HomeTucsonTucson Features › Top 10 Best Things to do in Tucson - Page 3

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Now that you are settled in to your hotel, it is time to go out and discover all that Tucson and its gorgeous surroundings has to offer. With an elevation of more than twice that of the metropolitan Phoenix area, the temperatures tend to be on average 5-7 degrees cooler making the outdoor adventures just a little more bearable.

Mt. Lemmon

Coming in at number three of top 10 things to do in Tucson; just a short hour’s drive northeast of Tucson lies the playground for Tucsonans looking to cool off. At 8,200 feet in elevation, Summerhaven is truly a breath of fresh air. The village atop the mountain is aptly named with the high temperatures rarely, if ever reaching into the 80s.

A couple restaurants and a general store service the local residents and winter visitors coming to the Ski Valley, the southernmost ski destination in the continental United States. Several cabins are available for rent and I personally spent my bachelor party weekend up there and we were snowed in the entire weekend, a great getaway from the hustle & bustle of the city. www.skithelemmon.com

Pima Air and Space Museum/AMARG

One of the most awe-inspiring things I have seen is on the southern fringe of Tucson, which goes on and on and—well—you get the idea. The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) is a storage facility at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base that “mothballs” planes to store indefinitely or to salvage them later for parts.

With over 4,400 aircraft and aerospace vehicles from all branches of the U.S. military and federal agencies such as NASA, this vast collection provides the country with a savings account from which the military can use as they see fit, and it flies into the fourth spot on Tucson’s top 10 things to see. Bus tours are given Monday – Friday from 9am to 4pm and the cost for touring the Boneyard is $7 each. The Pima Air & Space Museum is one of the largest museums of its kind in the world which consists of five separate hangars, a Museum, a WWII Barracks, a Space Gallery and much, much more. www.pimaair.org

San Xavier del Bac

Staying on the south side of the city is the next best thing to see in Tucson. On the road to Mexico is a National Historic Landmark; The White Dove of the Desert stands out majestically among the desert landscape and serves as a beacon to the Catholic Church. The mission was founded in 1692 by Father Eusebio Kino, yet the current building wasn’t built until 1797 when the mission was still part of New Spain.

The church is open to the public from 7am to 5pm daily and there is no admission charge to visit the mission. There is a museum on the premises that explains the rich history of the mission with artifacts dating back to the 18th century. Masses are still held every day as well three services on Sunday. www.sanxaviermission.org