Tucson vacation

[Anonymous]

There were a few threads on here earlier this year about vacations in Arizona, so I thought I'd post our recent Tucson vacation itinerary, for the benefit of future searchers. Fwiw, we did Phoenix a few years ago, and I found Phoenix/scottdale really boring--I think Phoenix is fine if you just want to hang out at the pool or use it as a landing point for exploring the Grand Canyon and other destinations in the north of the state, but otherwise I think Tucson has way more to do.
Day 1 -- Sabino Canyon. I highly recommend the tram tour. You can get off and on at any of the stops and walk to the next. One of the stops has a creek which is a nice place to cool your toes and have a picnic or snack. There is also a nice Junior Ranger badge program to do at the base, and several other hikes. I think a very outdoorsy family could spend more than one day here happily.

Day 2 -- Old Tucson. An old movie studio where they filmed westerns out in the desert west of town; it now has stunt shows, panning for gold, some limited rides, etc. My 10 year old adored it. Definitely see the shows.

Day 3 -- Day trip to Kartchner Caverns (1 hour south of town) and Bisbee (an hour further). We did one of the cavern tours, and a really cool tour of the old copper queen mine in bisbee (led by a retired miner, you ride down on the old mine cars that the miners used). It is fine for at least age 4 and up. We really could have spent a whole day in each destination. kartchner is a big park with a lot of nice hiking trails. Bisbee is a beautiful old town (once one of the richest in the west) which is now a sort of artists community with some great restaurants and nice stops. Bisbee also is famous for the 1000 step challenge, as there are looong staircases all throughout town due to the hill. My kids enjoyed trying that challenge (we did not make it to 1000). You need advance reservations for both the cavern tour and the mine tour.

Day 4 -- Tucson Children's Museum. A nice little museum for ages 1 through 10. There is one day that is half off, so you might want to plan around that. Also, there are several good old Mexican restaurants downtown that you can try while your there (El Charro, El Minuto and El Nidito are all good).

Day 5 -- Horseback riding and hanging out. We hit Agua Caliente park (an old hot spring area that is popular with birders) but there are probably better places closer to wherever you're staying.

Day 6 -- Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. This is really great. Plan on going early to see animals and hit the hot desert loop trail first. Be warned that like Old Tucson, it's about 10 miles west of town. See the hawk show if the season is right for it.

Day 7 -- Pima Air and Space Museum. Like Udvar-Hazy but much bigger and they let you touch everything. Some portion of it is only open work days, so plan accordingly. Gaslight Theater--a hokey slapstick musical comedy dinner theater with audience participation unlike anything I've seen in any other city. Buy tickets weeks or months in advance. Get there early for the tremendous sing along. The piano player is something else.

Things we didn't do, but which are also great ideas:
Titan Missile Museum
Museum of Miniatures
Drive up Mount Lemmon to Summerhaven (cool to show kids how you can go from hot desert to cool pine forest in two hours just by changing elevation.)
Mission San Xavier del Bac (on the Tohono reservation, near the airport, this is the best example of Spanish Baroque architecture in the U.S. It was renovated around the year 2000, all by native workers from the Tohono tribe that built it originally).

Hope this helps those of you looking for a southwestern vacation!
I'll also add that the most popular resorts in Tucson are the Westin La Paloma, Sheraton El Conquistador, And Westward Look. Hacienda del sol. If you're looking for someplace smaller. Tanque Verde Guest Ranch is a well known dude ranch.

[Anonymous]

Love it, OP! I lived in Tucson for 5 years and your post really made me miss it, especially the restaurants! I agree that it's way better than Phoenix/Scottsdale (and I lived there longer). Tucson is really Arizona, while Phoenix and the surrounding towns just try to be LA without the ocean.