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Flattened out along the floor of a mountain-fenced valley deep in the heart of southwestern USA's 'Grand Canyon State', otherwise known as Arizona, is the arid urban grid of Tucson. The city is squeezed between the western and eastern halves of Saguaro National Park, dominated respectively by the Tucson Mountains and the Rincons, while to the north is the much-visited arc of the Santa Catalina Mountains and to the south is the Santa Ritas range. Further south, a full 100km (61mi) from Tucson, is the border with the Mexican state of Sonora, which is straddled by the dual-citizenship town of Nogales. The nearest domestic border is the one shared with New Mexico, roughly 210km (130mi) east along interstate highway 10 (I-10).
Tucson is Arizona's second-biggest city but it has a compact downtown area, bisected north-south by Stone Ave and east-west by Congress St and Broadway Blvd. In the 'irrelevant information' section of your brain, you may want to file away the fact that the majority of north-south thoroughfares in the city proper are called avenues, while most of the east-west roads are called streets. About 1.5 km (1mi) northeast of downtown is the museum-heavy campus of the University of Arizona. An equal distance south of the centre is the predominantly Hispanic area of South Tucson - relatively few visitors venture out here, which means they miss out on the cheap and tasty Mexican cookery offered by local restaurants. Tucson's far northern limits are occupied by the pricier suburbs, as well as several country clubs; the southern limits are occupied by oxymoronic industrial parks and a US airforce base.
Tucson International Airport is 14.5km (9mi) south of downtown. The iconic Greyhound bus company has its commuter-scarred terminal right in downtown on 4th Ave, just south of the Tucson Amtrak railway station.
Getting There
Tucson's low-key international airport, which is bereft of significant international facilities bar immigrations and customs, is situated 14.5km (9mi) south of the city centre. Airlines like America West, Continental and Aero-Mexico operate numerous flights from here over the border to mainstream Mexican destinations, but the majority of the airport's traffic is created via domestic routes that link Tucson with regional cities like Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Albuquerque, and other US cities further afield.
The trip from the airport into town, or vice versa, can be easily tackled by local bus (though with at least one transfer en-route) for the paltry sum of US$01:00 . If time is not on your side, consider using the 24-hour Arizona Stagecoach van service, which will pick-up/deposit door-to-door for between US$10:00 and US$20:00 , depending on where you are in the substantial Tucson metropolitan area - double the price of the Stagecoach fare to estimate the cost of using a cab for the same journey.
Greyhound buses run from its downtown terminal northwest to Phoenix and then further west to California, as well as east along the I-10 into New Mexico and southwards to connect with vans heading to Nogales on the Mexican border. From Tucson's Amtrak railway station, you can catch the Sunset Limited service west as far as Los Angeles and east as far as New Orleans; it passes through town three times a week.
Getting Around
The local bus company is called Sun Tran and its vehicles operate daily from early morning into the early evening, but there are no buses running at night. The standard fare is US$01:00 , which comes with a free transfer. Sun Tran also runs a single trolley-car route through the downtown area. Car rentals can be arranged at the airport, where all major hire companies have representative branches. Tucson caters well to cyclists, with an extensive system of bike lanes along major roads and some buses equipped with bike racks - you can rent road or mountain bikes from various shops around town.
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