Santa Fe, United States: Self-Guided Walking Tour

Santa Fe is a historic New Mexico city shaped by Pueblo, Spanish, Mexican, and American influences, with adobe architecture and a lively contemporary art scene. From Santa Fe Plaza and the Palace of the Governors to museums devoted to Indigenous art and Georgia O’Keeffe, there is plenty to see in a compact, distinctive city. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Santa Fe with 57 narrated places.

What to see in Santa Fe

Palace of the Governors

Along Santa Fe Plaza, the long adobe Palace of the Governors reflects the city’s changing political history. Established as the capitol of Nuevo México in 1610, it remained New Mexico’s seat of government until 1901. It is described as the oldest public building in the United States to remain continuously occupied and dedicated to public use.

Its Territorial Style of Pueblo architecture and adobe construction are especially characteristic. The building witnessed the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Spanish reconquest of 1693–1694, Mexican independence in 1821, and United States possession from 1848.

Santa Fe Plaza and the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi

Santa Fe Plaza remains the historic centre of the city. Nearby, the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi rises above the low adobe skyline with its Romanesque Revival design.

Construction began in 1869, and the stone church was dedicated in 1887. It was built around La Parroquia, an adobe parish church dating from 1714. The earlier church remained in use during construction before being dismantled once the new walls were complete. Inside, the main altar stands in the raised sanctuary, behind a monumental altar screen installed in 1987.

De Vargas Street House

In the Barrio de Analco, the De Vargas Street House is often called the Oldest House, although its exact construction date is unknown. Much of the building is believed to come from Santa Fe’s Spanish colonial period after 1610, while some archaeologists have suggested that sections may preserve an earlier Pueblo structure.

The lower rooms have thick walls, low ceilings, earthen floors, and a Spanish colonial corner fireplace. Most of the house is made from adobe bricks, with some lower sections built using puddled adobe, a method associated with earlier Pueblo construction. Tree-ring analysis dates the wooden ceiling beams to between 1740 and 1767. The upper floor was reconstructed in the 1920s.

New Mexico History Museum

The New Mexico History Museum traces more than 500 years of the state’s history, from ancient Native American cultures through Spanish, Mexican, and American experiences and into the present. Its exhibitions occupy three and a half floors and include about 20,000 artefacts.

The museum opened in 2009 after the historic collections outgrew their former home in the Palace of the Governors. Its campus also includes the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library and Photo Archives, the Palace Print Shop and Bindery, and the Native American Artisans Program.

New Mexico Museum of Art

One block from Santa Fe Plaza, the New Mexico Museum of Art explores the art and design of New Mexico. The building, constructed in 1917 and designed by Isaac Rapp, is a celebrated example of Pueblo Revival architecture. Its rounded stucco forms combine elements associated with Native American design and Spanish colonial styles.

The collection includes works such as Gerald Cassidy’s Cui Bono? and Awa Tsireh’s watercolours of ceremonial dances at San Ildefonso Pueblo. The museum was originally known as the Museum of Fine Arts and received its current name in 2007.

Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

Just steps from the Plaza, the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, or MoCNA, is operated by the Institute of American Indian Arts. It is dedicated exclusively to contemporary Indigenous art and is described as the only museum of its kind in the United States.

Its collection includes thousands of works by artists from more than 200 tribes, including paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, and multimedia installations. The museum occupies the Santa Fe Federal Building, constructed in 1922 in the Pueblo Revival style and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974.

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum presents the work and life of one of the defining figures of American modernism. Its collection is described as the world’s largest collection of O’Keeffe’s work, with nearly 150 paintings and hundreds of drawings, pastels, and watercolours.

The museum also displays photographs, correspondence, art materials, clothing, personal belongings, and objects O’Keeffe collected as sources of inspiration. The galleries show a rotating selection, so individual works may not always be on view. The wider institution includes sites in Santa Fe and Abiquiú, including O’Keeffe’s historic home and studio, a research library and archive, and education facilities.

Museum Hill

Several museums offer different perspectives on art and culture on Museum Hill. The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, also known as the Laboratory of Anthropology, explores Indigenous life in the American Southwest through Native American art, archaeology, and cultural traditions. Its holdings include more than 80,000 archaeological, ethnographic, and fine art objects, as well as over ten million artefacts from nearly 12,000 archaeological sites across New Mexico.

The Museum of International Folk Art brings together creative traditions from more than 100 countries. Established in 1953 by Florence Dibell Bartlett, it now holds more than 130,000 objects. Its Alexander Girard Wing includes more than 10,000 objects, including Mexican masks, miniature villages, textiles, toys, and ceremonial figures.

The Nuevo Mexicano Heritage Arts Museum, also known as the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, occupies a 1930 adobe building designed by John Gaw Meem in the Pueblo Revival style. Its collection spans five centuries and includes works from the 3,000-piece collection assembled by the Spanish Colonial Arts Society.

Meow Wolf

Meow Wolf’s Santa Fe flagship, the House of Eternal Return, is an immersive art experience designed to be explored rather than simply viewed. Opened in 2016, it covers about 20,000 square feet and includes a concert venue alongside its main interactive installation.

The experience brings artists together in a large-scale environment where visitors can interact with the work and discover it at their own pace. Meow Wolf is an arts and entertainment company founded in Santa Fe in 2008.

More places for art and unusual collections

Santa Fe’s creative scene extends beyond its major museums. Canyon Road is associated with galleries, including Nüart Gallery, while the Santa Fe Art Institute is connected with the city’s artistic community through its headquarters on the Midtown Campus. The Chuck Jones Studio Gallery is another gallery stop in the city.

For something different, the Santa Fe Reptile and Bug Museum presents live and fossil arthropods, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.

Explore Santa Fe with Neywo

Neywo turns the city into a self-guided audio experience. The app’s stories play as you reach each place, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages.

In Santa Fe, Neywo includes three walking tours and one bus route:

• Plaza, Palace and Pueblo Revival: a 2.14 km walk lasting 94 minutes, with 12 narrated stops.
• Adobe Lanes: Barrio de Analco to Canyon Road: a 3.05 km walk lasting 83 minutes, with 8 narrated stops.
• Museum Hill: Four Worlds of Art: a 0.98 km walk lasting 34 minutes, with 4 narrated stops.
• Santa Fe Pick-Up: Guadalupe to the Plaza and Canyon Road: a 7.8 km bus route lasting 33 minutes, with 7 narrated stops.

Download Neywo’s free Santa Fe audio guide and explore the city’s plazas, adobe buildings, museums, and creative landmarks while the app tells the story of each place as you arrive. You can also continue exploring New Mexico, travel through the United States, or discover nearby Taos and Albuquerque.