While in Albuquerque, I was talking to receptionist at my hotel about convenient places to visit in the town and something which gives me a flavour of New Mexico State of USA. The prompt response was Old Town of Albuquerque and she also gave me bonus tip about bus transportation in Albuquerque. It seemed that Albuquerque has much better public transportation system in comparison to San Francisco Bay Area. That's how I planned my day in Albuquerque town of New Mexico. This post takes you through some of the details about how to reach Albuquerque Old Town from different parts of the town and what all to do in Albuquerque Old Town, what not to miss & things to skip, along lot of travel tips to make your experience richer & pocket friendly.
Old Town is the historic original town site of Albuquerque in New Mexico State of USA. This old town was laid out by Spanish colonists in the 1700s and it's preserved pretty well. Albuquerque Old Town has couple of historic adobe buildings surrounding Old Town Plaza. On the plaza's north side stands San Felipe de Neri Church, which is a Spanish colonial church with a very old architectural style.
Related Blogpost - Indian Pueblo Cultural Center - Must visit place in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Old Town is a popular tourist destination with a large number of restaurants, shops, galleries, walking alleys, green surroundings and lot more. Albuquerque Old Town is also a home to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science and the Explora science center are located at a walkable distance - one is close to one of the gates of Old Town and the other is across the road from there.
San Felipe de Neri Church is a historic Catholic church located in Old Town Plaza of Albuquerque, New Mexico. This Church is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city and the only building in Old Town proven to date to the Spanish colonial period. When I learned that, it was very interesting fact for my brain to register and appreciate. The church is listed on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties and certainly makes lot of sense.
Above photograph of San Felipe de Neri Church is clicked from across the road. During the Victorian era, under the influence of Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the church was remodelled with Gothic Revival elements, including bell towers, a new pitched roof, and interior decorations, to give it a more European appearance. Over a period of time, the changes in this structure made it special and more appreciable as a piece of architecture in Albuquerque.
Just across the San Felipe de Neri Church, there is a green park area with these 2 canons placed along with a board describing importance of these canons.
Tip if you are looking to buy souvenirs in Albuquerque - Old Town shops have great collection of souvenirs in comparison to lot of other touristy places in Albuquerque and if you intend to buy in bulk you can ask for some discounts. E.g. - there is a great collection of fridge magnets & Mexican jewellery in this market, which would be hard to find in other places in Albuquerque town.
Tip about timings to visit Albuquerque Old Town : Afternoon during the weekends is a good time to visit as there is plenty of action and at times, you may find musical events happening in Central Park of the Old Town.
How to reach Albuquerque Old Town from different part of the town :
Albuquerque Public Transportation system is pretty solid although if you want to optimise on time, probably sticking to Uber/Lyft would be a better option but mis of buses and app based taxies can help you optimise on cost as well as on time. Use Google Map option to the place from where you can get bus and the app helps you walk to exact location and then get down at exact stop. I loved using Google app and roaming around the city in buses.
Time for another tip & this one is on commuting in Albuquerque - One bus ride costs $1 and the daily pass costs you $2, so the obvious choice is to go for daily pass and make best of it :).
When you read about Main places to visit and things to do in Albuquerque, Rattlesnake museum would also be listed. So if you are already in Albuquerque Old Town, this particular museum is actually inside the Old Town, so if interested go visit it. When I was roaming around, the museum was closed so I couldn't go inside and explore it.
Above photograph shows the outer part of Rattlesnake Museum in Albuquerque Old Town.
Above photograph shows wooden sculpture and post likely depicting Indian Pueblo community person.
Old Town Plaza is center of Albuquerque Old Town. It was originally larger than how it looks today.
While walking around Albuquerque Old Town I came across some of the most beautiful doors and windows I have ever seen. I loved clicking these photographs with my phone camera. That reminds me that I should flaunt that all photographs shared in post are clicked with phone camera.
If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter Use dustbins.
2. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite
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