How to Tour Tucson, Arizona

Rich in Spanish, Mexican and Native American culture, Tucson is home to numerous landmarks representing a history that dates back thousands of years. It’s also an ideal place to experience outdoor activities against beautiful desert mountain scenery. Here’s how to tour Tucson, Arizona, for its rich cultural history and landscape.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Go back in time in rich, historic downtown Tucson. Start with the Arizona Historical Society for the history of the state and the region, including a re-created mine tunnel. Tour downtown manors and country houses, like the Charles O. Brown House, Samaniego House and Sosa-Carillo-Fremont House. Step into the Congress Hotel, where a 1934 fire led to the arrest of John Dillinger and his gang. See memorabilia of Dillinger’s arrest in the Tucson Police Department. Shop in the Fourth Avenue Historic Shopping District. And if you have time, stop by El Tiradito Shrine, Garces Footbridge, St. Augustine Cathedral, the Temple of Music and Art, the Tucson Children’s Museum, Pioneer Memorial and the Tucson Convention Center, featuring an arena, exhibit hall, grand ballroom, galleria, gardens and pavilions.

2. Spend some time in El Presidio Historic District in downtown Tucson. Step into historic country homes and manors, like El Charro Manor, Julius Kruttschnitt House, Manning House, Owl’s Club Mansion, Sam Hughes House and Steinfeld House. Shop in Old Town Artisans market. Stop by Pima County Courthouse. And get a feel for the local art scene in the Tucson Museum of Art, housed in five restored buildings.

3. Step into a mock Old West town in Old Tucson Studios. Built as a movie set in 1939, it’s since been featured in more than 70 films.

4. Fly through history at the Pima Air and Space Museum when you tour Tucson, Arizona. With more than 275 aircraft on display, it’s one of the largest air and space museums in the world, including a collection from World War II.

5. Get a feel for military life on the Arizona frontier at Fort Lowell Museum. It’s located in the renovated Commanding Officer’s quarters originally built in 1873. Among the displays are exhibits on the Apache Wars.

6. Hike, bike and picnic along numerous Tucson trails, including the Gold Gate Loop Trail on Golden Gate Mountain, Pima Canyon, Sabino Canyon and Finger Rock Trail in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains, Finger Rock Trail, Arizona Trail (for hardcore hikers and bikers only) and the 20,000-acre Tucson Mountain Park.

7. Explore native Arizona plants at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, including a butterfly garden, cactus and succulent garden, herb garden, Native American crops garden, wildflower garden, xeriscape demonstration garden and more.

8. Visit the University of Arizona, home to the Arizona State Museum (the oldest and largest anthropology museum in the Southwest), the Environment Research Lab and the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium, featuring shows in the planetarium and free viewings through a 16-inch telescope.

9. Drive by “A” Mountain, where University of Arizona freshman paint the letter on Sentinel Peak every year.

10. See what many consider to be the finest example of mission architecture in America–San Xavier del Bac Mission in Santa Cruz Valley. Built in the 1700s, this restored white adobe church is also known as “The White Dove of the Desert.”

11. Drive or stroll through the Barrio Historico Village when you tour Tucson, Arizona. Though now converted into private residences, you’ll have an opportunity to see some of the Tucson’s oldest buildings with rich Mexican flavor.

12. Celebrate the Chicano movement of the 1970s with the El Rio Neighborhood Center Murals, created by artists Antonio Pazos and David Tineo on the exterior walls of the El Rio Neighborhood Center.

Resources

• Tucson Visitors Bureau