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Guide to Tucson, USA - Arizona
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Click to go to Flight Prices for Tucson
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TucsonTo fully grasp Tucson, one must have lived upon its wind-swept landscape for decades, and even if one were to accomplish a stay of such length, a few things are bound to surprise you as time passes on. A jumble of modern architecture, drifters in wood homesteads, and heat, Tucson, Arizona sits on a patty of desert amidst miles of natural splendors, including canyons, cliffs, and, yes, forests. Climatically similar to fellow southwestern states, Arizona sees the sun rear its heat almost everyday, but because of its variants in elevation and continuous valleys, air flow is generated, and one place fortunate to experience those effects is Tucson. Fighting for the limelight as Arizona's premier tourist destination, Tucson has a great many attractions in its arsenal, but when measured up against the state's capital, Phoenix, one can't help but wonder if the metropolis of the south is to ever achieve such a goal. Today, however, Tucson appears comfortable in its current state. Cultural sites are in abundance here, and settlement history from before the 'Wild West' was a term coined by explorers is told in its great collection of museums. A place for sightseers and nature walkers, Tucson can be your next stop at the click of a button.
When to go:
While summer is the northern United States' high season, winter is the time when the south receives its yearly hoards of tourists. Tucson itself plays host to beautiful - albeit short - days, where the highs are in the 70Fs and the mountains are capped with snow, perfect for those consider it ideal to couple daylight spent snowboarding and their nights in restaurants, bars, and performance venues of all sorts. If you travel to the city at the start of winter, you can expect the same amount of crowding as you would the first month of spring. Wait a few weeks, fly into Tucson in January or February, and you're guaranteed to bump into far less tour groups. The mountains do not follow such patterns, however; many extreme sports enthusiasts find their way to powered summits year-round.
Getting there and around:
Far enough from the city to keep the commotion of jet engines at bay, yet close enough not to cause irritation in transport, Tucson International Airport acts mostly as a hub for domestic travel. Few international connections are available, and those which do exist are often cross-border flights to/from locations within Mexico. Travelers from Europe will have to find either a direct connection to Phoenix before making way for Tucson or arranging a stop over in the eastern US. Tucson buses, operate under the authority of Sun Tran, offer efficient services during the day, but you'll have to hire taxis for night travel. If you're visiting in winter, you can rent a bicycle in town and see the city in a unique way without any hefty fees.
Attractions:
For the historic Tucson, you'll have to drive, pedal or ride your way to downtown, where museums share street space with structures over a century old. La Casa Cordova is el primo in this district, and most of the goodies found inside can now be seen in the adjacent establishment known as the Tucson Museum of Art. Artifacts through contemporary pieces offer unrivaled insight into the city's cultural past and present, and multimedia displays are there to accompany and enhance many of the museum's displays. What would a visit to the city of Tucson be without some time spent with nature? The Tucson Botanical Gardens are found on five and a half acres of city grid, where you'll not completely escape the sounds of the roadways, but some time with the tropical greenhouse and herb garden will surely take your mind off of the hubbub.
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