The city is located in the heart of the Sonora desert, in the valley of the Salée river, whose bed is often dry. It is surrounded by McDowell Mountains, South Mountain Park, White Tank Mountains and Superstition Mountains. Irrigation makes it possible to carry out agricultural activities.
Phoenix, Arizona, is not often on the list of places to visit in life. And although it is the most populous state capital of the United States, this desert metropolis is often ignored in comparison to cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. In fact, many people would laugh if someone suggested they go on vacation to Phoenix.
But Phoenix is as good or even better than other holiday destinations. The subtropical desert climate offers always sunny weather in the Sun Valley, and Phoenix is an ideal place to visit other attractions in the region such as the Grand Canyon. Plus, Phoenix offers a clever blend of ancient western heritage and a modern, cosmopolitan touch, making it a true oasis of Western American culture.
Young and artistic city!
Phoenix is big! With 4.2 million inhabitants including 1/3 Hispanic, it's starting to make the world! We didn't know anything about Phoenix when we set foot in it, but we soon realized that it wasn't the western far... We're far from the cliché of the city in the middle of the desert, populated by cowboys drinking in saloons. You will rather find there a multitude of small cafés with original concepts worthy of the avant-garde cities and hypster of this world. A kind of Montreal mile-end in the U. S. style!
You'll have fun in Phoenix! It's a city where students from all over the region and the four corners of the United States converge, since it's where the ASU (Arizona State University) is located, recognized as the best party university in the United States... Just in case you're looking to party at any given time!
Street art
At the foot of the university and just a few minutes from the city's central point, you'll find Phoenix's street art district, where you'll find everything from photo studios and art galleries to huge murals, graffiti-covered houses, cafes, restaurants and bars with surprising concepts!
That's the neighborhood around the Roosevelt row. Go get lost! There are surprises at every corner of the street and every little alley has its sweet touch that is worth the detour! Do not hesitate to enter the shops even if you don't buy anything, because each of them hides an original concept behind their often very underground front.
The Phoenix Public Market
This unique coffee/restaurant/pastry that stands out from the crowd is a place where roast chicken and traditional muffin are as good as Colombian espresso! This renovated old warehouse will seduce you with its warm and friendly atmosphere and the smell of freshly cooked products. Her owner Aaron is one of the most inspiring people we met during the trip. After having travelled in a backpack for years, this former nomad was inspired by his discoveries and encounters to build this place of his own. His longer-term goal is to create a whole neighbourhood around his café, with parks, restaurants, other cafes, bars, parties, events, outdoor concerts etc..... He's gone quite frankly!
The Gilbert district
The distances are huge in Phoenix! Like in Los Angeles, you have to take the highway to go from one district to another. The advantage of these great distances is that it pronounces the contrast between the different sections of the city. To the south-east of the city, Gilbert road is a perfect example. I had a feeling of coming back in the past when I arrived in front of the typical American dinners with big luminous signs. In the middle of these neon lights, full of small shops (antiquarian, barber shop, etc.) have kept their charm of yesteryear.
Golfing in Phoenix
Looking for a green oasis in the middle of the Sonora Desert may seem a little crazy, until you realize that golfing is one of the most common activities in Phoenix, as a bunch of travelers from the more northern latitudes visit the city in winter for its many courses.
Despite the dry climate, Phoenix has more than 200 golf courses. Whether you prefer a route in an isolated desert canyon or a luxury hotel, you have the choice! As a city hosting several PGA and LPGA tournaments, Phoenix also offers championship courses that will be a challenge for the most experienced golfers. If you're interested, head to TPC Scottsdale and test the Stadium course, designed by Jay Moorish and Tom Weiskopf to serve as a course for the PGA's largest and most popular tournament, the annual Waste Management Phoenix Open, held annually in February.
Visit Papago Park
Papago Park, located east of Phoenix, is home to some of the city's most important attractions. The Desert Botanical Garden, inaugurated in 1939, is one of the few gardens dedicated to desert plants in the United States. It houses a collection of 21,000 plants, particularly agaves and cactus. Greenhouse plants come from a variety of ecosystems around the world, including Australia, South America and Baja California in Mexico.
The famous Phoenix Zoo, America's largest private for-profit zoo, is nearby. It is home to 1,400 animals and focuses primarily on conservation; it participated in Operation Oryx, which aimed to reintroduce the Arabian Oryx into the wild. The park also includes several golf courses and the Hole-in-the-Rock rock formation, a small sandstone hill eroded over time with several openings in its surface. This hill was important to the Hohokam people because they used the angle of the sun's rays through the holes to mark the equinoxes and solstices. A smooth path climbs up to the openings and the master bedroom, which offers picturesque views of west Phoenix.
Visit the Heard Museum
The Heard Museum, founded in 1929 by Dwight and Maie Bartlett Heard, houses a large collection of Native American art and antiques. The Heard is home to more than 40,000 objects and is not only a historical museum, but also a living museum. It showcases contemporary Native American culture and art as well as historical pieces, such as the Barry Goldwater collection of 437 Hopi Kachina dolls. The Heard is internationally renowned for the quality of its collections, library and archives.
The museum sponsors festivals and competitions to educate the public about the heritage, arts and culture of Amerindians, especially Southwestern tribes such as the Hopi and Zuni, whose descendants still live in the area and have maintained their culture. The annual' Holidays at the Heard' event celebrates Native American music and dance through live performances. The museum's exhibitions often offer objects to manipulate, ideal for children.
Encourage local teams
All of them, to be exact. There are only 12 cities in the United States that host a team from each of the 4 major professional sports leagues, and Phoenix is one of them. Whether you're a basketball fan (the NBA Suns and WNBA Mercury), an American football fan (the NFL Cardinals), a baseball fan (the MLB Diamondbacks) or a hockey fan (the NHL Coyotes), you're sure to find a game of interest to you, watching the stadium or one of the city's casual bars. Phoenix also has the Phoenix International Raceway, a 3 km course that hosts motorized races, including 2 NASCAR annual races, IndyCar races and other organizations. The cactus league training camp of the MLB league cactus, one of the two spring training leagues, is centered entirely around Phoenix.
You'll also find semi-professional sports teams, such as the Arizona Scorpions of the ABA, a local rollerblade competition league, an American football and football team, and the Sun Devils athletic program at Arizona State University.
