Santa Fe

Built around 1610, the oldest continuously used public building in the United States, now part of the New Mexico History Museum, with Native American artisans selling jewellery under its portal.

💡 Buy your jewellery under the portal rather than in the shops: each artisan is registered and the origin of the pieces is guaranteed. On the first Friday of the month, the museum stays open until 7pm, with free entry from 5pm. Price: $12 for non-residents, about €10.

The world's largest collection of works by Georgia O'Keeffe, from enlarged flowers to bleached bones and red Abiquiú hills, with guided small-group tours of her home and studio.

💡 Book the Abiquiú house several weeks ahead if you want to see it, as places are scarce. The Santa Fe museum opens every day from 10am to 5pm; allow an hour to an hour and a half. Price: $24, about €21, with tickets on sale 60 days in advance.

A Gothic Revival chapel completed in 1878, famous for its wooden spiral staircase making two full turns with no visible central support, nicknamed the miraculous staircase.

💡 Come at opening time in the morning, before the groups, and check the opening hours online, as the chapel sometimes closes for a private ceremony. The staircase cannot be climbed. Price: an entry fee of a few dollars, paid on site.

Four museums facing one another on a hill south-east of the centre, including the world's largest folk art collection and its dioramas of toys, dolls and figurines from Alexander Girard.

💡 Start with the Folk Art museum, then have lunch at the café on the plaza. City bus M links the hill with the centre. The state museums close on Mondays from November to April. Price: $12 per state museum for a non-resident, about €10.

An immersive art installation in a former bowling alley, where a Victorian house opens through a fridge or a wardrobe onto more than 70 rooms of fluorescent forests and spaceships.

💡 Book a slot early in the day on a weekday, as weekends are packed and noisy. Allow two hours, more if you follow the story. Price: from $33 for a timed slot, about €28, and $54 for open entry at any time, about €46.

Frijoles Canyon, where Ancestral Pueblo people lived until around 1550, with a loop past the ruins of Tyuonyi and cliff dwellings reached by ladders, up to Alcove House.

💡 Set off early, as the canyon-floor car park fills quickly in season; a free shuttle then links the Frey Trail car park with the visitor centre at weekends and on public holidays from mid-March to mid-October. Entry is cashless: buy the e-ticket on Recreation.gov and print it before you leave, as the park requires a paper copy. Price: $25 per vehicle, about €22, valid for 7 days.