite in one of the excellent restaurants. Be sure to stop by the beautiful gardens outside El Zaguan. At the intersection of Upper Canyon and Cristo Rey, you'll find the massive Cristo Rey Church. Wear good walking shoes and watch out for the irregular sidewalks, which can get icy in winter.

Timing

A tour of Canyon Road could take a whole day or as little as a few hours. If art is more than a curiosity to you, you may want to view the Gerald Peters Gallery apart from your Canyon Road tour. There's so much to see there that visual overload could hit before you get halfway up the road. Even on a cold day the walk is a pleasure, with massive, glistening icicles hanging off roofs and a silence shrouding the side streets.