• Arizona Grand Spa, 8000 S. Arizona Grand Parkway, ☎ 602-431-6484, [22]. 9am-8pm. Rejuvenate your mind, body & soul with a wide variety of spa treatments from this spa in Phoenix. Services include a salon, relaxing body treatments, hydrating facials, & “just for kids” treatments. edit

• Arizona Grand Golf Course, 8000 S. Arizona Grand Parkway, ☎ 602-431-6480, [23]. Awarded the Four Star Award by Golf Digest, Arizona Grand Golf Course is one of the most challenging golf courses in the Phoenix area and blends desert target golf with traditional links. edit

• Arizona Grand Athletic Club, 8000 S. Arizona Grand Parkway, ☎ 602-431-6484, [24]. Arizona Grand Athletic club is one of the top fitness facilities in Arizona with weight rooms, fitness classes, a heated lap pool, indoor racquetball court, golf instruction and personal training instruction.  edit

• Piestewa Peak, 2701 E. Squaw Peak Ln., (enter off of Lincoln Dr., just west of S.R. 51), [25]. Daily 5AM-11PM (Formerly Squaw Peak) Right in the middle of Phoenix lies Phoenix Mountains Park. The park offers a strenuous one to two hour hike to the top of Piestewa Peak (elevation 2,610 feet), offering fantastic 360 degree views of the city and its surrounding environment. Especially during the hot summer months (up to 110-115 degrees F in the afternoon), use caution and bring lots of water and a hat. There is no shade and parts of the trail can be quite steep and rocky. The Park also has several picnic areas.
• Phoenix Symphony, 455 North 3rd Street, +1 602-495-1999, [26]. The city's classical and pops orchestra, presenting a 25-week season of concerts.
• Arizona Opera, 4600 North 12th Street, +1 602-266-7464, [27]. Presenting a season of five grand opera productions, with emphasis on Verdi, Puccini, and Mozart.
• Arizona Theatre Company, [28]. Professional theater in downtown Phoenix's Herberger theater complex.
• Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main St., Mesa, +1 480-644-6500, [29]. Visit the newly constructed and award winning MAC. Home of contemporary art displays and studios, as well as the Southwest Shakespeare Company[30] and the Mesa Symphony Orchestra.
• Desert Storm Hummer Tours, 1-866-374-8637, [31]. Since 1995, Desert Storm Hummer has specialized in Sonoran Desert adventures. If you are truly adventurous, experience the dark side of the desert. Night vision tours let you witness desert life after dark!

Professional Sports

• Arizona Diamondbacks, 7th Street and Jefferson, +1 602-514-8400, [32]. Take in a baseball game at this unique stadium. Formerly known as Bank One Ballpark (The BOB), the home of the 2001 World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks, capacity 49,033, with a retractable roof and air conditioning. You can get really decent tickets for $12.50.
• Phoenix Suns, 201 East Jefferson Street, +1 800-4NBA-TIX, [33]. Very popular NBA team featuring all-stars such as Shaq and Steve Nash. Tickets start at $25.
• Arizona Cardinals, 1 Cardinals Drive Glendale, AZ. +1 623-433-7100 , [34]. Check out the newest NFL stadium in the country named by Business Week as one of the 10 “most impressive” sports facilities on the globe due to the combination of its retractable roof and roll-in natural grass field.
• Phoenix Coyotes, 9400 Maryland Avenue Glendale, AZ. +1 623-772-3800, [35]. NHL Hockey team. Maybe you can see the world famous Wayne Gretzky since he is involved in team management.
• Cactus League Spring Training Baseball, Phoenix and Surrounding Cities. Annually February - March the Phoenix Metropolitan Area hosts 9 Major Leage Baseball teams for their spring training activities and exhibition games. A great way to spend the afternoon on a beautiful Arizona Spring day. More info available at [36].

Events

• First Friday's Artwalk, Free parking at Burton Barr Central Library 1221 N. Central Ave., [37]. On the first Friday of every month, hundreds of local art galleries, venues, and shops open up free to the public. This local tradition has been going strong since 1994 and has become the largest art walk in the United States. A great place to see and be seen.
• Phoenix Film Festival, 7000 E. Mayo Blvd., Scottsdale [38]. The celebration takes place annually(April) in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. The festival began as a showcase for feature films made for under $1 million and short films made for under $50,000, however, it is quickly climbing its way into elite status in the film circuit due to its first class treatment of filmmakers.

Individual listings can be found in Phoenix's district articles

In Phoenix-proper, see:

• Arizona Science Center, 600 E. Washington St., +1 602-716-2000, [17]. Science and Technology, along with a planetarium and IMAX theatre. Be sure to stop in and see one of the many renowned traveling exhibits that make a stop here.
• Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 N. Galvin Pkwy., +1 480-941-1225, [18]. Plant life of the Sonoran Desert, and of arid lands around the world.
• Heard Museum, 2301 North Central Av., +1 602-252-8848, [19]. World famous museum celebrating Native American cultures and arts, especially those of Arizona and New Mexico. Be sure to check out the amazing collection of Hopi Kachina dolls.
• Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park, 4619 E. Washington Street, +1 602-495-0901, [20]. M-Sa 9AM-4:45PM, Su 1PM-4:45PM. The US's only city-operated archaeological site, exploring and interpreting the pre-Columbian Hohokam civilization. Very fascinating look into the ancient inhabitants of the Phoenix area.
• Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 N. Central Avenue, +1 602-257-1222 [21]. Tu-Su 10AM-5PM (Th until 9PM). 16,000 artworks with an emphasis on American, Asian, Latin American, and modern and contemporary. Free on the first friday evening of every month.

By plane

• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX) (602) 275-4958 [3]

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is the main gateway to Phoenix. It is located in East Phoenix 3 miles from downtown. All major U.S. carriers serve Phoenix Sky Harbor with extensive flights to major cities across the country. It also serves as a hub for Southwest Airlines [4] and US Airways [5].

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Alternative Airports

• Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (IATA: AZA) 480-988-7600 [6]

Located east of Phoenix, in neighboring Mesa. It is served mainly by Allegiant Air [7], although Vision Airlines [8] also offers service from North Las Vegas. Currently, this is a smaller sized airport but is in the process of being redeveloped into a major regional airport.

• Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (IATA: DVT) 623-869-0975 [9]

Located just 15 miles North of Downtown Phoenix, this is the busiest general aviation airport in the United States.

By train

Due to a dispute among the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Union Pacific Railroad, and Amtrak, passenger train service to Phoenix has been discontinued. Amtrak passengers may disembark at Maricopa, Arizona (25 miles south of Phoenix) and arrange their own travel into the city. No regular shuttle service currently exists. (Alternative: they may disembark at Flagstaff instead and take a bus into Phoenix from there. The Maricopa-Phoenix route, which uses taxi services, takes about an hour but one likely has to wait for the taxi after calling; the Flagstaff-Phoenix route takes three hours.)

By car

Interstate 10 enters Phoenix from the south and west, and Interstate 17 comes in from the north. US Route 60 is also a major route into Phoenix from the east. Arizona State Route 87 comes in south from Payson.

By bus

• Amtrak [10] sells tickets to and from Flagstaff.
• Arizona Shuttle [11] offers shuttle service between Sky Harbor and Tucson.
• GotoBus [12] sells tickets to and from Los Angeles, California.
• Greyhound Bus Lines, 2115 E. Buckeye Rd., +1 602-389-4200, [13]. This is a large bus terminal adjacent to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
• MaricopaXpress [14], a commuter service offering two morning inbound trips from the town of Maricopa and two afternoon outbound trips. Fares are $3.00 and under.
• TUFESA Bus Lines, Bus service to/from Mexico.

Due to the high level of suburban sprawl in the city, getting anywhere on foot is almost an impossibility. The limited options for public transportation mean that using a car will be a necessity in Phoenix.

• Valley Metro [15]. Extensive metropolitan bus system, soon to be supplemented by a light rail system.
• RideFlex [16]. Taxi, Limousine, and Town Car Service. Authorized Phoenix Airport Service Company.

• Freeways. Extensive network of freeways, most built since 1987. Caution: Heavy construction on some segments and interchanges continues. Check construction schedules and closures in the local media.

• Car rental is the most convenient form of transportation for visitors, with local companies offering better prices but national chains offering more convenience vis-a-vis return policies and times. Unless you plan to stay downtown or in a single location elsewhere, you will find that a car is very convenient in Phoenix. Surface roads in Phoenix are usually easy to navigate. The area's roads are designed around a grid system, where most roads are numbered based on their distance from the city center. Addresses also conform to the numbering of the roads around them.

Time-honored souvenirs from Phoenix are scorpion bolo ties and saguaro-cactus salt and pepper shakers. Look for them at the various airport gift shops.

• Phantom Horse Grill, 8000 S. Arizona Grand Parkway, ☎ 602-438-9000, [39]. This bright and airy American Grill at Arizona Grand Resort offers breakfast, lunch and dinner daily and features an adjacent sports bar with satellite televisions for the sports fanatic. edit

For cheap eats, look out for many 24-hour Mexican food places -- Filiberto's, Raliberto's and other restaurants offer a burrito the size of your forearm for less than $4.

Mid-range

• Los Dos Molinos, 8646 S. Central Ave., (602) 243-9113. Sonoran-style dominates Phoenix-area Mexican cookery, but Los Dos celebrates the cuisine of the Rio Grande Valley -- which means lots of very hot chiles. This long-established and highly regarded restaurant is a must for all true chile-heads. Reservations not accepted.

• Old Town Tortilla Factory, 6910 E. Main Street, +1 480-945-4567, [40]. Modern Southwest cooking with Sonoran touches. Try the Red Chile Pork Chop, with an unlikely but tasty ancho-raspberry sauce. Patio seating, heated in winter, misted in summer. Daily 5PM-11PM, but reservations only accepted for groups of 6 or more, so prepare to wait (preferably in the adjacent tequillaria). $30.