Accommodations

Phoenix offers a natural, outdoors oriented getaway with a variety of condos, vacation homes, hotels, and resorts. Choose a vacation that offers quiet comfort while making the most of the beautiful scenery at affordably priced rates.

View our Phoenix Vacation Rentals or Phoenix Resorts

Activities

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is new to the Phoenix area, and focuses on modern and contemporary art, architecture and design. The Museum has five galleries that feature rotating exhibits from the museum's permanent collection of art and an outdoor sculpture garden. The Heard Museum features Native American Art and Culture, with over 39,000 artifacts on display, focused on the local Southwest Indian Tribes. The Desert Botanical Gardens have over 20,000 species of plants, including many endangered species. It also is known for one of the most diverse cactus collections in the word. March through May is blooming season at the Garden.

Events

The Native American Arts Festival in mid-January features over 200 artists, with both traditional and modern Native American Art. The Festival focuses on the culture and arts of the Southwestern Natives, with authentic foods, demonstrations, music and traditional dancing. Mid-February brings the Annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show to town. One of the premier Arabian Horse shows of the world, it is expected to attract over 2400 horses to compete at Paradise Park in Scottsdale. January 2 brings the Fiesta Bowl to Phoenix, one of the top four bowl games each year. The game is preceeded by a block party with nationally known musical entertainment and a parade with nearly 100 entries, including floats, balloons, bands, equestrian, specialty groups and honorary participants.

Outdoors Activities

The hiking trails of Camelback Mountain and Piestewa Peak offer challenges for hikers of all degrees of skill and endurance. Camelback Mountain features sheer red sandstone cliffs and its characteristic hump feature. Horseback riding, camping and sightseeing are also popular entertainment in the mountains around Phoenix.

Golfing

With year-round blue skies and mountains on three sides, the Greater Phoenix area offers more than 200 spectacular golf courses, with many designed by the greats like Robert Trent Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. You can test your skill on a championship course or play a relaxing round and then head for the local spa.

History

It was Jack Swilling that decided that the Salt River Valley could become a fertile home. The brown dry soil was mostly free of rocks and located in an area relatively free of snow or frost. Jack Swilling devised and in 1867 implemented a plan to reopen the miles of irrigation canals first dug by the long gone Hohokum Indians.  In the following year a small community had formed about four miles east of the present downtown Phoenix.