Cities

Tucson

Visit Arizona’s second-largest city, a UNESCO City of Gastronomy and a year-round outdoor playground.

You can be secluded or social in Tucson. The city’s central core is a vibrant area with the University of Arizona, Fourth Avenue and a lively downtown. Stray in any direction from the interior to find endless outdoor space. Tucson is known for its culture and incredible dining, which can be found no matter where you are.

Tucsonans support Tucsonans. Sit down at a craft brewery and the bartenders will likely recommend another you’d like down the street. Shopping in Tucson is a popular activity for visitors and locals alike. Walk into one-of-a-kind shops to discover only-found-here goods, Tucson pride t-shirts and hats, and an enthusiasm for talking about the locals behind every product. The people are also enthusiastic about the place: the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum showcases wildlife, flora and fauna that’s as engaging for residents as it is for visitors.

Outdoors

There are more than 350 days of sunshine in Tucson, and people here love to soak it up. Golfing? Got that! On warm summer days, hiking trails that end in monsoon-rain-filled watering holes rise in popularity, and adventurers flock to the Sky Island of Mount Lemmon, where temperatures are cooler and pine trees offer an escape from the Sonoran Desert. Closer to the city, Tumamoc offers miles of views. Surrounding it all is The Loop, a paved multipurpose trail that’s more than 130 miles in length for bikers, horseback riders and power walkers. Saguaro National Park straddles the east and west sides of the city, with more than 91,000 acres to explore.

Centuries-old culture

Step back through the history of Tucson to see how the city today unifies Hispanic, Native American and Anglo cultures. Mission San Xavier del Bac has seen the region transition from New Spain to Mexico to Arizona. Explore the remnants of the 1775 Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón, from where the City of Tucson was established. Wander the colorful adobes in Barrio Viejo, one of Tucson’s first neighborhoods. Every February, the rodeo shows off with horse and cattle events, and the world's longest non-motorized parade. And in November, the All Souls Procession unites cultural traditions — like Dia de los Muertos — to memorialize and celebrate love and loss. But nowhere combines Tucson’s cultures better than the menus of local restaurants.

World-renowned dining

Flavors here are centuries in the making. A driving force behind Tucson’s designation as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy was the embracing of native ingredients such as tepary beans, chiltepin and prickly pear — chefs here use them creatively and boldly fuse the region’s cultural influences. The Tucson Meet Yourself festival lets you sample dozens of traditional dishes. If you have to choose one item to try: Sonoran hot dogs are a claim to fame.

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