United States · New Mexico · Albuquerque
Old Town Albuquerque, Albuquerque — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Old Town Albuquerque is the original 1706 town site of Albuquerque, ten blocks of adobe around Old Town Plaza and San Felipe de Neri Church.
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Where to stay in Old Town Albuquerque
Where the beds are, and what that means for the visit.
A stay inside the historic zoning means low adobe blocks and streets that empty once the shops close. Adobe walls do the muffling. Anyone planning museum days on foot should weigh the blocks toward the Albuquerque Museum, where the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science stands within the same walk.
Families do better toward the ABQ BioPark Zoo, the Albuquerque Aquarium and the Rio Grande Botanic Garden.
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Old Town Plaza
San Felipe de Neri Church and the adobe shopfronts open straight onto the plaza, and the block goes quiet once the daytime trade shuts.Find hotels in Old Town Plazadays measured in exhibition hallsAlbuquerque Museum
Museum ground, with the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and the Telephone Museum of New Mexico inside the same protected ten blocks.Find hotels in Albuquerque Museumfamilies pairing the zoo with the aquariumABQ BioPark Zoo
The Albuquerque Aquarium and the Rio Grande Botanic Garden carry the same ABQ BioPark name, which suits a party that splits up and meets again.Find hotels in ABQ BioPark ZooHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Things to do in and around Albuquerque
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
3- New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
- Albuquerque Museum
- Telephone Museum of New Mexico
Churches & Religious Sites
4- San Felipe de Neri Church Heritage
- First Methodist Episcopal Church Heritage
- San Ignacio Church Heritage
- Second United Presbyterian Church Heritage
Parks & Gardens
1- Rio Grande Botanic Garden
Landmarks & Notable Places
8- John Pearce House Heritage
- Henry Mann House Heritage
- Delfina Gurule House Heritage
- Gavino Anaya House Heritage
- W. E. Mauger House Heritage
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- Hilario Lopez House Heritage
- Hudson House Heritage
- John Milne House Heritage
worth knowingacross 4 categories in and around Albuquerque
About Old Town Albuquerque
What are the main landmarks in Old Town Albuquerque?
San Felipe de Neri Church stands on the north side of Old Town Plaza, a Spanish colonial building finished in 1793. The Albuquerque Museum sits close by, and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, the Albuquerque Aquarium and the Rio Grande Botanic Garden pull daytime crowds toward the same few blocks. Smaller doors sit off the plaza.
La Glorieta, the Telephone Museum of New Mexico and the Charles LeFeber House sit inside the same protected ten blocks.
What is the history of Old Town Albuquerque?
Francisco Cuervo y Valdés, governor of New Mexico, established the town site in 1706 for the provincial kingdom of Santa Fe de Nuevo México. Diné, Pueblo, Apache and Tiwa people held the ground long before that. San Felipe de Neri Church went up on the plaza's north side in 1793, and the surrounding adobe blocks later entered the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties as the Old Albuquerque Historic District.
City zoning guards the fabric.
Where is Old Town Albuquerque?
The district holds about ten blocks of adobe buildings around Old Town Plaza, kept apart from the rest of Albuquerque by a special historic zoning designation.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Old Town Albuquerque?
Old Town Plaza: mornings that begin on the square itself. Albuquerque Museum: days measured in exhibition halls. ABQ BioPark Zoo: families pairing the zoo with the aquarium.
Good for
More areas in Albuquerque
Updated October 2026