Spring is here, and so are the tourists. With the warm weather comes a new season of sightseeing, including seasonal walking tours hosted by the Palace of the Governors and the New Mexico History Museum.

"I always say that we have cultural overload in Santa Fe," guide Joel Stein jokes to visitors as he begins to summarize the city's multicultural history and enumerate the local galleries, restaurants and museums.

Stein, a museum guide at the Palace of the Governors, sports tennis shoes and a canvas bag as he addresses a group of three couples from Potomac, Md.

The tours provide a broad, interactive introduction to downtown Santa Fe. The group gathered Thursday at the vivid blue gate on the west side of the Palace — the starting place of the tours — had never been to Santa Fe before.

Stein provided a mixture of anecdotes and straight historical narrative, covering topics such as colonial history, nearby restaurants, local celebrities, American Indian jewelry, lack of rainfall and styles of architecture.

One of 19 guides in the program, he has been a Santa Fe resident for 12 years. He studied to be a docent with the Palace of the Governors and has been a guide for a decade. Stein can easily recount the role of New Mexican cowboys in the Spanish American War, the history behind the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the role of Santa Fe in the Manhattan Project and the story behind the genesis and use of adobe.

According to Patricia Kuhlhoff, coordinator of the walking tours, the program has been running for more than 20 years. Anywhere from 800 to 1,000 people come through during the April to October season, Kuhlhoff said.

Kuhlhoff also outlined the importance of the tours as a way to raise money for the endowment at the Palace of the Governors. Since the Palace reached its endowment goal a number of years ago, however, the money from the tours now goes toward the outreach and educational program at the Palace.

"They're a very important fundraiser. They're an excellent, very intimate way for people to get to know New Mexico by talking to and being with a New Mexico resident," Kuhlhoff said.

Contact Julia Leitner at 986-3050 or jleitner@sfnewmexican.com.

DOWNTOWN WALKING TOUR

When: 10:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday through Saturday

Where: Blue gate at the Palace of the Governors on Lincoln Avenue

Tickets: $10 per person; children under 17 free