Things to do in Tucson
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Tucson
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Winter peak: highs 65 to 70F, blue skies, snow possible on Lemmon, highest hotel rates.
Spring is the best all round window: wildflowers in a wet year, every trail and patio in play.
Dry furnace: highs 100 to 108F in June, dawn strategy required, resort and golf prices collapse.
Monsoon: dramatic storms, flooded washes and flash flood danger, with low prices and a greening desert.
Autumn connoisseur season: heat breaks, patios reopen, rates below winter peak. Late October to mid November is a best pick.
What's on
- Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase late January to mid February
The world's largest gem showcase, around 40 to 50 shows citywide with prices and traffic spiking.
- Tucson Jazz Festival January
January jazz festival in winter peak season.
- La Fiesta de los Vaqueros / Tucson Rodeo mid-late February
A week of PRCA rodeo plus the world's longest non-motorized parade.
- Tucson Festival of Books March
Huge free book festival on the University of Arizona campus.
- Fourth Avenue Street Fair March
The Ave closes and fills with artists and food, drawing 100k plus visitors.
- Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase fall edition September
Smaller fall edition of the Gem Show.
- Nightfall at Old Tucson September-October
Haunted event at Old Tucson as its seasonal calendar resumes.
- Tucson Meet Yourself October
Downtown folklife and food festival, eating through 50 plus cultures.
- All Souls Procession early November
A 100,000 person art and remembrance night parade unique in America. Book hotels early.
- El Tour de Tucson November
One of America's largest cycling events, built on the Loop.
Best things to do in Tucson
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Part zoo, botanical garden and museum outdoors, teaching the Sonoran Desert before any hike.
Saguaro National Park
Two districts of saguaro forest bookending the city, with scenic drives, petroglyphs and sunset views.
Mission San Xavier del Bac
A gleaming 1797 mission church with vivid Mexican Baroque frescoes, still an active parish.
Pima Air & Space Museum
Around 400 aircraft across 80 acres and six hangars, plus the famous Boneyard tour add on.
Sabino Canyon Recreation Area
A desert canyon with a tram road along Sabino Creek, saguaros, picnic cottonwoods and trailheads.
Barrio Viejo
Colourful 19th century adobe streets, shrines and murals just south of the convention centre.
Historic Fourth Avenue
Vintage shops, bookstores, bars and murals on Tucson's proudly weird strip, best late afternoon.
Reid Park Zoo
A well sized 24 acre zoo a family can enjoy in two to three hours without overload.
Where to stay in Tucson
Central Tucson / Sam Hughes / Midtown
best overall base, mixed trips
Lovely historic streets by the university and Reid Park, 10 to 15 minutes from most sights.
Downtown / Fourth Avenue / Congress
food, nightlife and no car trips
The only walkable streetcar base, with Congress bars, theatres, Barrio Viejo and the Mercado.
Catalina Foothills / Ventana / Sabino Canyon
luxury, views and hiking
Resorts terraced into the Catalinas near Sabino, quiet and scenic but a drive to downtown.
Starr Pass / West Tucson
Saguaro West and the Desert Museum
Basing west saves cross town driving for the Desert Museum, Saguaro West and Gates Pass sunsets.
Oro Valley / Northwest
families and quiet
Master planned, mountain framed and very quiet, 25 minutes north with driving required.
Tanque Verde / East
staying in the desert itself
A destination dude ranch at the edge of Saguaro East, best booked as the trip itself.
Think twice about
- Oracle Road / Miracle Mile motel strip
Cheap motels serving long stay trade, with high drug activity, property crime and street homelessness.
- South 6th Avenue and I-10 frontage motels
South Tucson motel corridors with the same long stay pattern and crime concentrations. Do not base here to save money.
- Grant Road and Alvernon Way area
An intersection repeatedly singled out locally for crime, drug activity and visible homelessness.
- Downtown fringe around Ronstadt Transit Center and Santa Rita Park
Visible homelessness and open drug use on fringe blocks. Stay on active Congress and Broadway blocks instead.
Best restaurants in Tucson
Tito & Pep
Mesquite fired Midtown bistro that local food people name first for a visitor dinner.
BATA
Downtown's ambitious fire driven restaurant, rewriting its menu with Sonoran seasonality.
El Charro Cafe
Since 1922, the home of carne seca and a claimed chimichanga invention, in an 1896 house.
El Guero Canelo
The American classic Sonoran hot dog stand, Tucson's mandatory cheap rite.
BK Carne Asada & Hot Dogs
The other half of the Sonoran dog argument, with mesquite carne asada tacos as the deeper cut.
Mi Nidito
The famous President's menu sit down heart of the 12th Avenue crawl, order flat enchiladas.
Tumerico
Sonoran rooted, produce driven vegetarian cooking with a market changing chalkboard menu.
La Chaiteria
Tumerico's downtown sibling cafe, serving its vegetarian Sonoran approach in cafe form.
Best bars in Tucson
Batch
Downtown whiskey bar paired with doughnuts, a Tucson drinks list staple.
Sidecar
A craft cocktail bar, one of Tucson's best places to drink well.
Good Oak Bar
A downtown craft cocktail bar on the local drinks circuit.
Ermanos Bar
A Fourth Avenue spot for Tucson craft beer alongside a wine and food offer.
Pueblo Vida Brewing Company
Tucson craft beer standard bearer, known locally for its IPAs.
Whiskey Del Bac
Tucson's own mesquite smoked American single malt, distilled here with tours and tastings.
The Coronet
The elegant Cushing Street end of Tucson drinking and dining.
Nightjar
BATA's basement cocktail bar in the Cushing Street complex, for before or after dinner.
Outdoor things to do in Tucson
Bridal Wreath Falls
A moderate saguaro hike to a seasonal waterfall and pool in the Rincon foothills.
Wasson Peak
The park's best summit loop, with 360 degree views over both valleys and four ranges.
Seven Falls
The classic Tucson hike to tiered, swimmable pools fed by Sabino Creek.
Blackett's Ridge
A hard knife edge ridge between Sabino and Bear canyons with the best near city views.
Mount Lemmon
A one hour drive from saguaro desert to pine forest, Summerhaven and cool high viewpoints.
Tumamoc Hill
A paved desert climb locals do daily at sunset, through protected saguaro research land.
Sentinel Peak
The drive up sunset viewpoint over the city, marked by the university's whitewashed A.
The Golf Club at Dove Mountain
Nicklaus desert golf in Marana, the former Match Play host and Tucson's splurge round.
Best hotels in Tucson
The Arizona Inn
A 1930 pink adobe grande dame on 14 garden acres, midtown's most romantic heritage stay.
Graduate Tucson
A reliable campus hotel walkable to Main Gate Square and the streetcar.
Aloft Tucson University
A reliable mid tier campus hotel for trips centred on the university and Main Gate.
The Blenman Inn
A historic adobe bed and breakfast south of downtown, quiet and breakfast included.
Hotel McCoy
A restored 1960s motor lodge turned art hotel with a pool and budget rates.
The Leo Kent Hotel, Tucson, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel
Tucson's best modern downtown hotel, stylish and central with the streetcar at the door.
Hotel Congress
The 1919 legend above Club Congress, compact historic rooms and Tucson history in the lobby.
AC Hotel Tucson Downtown
A dependable modern downtown hotel with a pool and chain predictability.
Is Tucson expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $90 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $190 a person |
| Splurge | $400 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum: a few days ahead
- Pima Air & Space Museum: weeks ahead
- Titan Missile Museum: weeks ahead
- The Golf Club at Dove Mountain: weeks ahead
- Ventana Canyon Golf & Country Club: weeks ahead
- Omni Tucson National Resort & Spa: weeks ahead
- Arizona Climbing Guides: weeks ahead
- Fleur de Tucson Balloon Tours: weeks ahead
- Book winter hotels 6 to 10 weeks out, earlier for Gem Show dates in late January to mid February.
- Book Tito & Pep, BATA, Hacienda Grill and Vivace 1 to 2 weeks ahead in season.
- Reserve Kartchner Caverns weeks ahead in winter, and book Boneyard, Kitt Peak night, Titan and Queen Mine ahead.
- Book resort golf 2 to 4 weeks out in winter. Saguaro and Sabino lots fill by 9am on spring weekends.
Is Tucson safe?
- Carry a gallon of water per person for a full hike, hike at dawn May to September, and tell someone your trail plan.
- Never cross a flooded wash or road in monsoon, and stay out of creek canyons when storms build.
- Leave nothing visible in a parked car anywhere, including trailheads and resort lots.
- Watch for rattlesnakes, scorpions and javelinas, keep dogs leashed, and never feed wildlife.
Tucson travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Do not make Tombstone a full day solo destination. Pair it with Kartchner or Bisbee, or skip it.
- Do not choose Old Tucson over the Desert Museum, 10 minutes away.
- Do not drive to Phoenix mid trip for glossier resorts. Tucson has better Sonoran food and saguaros.
- Do not hike at midday from June to September. Heat illness is the top visitor emergency.
- Treat Eegee's as a beloved local ritual, not a dining destination.
Getting around Tucson: public transport and more
- Rent a car for Saguaro, the Desert Museum, Sabino, Lemmon and day trips.
- A downtown food and culture trip works car light on the free Sun Link streetcar plus rideshare.
- I-19 distances are signed in kilometres, and Border Patrol checkpoints operate south and west. Have ID accessible.
- Parking is plentiful and mostly cheap or free outside downtown meters.
Who Tucson suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Tucson your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store