• Albuquerque Museum of Art and History (2000 Mountain Rd. NW, Albuquerque; tel. 505/243-7255; www.albuquerquemuseum.com): Take a journey into New Mexico's past and see highlights from the present day in this museum. Displays include Don Quixote-style armor, an 18th-century house compound, and modern art from some of the region's masters.

  • New Mexico Museum of Art (107 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe; tel. 505/476-5072; www.museumofnewmexico.org): This museum's permanent collection of more than 8,000 works emphasizes regional art and includes landscapes and portraits by all the Taos masters as well as contemporary artists, including R. C. Gorman, Amado Peña, Jr., and Georgia O'Keeffe. The museum also has a collection of photographic works by such masters as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Elliot Porter.

  • Museum of International Folk Art (706 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe; tel. 505/476-1200; www.moifa.org): Santa Fe's perpetually expanding collection of folk art is the largest in the world, with thousands of objects from more than 100 countries. You'll find an amazing array of imaginative works, ranging from Hispanic folk art santos (carved saints) to Indonesian textiles and African sculptures.

  • Georgia O'Keeffe Museum (217 Johnson St., Santa Fe; tel. 505/946-1000; www.okeeffemuseum.org): This museum contains the largest collection of O'Keeffes in the world: currently 1,149 paintings, drawings, and sculptures, and 1,851 works by other artists of note. It offers visitors poetic views of Southwestern landscapes both vast and minute.

  • Taos Historic Museums (Taos; tel. 575/758-0505; www.taoshistoricmuseums.org): What's nice about Taos is that you can see historic homes inside and out. You can wander through Taos Society artist Ernest Blumenschein's home, which is a museum. Built in 1797 and restored by Blumenschein in 1919, it represents another New Mexico architectural phenomenon: homes that were added on to year after year. Doorways are typically low, and floors rise and fall at the whim of the earth beneath them. The Martinez Hacienda is an example of a hacienda stronghold. Built without windows facing outward, it originally had 20 small rooms, many with doors opening out to the courtyard. The hacienda has been developed into a living museum featuring weavers, blacksmiths, and woodcarvers.
  • El Camino Real International Heritage Center (30 miles south of Socorro off I-25, exit 115; tel. 575/854-3600; www.caminorealheritage.org): This museum traces the 1,500-mile historic route between Mexico City and the Española Valley north of Santa Fe. On view are artifacts, art, and devotional items used along the trail, along with state-of-the-art exhibits offering first-person stories of the trail.

  • The Lincoln Historic District (37 miles northeast of Ruidoso on US 380; tel. 575/653-4025; www.nmmonuments.org): One of the last historic yet uncommercialized 19th-century towns remaining in the American West, Lincoln was the focal point of the Lincoln Country War of 1878-79. The town saw some of Billy the Kid's most renowned exploits.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.