Nicole & Edward
Things To Do
Old Town Scottsdale
On Scottsdale’s original town site, dating back to the 1920s, Old Town Scottsdale is an exciting neighbourhood of bars, restaurants, nightclubs, design shops, fashion boutiques and art galleries. There’s a farmers’ market on Saturdays outside the summer months, and lots of events that celebrate Scottsdale’s Native American heritage and western traditions, but also show off the city’s contemporary side, like a Thursday Art Walk.
Camelback Mountain
An official Phoenix Point of Pride, the 825-metre Camelback Mountain looks like the hump and head of a kneeling camel and soars over the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The two ways to the top are the Echo Canyon Trail and the Cholla Trail, and both paths are less than 1.5 miles but aren’t for the faint of heart. The steeper Echo Canyon Trail has handrails to help you up, and benches for hard-earned breaks, while the Cholla Trail is smoother, but requires some scrambling over large boulders towards the end.
Desert Botanical Garden
At the north end of the sprawling Papago Park is a glorious botanical garden collecting desert species from around the world. On your visit you can walk a series of themed trails, presenting brilliant desert wildflowers, delving into the topic of conservation and revealing the plants and people of the Sonoran Desert.
Taliesin West
Posted on a mesa above Paradise Valley is Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and architecture school, now also the headquarters for the Frank Lloyd Wright foundation. The only way to visit Taliesin West is by guided tour. You can take the standard 90-minute Insights Tour, visiting the drafting studio, music pavilion and Wright’s personal quarters, or choose a more in depth experience like the three-hour Behind the Scenes Tour. Book in advance to guarantee a place.
Heard Museum
The best way to learn about the many indigenous tribes native to Arizona, the Heard Museum is one of the top museums for American Indian art in the country.
Phoenix Zoo
The highly-rated zoo in Papago Park opened in 1962 and has been oriented towards conservation since it opened. As you’d hope, the zoo only keeps species that are comfortable in Phoenix’s hot desert climate.
McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park
A wonderland for any train aficionado, the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park is on a piece of a ranch donated to the City of Scottsdale by Anne and Fowler McCormick in the 1960s. This ridable line was the basis for the park’s array of rail-themed attractions and exhibits, and is still running today, with more than 1.1 kilometres of track, a tunnel and six locomotives (three steam and three diesel).