Tucson’s attractions are mainly outdoors, especially in the desert around, but it has museums and other cultural sites too.
As Arizona’s second-biggest city, Tucson has a great deal to offer visitors and is well worth a few days of anyone’s time. Many of its attractions are outdoors as it is blessed with sunny weather for much of the year – over 300 days of sunshine each year.
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
One of the major sights which mustn’t be missed is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, on a large site west of the city surrounded by beautiful desert landscapes. It’s partly a wildlife park, partly a zoo, and partly a museum, displaying animals, birds, and plants that are native to the deserts of Southern Arizona. However, the creatures are all ones which, for some reason, would not survive in the wild, and here you will see coyotes, javelina, wolves, mountain lions, bears, jaguars, snakes, and many other creatures. Don’t miss the twice-daily raptor freeflight show, or the humming-bird enclosure.
,small> Photo Courtesy of Tucson CVB
Old Tucson Studios
On the way out to the Desert Museum you drive past another major attraction, especially for families: Old Tucson Studios. It is still a working movie studio as well as being a western theme park where you can pan for gold or watch re-enactments of gunfights. It was here that popular TV series like Bonanza and The High Chapparal were filmed, as well as classic westerns including Tombstone, Hombre, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Rio Bravo and 3:10 to Yuma.
Saguaro National Park
Also close to the Desert Museum and Old Tucson Studios is the Saguaro National Park West. There is also a Saguaro National Park East, and you should visit one and preferably both of these while in Tucson. Each has an informative Visitor Center as well as hiking trails so that you can get out into the desert landscape for yourself. The west park is more hilly, the east park flatter.
Other Outdoor Attractions
Other impressive outdoor attractions within the city are the Tucson Botanical Gardens, and the Tohono Chul Park, while south of the city is the beautiful Mission San Xavier del Bac, known as the White Dove of the Desert.
Pima Air and Space Museum
The Pima Air and Space Museum is a collection of about 300 planes spread over a huge area and is one of the world’s largest private aerospace museums. If you’re at all interested in airplanes, allow most of the day to get round the museum.
Other Museums
The Children’s Museum Tucson will also keep families occupied for several hours, especially if you plan your visit for when an activity is going on, like how to make a rodeo bandana or how to make a walrus! Exhibits include a rain forest, how to create electricity, how to be a pet’s vet, and learning to drive a train. For adults the Tucson Museum of Art and the Downtown Historic District should also be seen. For more suggestions see our post on the Top Museums in Tucson.
Tucson Events
If planning a visit to Tucson, spring is a good time to come. It’s in the months of February and March that three of the city’s annual highlights take place: The Tucson Gem Show, the Tucson Rodeo, and the Tucson Festival of Books. The Festival of Books is one of the biggest in the United States, while the Gem Show is long-established as one of the biggest gem shows in the world, at venues all over the city. Soon after, on the first weekend in April, is the Tucson Folk Festival, the biggest free folk festival in the USA.
OUR PICK OF THE GUIDES
From that blues bar you haven’t visited yet to the desert hike you keep meaning to plan, experience something new right here at home with Moon 52 Things to Do in Phoenix & Tucson.
- Cool things to do in and around the cities: Kick back at a Spring Training game or squeeze into the grandstands of El Gran Mercado for some lucha libre. Bike the famed Loop in Tucson, kayak Tempe Town Lake, and lace up your boots for an urban hike in the Phoenix Mountains. Support local BIPOC writers at Palabras Bilingual Bookstore and taste what’s on tap at a women-owned brewery. Savor Sonoran-style food like tamales and carne asada or try authentic Tohono O’odham fry bread.
