The New Mexico museums truly offer something for everyone. Many of the best are art museums, thus making New Mexico a dream destination for art enthusiasts. You can also get insight into history and culture at the various museums that are found throughout the state, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The topics that the New Mexico museums cover are wide ranging, and since most of the state's main travel destinations boast at least one good museum, keeping an eye out for these cultural institutions is recommended wherever you go.

Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico, and it is also one of the state's top travel destinations. Some of the very best museums in the state call Albuquerque home, and they include the Albuquerque Museum of Art & History. Found on the fringes of the Old Town area at 2000 Mountain Road, this fine museum is virtually two museums in one. Part is dedicated to Southwest art, while the other part focuses on Albuquerque area history. Among the works of art are pieces by such renowned artists as Georgia O'Keeffe and Ernest Blumenshein, and the museum's history collection showcases Spanish conquistador armor, early maps, and other fascinating items. Before you leave, you might catch one of the films that relate to Albuquerque history.

Another Albuquerque museum that figures among the best in the state is the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. Found at 1801 Mountain Road, this dynamic institution can be a wonderful place to spend a couple hours or more. One of the exhibits takes a look at the birth of the Universe, and as you might expect, kids love the dinosaur skeletons. There is also an interactive naturalist center that is a hit with kids, and any and all ages can expect to be wowed by a planetarium show.

New Mexico Map

Santa Fe is another good place to go if you are trying to find the best museums in New Mexico. This culturally rich capital is certainly home to some of the top-rated New Mexico art museums, and these museums include the Museum of International Folk Art and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. The Museum of International Folk Art is the largest museum of its kind in the world, and no other museum on the planet features more Georgia O'Keeffe works than the aptly named Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.

There are a number of excellent museums in Santa Fe, so cultural enthusiasts might want to spend extra time in the capital during their New Mexico vacation. There's the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, for example, and it offers excellent insight into Native American art and religion. Santa Fe visitors might also make it a point to visit the Loretto Chapel. This chapel dates back to the 1870s and was inspired by the Sainte-Chapelle church in Paris. No longer consecrated for worship, the Loretto Chapel now serves as a museum, and if nothing else, dropping by to see the renowned spiral staircase is encouraged.

Many of the best museums in New Mexico are found in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. This doesn't mean that you should forget about museums as you move on to other destinations around the state. In Los Alamos, for example, you can learn about the nuclear age at the fascinating Bradbury Science Museum, and more than 3,000 years of farming and ranching history are at the heart of things at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. New Mexico is more diverse than you might think, and this is partly evidenced by the number of quality museums that are found within its borders.