Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau 20 First Plaza N.W. #601 P.O. Box 26866 Albuquerque, NM 87201 (505) 842-9918 (505) 247-9101 (fax) Population 384736 Time Zone Mountain Latitude/Longitude 35.08° /-106.63° Today's Forecast HIGH: 56 LOW: 31

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Attractions

In the city's picturesque Old Town, adobe-style shops and restaurants ring the central plaza, which is dominated by historic San Felipe de Neri Church, built in 1706. Adjacent to Old Town, the recently expanded Albuquerque Museum of Art and History offers exhibitions and programs focusing on New Mexico's middle Rio Grande region. The museum's art collection contains works by Georgia O'Keeffe and other representatives of the major New Mexico schools. Exhibits at the nearby National Atomic Museum portray the development of the nuclear age from World War II through the Cold War years to the promise of peaceful uses for nuclear energy.

For a little excitement, walk through the simulated volcano in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. The museum prides itself on its innovative and hands-on educational exhibits and offers visitors firsthand experiences with dinosaurs, an "Evolator" time machine that transports passengers 38 million years into the state's past, and an Ice Age cave. Kids can also investigate science and art at Explora!, an interactive learning center offering hundreds of hands-on activities.

When in Old Town, be sure to visit the American International Rattlesnake Museum, where you'll find the largest display of different species of live rattlesnakes in the world along with various bits of rattlesnake art and artifacts. Then, learn all about the popular gemstone at the Torquoise Museum, which you'll enter through a simulated mineshaft.

North of Old Town, the excellent Indian Pueblo Cultural Center features exhibits on the history of New Mexico's 19 pueblo communities. The center's gift shop has a striking array of American Indian arts and crafts, pottery and jewelry, sand paintings, baskets, souvenirs, and books. East of Old Town, in the city's modern commercial center, the University of New Mexico offers separate museums of geology, anthropology and art, plus the Meteorite Museum, where the 500+ specimens range from bits of iron to a one-ton monster.

Skirting the Rio Grande is the Albuquerque Biological Park, comprising the Albuquerque Aquarium, Rio Grande Botanic Garden, Tingley Beach, and the Rio Grande Zoo. Home to more than 250 animals -- giraffes, emus, koalas, Komodo dragons, white rhinos and more -- the zoo features daily sea lion and polar bear feedings. While in the park, drop by the Rio Grande Botanic Garden, with its traditional Spanish-Moorish and English landscaped gardens, and the Albuquerque Aquarium, which features aquatic species and their habitats from the headwaters of the Rio Grande to the Gulf of Mexico.

For summertime fun, Cliffs Amusement Park offers thrill rides in a traditional theme park environment. Among the family-oriented thrills here is a hair-raising, wooden roller coaster, the New Mexico Rattler. Summer's traditional sport, baseball, is played by the Albuquerque Isotopes, triple-A affiliate of the Florida Marlins, who entertain their Pacific Coast League opponents at the new Isotopes Park, which opened in 2003. Indoor sports in winter means taking in the New Mexico Scorpions of the Central Hockey League who play at Santa Ana Star Center, which opened in 2006 in the northern suburb of Rio Rancho.

You can walk the wilds at Rio Grande Nature Center State Park, 170 acres of preserved riparian bosque, and then take a trip back in history with a visit to Petroglyph National Monument, where passing explorers and native people carved countless petroglyphs into the volcanic rock. Towering nearly a mile above the city, Sandia Crest offers skiing in winter and awe-inspiring views of the Southwestern landscape year-round. It can be reached by car or by taking the Sandia Peak Tramway, which makes the ascent in about 15 minutes.

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