Old Town
A maze of cobbled courtyard walkways leads to hidden patios and gardens, where many of Old Town's 150 galleries and shops are located. Adobe buildings, many refurbished in the pueblo revival style of the 1950s, are grouped around the tree-shaded plaza, created in 1780. Pueblo and Navajo artisans often display their pottery, blankets, and silver jewelry on the sidewalks lining the plaza.The buildings of Old Town once served as mercantile shops, grocery stores, and government offices, but the importance of Old Town as Albuquerque's commercial center declined after 1880, when the railroad came through 1 1/4 miles east of the plaza and businesses relocated to be closer to the trains. Old Town clung to its historical and sentimental roots, but the quarter fell into disrepair until the 1930s and 1940s, when artisans and other shop owners rediscovered it and the tourism industry burgeoned.When Albuquerque was established in 1706, the first building erected by the settlers was the Church of San Felipe de Neri, which faces the plaza on its north side. It's a cozy church with wonderful stained-glass windows and vivid retablos (religious paintings). This house of worship has been in almost continuous use for nearly 300 years.Though you'll wade through a few trinket and T-shirt shops on the plaza, don't be fooled: Old Town is an excellent place to shop. Look for good buys from the Native Americans selling jewelry on the plaza, especially silver bracelets and strung turquoise. If you want to take something fun home and spend very little, buy a dyed corn necklace. Your best bet when wandering around Old Town is to just peek into shops, but there are a few places you'll definitely want to spend time. An excellent Old Town historic walking tour originates at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History at 11am Tuesday to Sunday during spring, summer, and fall. Plan to spend 2 to 3 hours strolling around.

University of New Mexico
The state's largest institution of higher learning stretches across an attractive 70-acre campus about 2 miles east of downtown Albuquerque, north of Central Avenue and east of University Boulevard. The five campus museums, none of which charges admission, are constructed (like other UNM buildings) in a modified pueblo style. Popejoy Hall, in the south-central part of the campus, hosts many performing-arts presentations, including those of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra; other public events are held in nearby Keller Hall and Woodward Hall.I've found the best way to see the museums and campus is on a walking tour, which can make for a nice 2- to 3-hour morning or afternoon outing. Begin on the west side of campus at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. You'll find parking meters there, as well as Maxwell Museum parking, for which you can get a permit inside.The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, situated on the west side of the campus on Redondo Drive, south of Las Lomas Road (tel. 505/277-4404; www.unm.edu/~maxwell), is an internationally acclaimed repository of Southwestern anthropological finds. What's really intriguing here is not just the ancient pottery, tools, and yucca weavings, but the anthropological context within which these items are set. You'll see a reconstruction of an archaeological site, complete with string markers, brushes, and field notes, as well as microscope lenses you can examine to see how archaeologists perform temper analysis to find out where pots were made, and pollen analysis to help reconstruct past environments. There are two permanent exhibits: Ancestors, which looks at human evolution, and People of the Southwest, a look at the history of the Southwest from 10,000 years ago to the 16th century from an archeological perspective. It's open Tuesday to Friday 9am to 4pm, and Saturday 10am to 4pm; the museum is closed Sundays, Mondays, and holidays. From the Maxwell, walk east into the campus until you come to the Duck Pond and pass Mitchell Hall; then turn south (right) and walk down a lane until you reach Northrup Hall.In Northrup Hall (tel. 505/277-4204), about halfway between the Maxwell Museum and Popejoy Hall in the southern part of the campus, the adjacent Geology Museum (tel. 505/277-4204) and Meteorite Museum (tel. 505/277-1644) cover the gamut of recorded time from dinosaur bones to moon rocks. Within the Geology Museum, you'll see stones that create spectacular works of art, from black-on-white orbicular granite to brilliant blue dioptase. In the Meteorite Museum, 550 meteorite specimens comprise the sixth-largest collection in the United States. You'll see and touch a sink-size piece of a meteorite that weighs as much as a car, as well as samples of the many variations of stones that fall from the sky. Both museums are open Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm.From here, you walk east, straight through a mall that takes you by the art building to the Fine Arts Center. The University of New Mexico Art Museum (tel. 505/277-4001; http://unmartmuseum.unm.edu) is located here, just north of Central Avenue and Cornell Street. The museum features changing exhibitions of 19th- and 20th-century art. Its permanent collection includes Old Masters paintings and sculpture, significant New Mexico artists, Spanish-colonial artwork, the Tamarind Lithography Archives, and one of the largest university-owned photography collections in the country. This is my favorite part. You'll see modern and contemporary works, and some striking images that you'll remember for years. It's open Tuesday to Friday 9am to 4pm, Tuesday evening 5 to 8pm, and Sunday 1 to 4pm; the museum is closed holidays. A gift shop offers a variety of gifts and posters. Admission is free.By now you'll probably want a break. Across the mall to the north is the Student Union Building, where you can get treats from muffins to pizza. Campus maps can be obtained here, along with directions. Once you're refreshed, head out the north door of the Student Union Building and walk west through Smith Plaza, then turn north by the bus stop and walk to Las Lomas Road, where you'll turn right and walk a half block to the intimate Jonson Gallery, at 1909 Las Lomas Rd. NE (tel. 505/277-4967; www.unm.edu/~jonsong), on the north side of the central campus. This museum displays more than 2,000 works by the late Raymond Jonson, a leading modernist painter in early-20th-century New Mexico, as well as works by contemporary artists. This is my least favorite of the campus museums; if you're going to miss one, make it this one. The gallery is open Tuesday to Friday 9am to 4pm and Tuesday evening 5 to 8pm. From the Jonson you can walk west on Las Lomas Road to Redondo Road, where you'll turn south and arrive back at the Maxwell Museum, where your car is parked. Touring these museums takes a full morning or afternoon.

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
A trip through this museum will take you through 12 billion years of natural history, from the formation of the universe to the present day. Begin by looking at a display of stones and gems, then stroll through the "Age of Giants" display, where you'll find dinosaur skeletons cast from the real bones. Moving along, you come into the Cretaceous Period and learn of the progression of flooding in the southwestern United States, beginning 100 million years ago and continuing until 66 million years ago, when New Mexico became dry. This exhibit takes you through a tropical oasis, with aquariums of alligator gars, fish that were here 100 million years ago and still exist today. Next, step into the Evolator (kids love this!), a simulated time-travel ride that moves and rumbles, taking you 1 1/4 miles (2km) up (or down) and through 38 million years of history. Then, you'll feel the air grow hot as you walk into a cave and see the inner workings of a volcano, including simulated magma flow. Soon, you'll find yourself in the age of the mammoths and moving through the ice age. Other stops along the way include the Naturalist Center, where kids can peek through microscopes and make their own bear or raccoon footprints in sand, and FossilWorks, where paleontologists work behind glass, excavating bones of a seismosaurus. Be sure to check out the newest addition to the museum, the LodeStar Astronomy Center, a sophisticated planetarium with the Virtual Voyages Simulation theater. Those exhibits, as well as the DynaTheater, which surrounds you with images and sound, cost an additional fee. A gift shop on the ground floor sells imaginative nature games and other curios. This museum has good access for people with disabilities, including scripts for people with impaired hearing and exhibit text written in Braille.

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Fairfield Inn by Marriott Albuquerque University Area
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Econo Lodge Albuquerque
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