Tucson, Arizona

Tucson, Arizona
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CatalinasAndTusconAZ.jpg
Author: Howcheng
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Tucson is the second biggest city in Arizona. With a population of 542,000 and a metropolitan area population of slightly over a million, Tucson is the 32nd largest city and 52nd largest metropolitan area in the United States. The city is located just 60 miles (98 km) from the US-Mexico border, and 118 miles (188 km) from the state capital, Phoenix.

Surrounding Tucson are several mountain ranges, among them the Santa Catalina Mountains, Rincon Mountains, Santa Rita Mountains and Tucson Mountains. The highest point is Mount Wrightson, which is in the Santa Rita Mountains. It reaches a height of 9,453 feet.

Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson
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Author: DrStarbuck
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As Tucson itself is on an elevation of 2,400 feet above sea level, it is considerably cooler than Phoenix, which is in the desert. Having said that, during the hottest months of June until August, the average high temperate in Tucson can still reach a scorching 100°F (37°C). The coolest months are December till February, with average low reaching 38.9°F (3.8°C). On the whole, Tucson does not receive much rain. The wettest months are July and August, with precipitation of around 2.07 inches (52.6 mm).

The Big Room at Kartchner Caverns, Tucson, Arizona
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Author: Mike Lewis
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Travel to Tucson

Tucson International Airport (www.tucsonairport.org, TUS) is the main gateway to the city. It is located in Pima County, 6 miles (10 km) from downtown Tuckson. From the airport, you can take a shared-rive van to downtown. Public bus also runs every hour. For convenience, I would suggest that you rent a car.

The following are some of the car rental companies at the airport, in alphabetical order:

Advantage Rent A Car: 1-800-777-5500, 520-294-5200
Alamo: 1-800-327-9633, 520-573-4740
Avis: 1-800-331-1212, 520-294-1494
Budge: 1-800-527-0700, 520-573-8475
Dollar: 1-800-800-4000, 520-573-4736
Enterprise: 1-800-736-8222, 520-573-5250
Hertz: 1-800-654-3131, 520-573-5201
National: 1-800-227-7368, 520-573-8050
Thrifty: 1-800-847-4389, 520-807-2467

Travel within Tucson

The Tucson metropolitan bus authority is Sun Tran.

Saguaro cactus at Saguaro National Park, Arizona
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saguaro1.jpg
Author: Grombo
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Places of Interest in Tucson

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
This is an outdoor museum where you can view local wildlife and plants of the desert.
El Tiradito
Shrine to a young man who was killed by his father-in-law for having an affair with his mother-in-law.
Kartchner Caverns State Park
Natural terrain with beautiful limestone cave system.
Kitt Peak National Observatory
A place for astronomy enthusiasts with a large solar telescope.
Mission San Xavier del Bac
Spanish Catholic mission located 10 miles south of Tucson.
Old Tucson Studios
A place where old Westerns were shot. Now it is turned into a nostalgia-themed park.
Pima Air & Space Museum
Museum featuring historic aircrafts.
Sabino Canyon
Beautiful landscape of desert canyon to the north of Tucson.
Saguaro National Park
A place to see those gigantic cactus plants of the desert.
Titan Missile Museum
Museum south of Tucson housed in the underground missile silo.
Tohono Chul Park
A center where you can learn about native plants and purchase some for your own garden.
Tucson Botanical Gardens
Yet another place to view and admire the local plants.

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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