Local Tucson Stuff
Restaurants
Cafe Bama's
Our neighborhood favorite! You'll catch us there having breadsticks and pizza about once a week. We've never tried their non-pizza dishes but they look and smell good, so give it a whirl.
Oregano's
Our overall favorite pizza place in Tucson if the weather allows sitting outside. The wait can be long for dinner but they bring pizzas out for you to snack on and server drinks as well. The outside seating area is great, they play jazz, and everything on the menu is darn good.
Magpies Pizza
This is a local Tucson favorite and falls in third place for us. We go here once or twice a year but a lot of folks we know frequent it more often. The one on our side of town doesn't have a nice seating area or bathrooms or we'd be there more often.
Entertainment
Laughs Comedy Club
Standard fare comedy club. The food is edible, open-mic can be fun to listen to, but more importantly if you give them your business card you'll get free passes if you buy a couple of drinks.
Outdoors
If you like the outdoors, you've come to the right place. The variety is amazing and it's all within a short drive.
If you haven't been, go. If you only have time to visit one place in Tucson, this is a great choice. You'll see live plant and animal exhibits of pretty much everything that lives in the desert. The free flight raptor and rattle snake talks are awesome.
This is a really great National Park with lots of hiking from easy to strenuous, elevation from 3000 ft to 9000 ft. The visitor center is small but a day walking around and learning is a real treat.
This is a cool National Monument, A couple hours drive and is part of one of the sky islands where the Sonoran Desert, Chihuahuan Desert, Southern
Rocky Mountains, and Northern Sierra Madres all meet.
of the Sonoran Desert. Lots of balancing rocks and neat formations, and a shuttle that will take you to the top of the mountain so you can leisurely hike your way back to the visitor center. Unless you're hardcore it's tough to get more than a day of entertainment... but I'm hardcore. Visit the old house on the property and read about the history there, it's a neat 1-2 hour diversion.
This was a focal point for military operations until Geronimo surrendured here in 1886. It's a nice hike for a cool day, well worth the trip if you're already in the area.
Interesting self-guided tour if you're already in the area. These are ruins of 3 ancient Spanish colonial missions.
Nearby Attractions
Within 2 hours of Tucson there's a lot to see. Within 6 hours there's more than I'll probably ever see.
The town made famous by the movie. Very touristy, kind of cheesy, and I can't spend more than a day there. But if you like western movies or history it's a must-see. Make sure you visit Boot Hill and the OK Corral.
Bisbee is a very quaint old mining town. Walk around and enjoy the shopping, lots of local stores and restaurants. Eat good food but don't forget to do the mine tour. It's really interesting and is given by people who grew up working in mines.
Tubac is a neat little town on I19 South of Tucson. The state park is somewhat interesting and has the first printing press in AZ. Next door is the small town of Tubac which is good for a day of walking and shopping in local stores. Lots of handcarafts. Go during the winter, you'll be outside most of the day.