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• The main plaza in Taos is a great place for people-watching. Pull up a bench and watch the world go by.

• A number of the houses near the plaza that belonged to founders of the art colony or other significant personages have been turned into museums and galleries.
  • Fechin Institute, on Paseo del Pueblo just north of the plaza, +1 575 758-2690. Tu-Su, 10AM-5PM. Located in the former home of Russian born artist Nicolai Fechin, the Taos Art Museum has works from famous Taos artists. $8
  • Kit Carson Home and Museum, on Kit Carson Road 1/2 block east of the plaza, +1 575 758-4945. Daily, 10AM-5PM. The house of Kit Carson, with artifacts from his life and frontier life in Taos.
  • Governor Bent Home, on Bent Street a couple of blocks north of the plaza. The former home of Governor Bent, the first Governor of New Mexico when it was territorial United States, who was killed here in a raid by angry residents who objected to American rule.
  • Blumenschein Home & Museum, on Ledoux Street a few blocks southwest of the plaza, 1 575 758-0505. Daily, 9AM-5PM. The former home of Ernest L. Blumenschein, who became captivated by the scenery in Taos when he and a friend were traveling through and a wagon accident forced them to stay in Taos. Blumenschein told other artists of the beautiful scenery and returned to Taos, where he helped create the Taos Art Colony. $5
  • Harwood Museum of Art, on Ledoux Street a few blocks southwest of the plaza, +1 575 758-9826. Tu-Sa 10AM-5PM, Su noon-5PM. A vast collection from Taos artists dating from the 18th to the 20th century. $7

• The Kit Carson Park & Cemetery, a couple of blocks north of the Plaza on Paseo del Pueblo, is a lovely, shaded public park with fields, trails, a playground, and a cemetery with the graves of Kit Carson, his family, and other notable Taos citizens.

• Hacienda de los Martinez, on Ranchitos Road a few miles southwest of the plaza, +1 575 758-0505. Daily, 9AM-5PM. One of the few existing Spanish Colonial haciendas, or "Great House", you take a tour of this wonderful old place and get to see what life was like here in the early 19th century. $5

• Millicent Rogers Museum, on Millicent Rogers Road off of Paseo del Pueblo north of town, +1 575 758-2462. Daily, 10AM-5PM (closed on Mondays November-March). Famed artist Millicent Rogers lived here in Taos, and the museum continues her legacy. Lots of jewelry, and other Southwestern art like Native American pottery and a room for traditional Hispanic art. $10

• The Church of San Francisco de Asis, in Ranchos de Taos, is an incredibly photogenic example of the churches founded in New Mexico during the Spanish mission period. It's a short drive from downtown Taos on New Mexico 68 and close enough to the highway that you won't have to spend more than 15 minutes getting to and from it if you want to settle for a quick visit. For serious photography and painting, you may have to join a crowd of other aspiring artists. Tours of the interior are available except around times of worship services.

• Taos Pueblo [3] is a UNESCO World Heritage Site owing to its history, culture, and beauty. The pueblo is open to visitors daily (fee) from 8 a.m. until 4:30, although it closes occasionally for religious ceremonies, including an extended closure in early spring, usually around Easter. There is an additional fee for photography, etc. You can drive to the pueblo if you don't mind the frustration of navigating through downtown Taos traffic, but Taos Trolley Tours visits it on one of their regular tours and may be a less aggravating way of getting there. Note that there's now a casino at the pueblo, if you go for that sort of thing; this one is notable for being entirely non-smoking.

Taos is a well-known center for "spiritual" activities of various kinds, some of them relating to the curious and possibly mythical phenomenon of the Taos Hum. Many visitors claim to be able to hear a persistent, low rumbling or buzzing sound not attributable to the traffic of town or other obvious sources. Possible explanations have been posed ranging from the pedestrian (static discharges in the mountains, power lines that are heard but not seen) to the outlandish (secret government facilities nearby, some manner of UFO nexus). Sober-sided skeptics insist that there isn't really a Hum at all and that its perception results from visitors from noisier lands being unused to the general solitude and silence of the rural area. If you want to try to hear the Hum, get out of the downtown area, which is too congested to hear a "hum" of anything but traffic, and spend some time in the forest, particularly early in the morning or at night if you're equipped for it.

• Ski. Taos Ski Valley [4] is a major downhill ski locale, usually with the best snow in New Mexico if not the entire Southwest. Note: Snowboarding is not permitted. The slopes usually open on Thanksgiving weekend and close in early April, although early season snow can be sparse and spring conditions slushy. Snow conditions for the winter of 2006-7 are glorious, after several years of drought during which many runs were closed. This is a challenging hill, and beginners may feel more comfortable on one of the nearby areas listed under "Get out," but the expert skier can have a fantastic time here. One caution: there is Nordic (cross-country) skiing up-valley from the downhill area, but the valley is prone to avalanches, and Nordic skiers have died there. If the locals warn you against skiing (downhill or Nordic) outside the safe areas due to avalanche hazard, take them seriously.

• There are a number of fine hikes in the mountains after the skiing ends and the snow melts, with trailheads at Taos Ski Valley and elsewhere. Wheeler Peak, the highest summit in New Mexico at 13,161', is on the ridge opposite the main ski runs and is a popular hiking destination. Do not underestimate this mountain. In addition to the avalanche hazard during the winter, bad weather can strike at any time of the year and turn what is normally a hands-in-the-pockets walk into a life-threatening, and sometimes -ending, experience.

• The Taos Box offers superb river running on the Rio Grande during the spring and summer. Several outfitters and guide companies operate out of Taos, and there are others based in small towns between Taos and Española. Some with acceptable reputations are Cottam's Rio Grande River Trips, 800-322-8267; Far Flung Adventures, phone 800-359-2627; Los Rios River Runners, 800-544-1181; Native Sons Adventures, 800-753-7559. There are probably others; if you have a good (or bad) experience with one, expand this list.