The images are emblazoned in your mind: a rugged cowboy straddling a tall horse atop a mountain, silent in his silhouette while surveying the desert vistas below. A towering saguaro cactus, spiny-skinned and gnarled, spreads its great arms upward in a salute to the sun. Broad and yawning stretches of arid Sonoran landscape sporadically interrupted by sharp, skittering tumbleweeds or the sudden moves of a wild jackrabbit. This is quintessential Arizona.
Yet there's also the new Arizona, which is as stunning and spectacular as any Wild West Hollywood movie set. In fact, if you haven't recently made a trip to the Phoenix-Scottsdale area, you're in for some truly astounding surprises. This little cowboy town has suddenly become a burgeoning metropolis with exciting new developments stretching from border to border.
Authentic Arizona charm still entices, but what was once barren desert now glistens with elegant homes, shopping malls, fine dining dens and recreational opportunities. A glance at the new culinary temples calling the Valley home—as the entire metro Phoenix area is known—is impressive, with big-name restaurants like Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak, London's Roka Akor, the über-trendy Sushi Roku and BLT Steak (Bistro Laurent Tourondel) from chef Laurent Tourondel dotting the gastronomic landscape. Shops like Tiffany, Gucci, Ferragamo, Kate Spade and a treasure trove of other designer boutiques sprouting up in Scottsdale's new SouthBridge mall, make shopping a fashionista's dream.
There's still plenty of open space climbing to soaring mountaintops, but the winding dirt roads have also given way to high-speed freeways linking all points in metropolitan Phoenix and beyond. And there's plenty of time to explore it all.
Located in the heart of the Sonoran Desert—and lovingly known as the Valley of the Sun—Phoenix records an average of 325 days of annual sunshine. That means ample year-round opportunities to experience a wide range of tours and sightseeing excursions, whether on foot, by Jeep, hot-air balloon, on horseback, or even by boat skimming along one of the Valley's sparkling lakes. The area is also a golfer's dream, with more than 250 courses.
While the Phoenix-Scottsdale area is renowned for its scorching summer heat, it's a dry heat, and many visitors take great pleasure in relaxing poolside at the Valley's more than three-dozen luxurious resorts. Savvy travelers know that visiting the Valley during the summer months often leads to incredible bargains at luxury properties like the The Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale, The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa, and the elegant, but family-friendly Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch (a highlight is the Hyatt's cool, refreshing swimming pool with a sand beach).
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Sanctuary Camelback Mountain |
Regardless of the season, Phoenix-Scottsdale is a virtual Eden for vacationers seeking award-winning hotels and resorts, championship golf courses, pampering spas, art and culture, outstanding restaurants and one-of-a-kind shopping opportunities. Accommodations, catering to virtually every budget and lifestyle, are abundant. Perhaps you want to spread out in a 4,000-square-foot presidential suite, complete with its own Steinway baby grand piano, at The Phoenician. If your children are clamoring for sun and water fun, the wet wonders of the four-acre Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort, with its shimmering pools, cascading waterfalls and Lazy River tubing experience, is a solid choice. For old Phoenix charm, the crown jewel is the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa. For more contemporary Phoenix accommodations, The Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa, or the impossibly hip, sumptuously sleek W Scottsdale, provide fashionably modern escapes. And for the best of old-meets-new, book a room at the upscale but funky and retro Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale. One of Scottsdale's best-kept secrets is the Chaparral Suites Hotel, privately owned by the local Silverman family for more than twenty-five years, and featuring charming personal touches like flirtatious live parrots in the lobby. As a bonus, many of the Valley's best restaurants are conveniently located right inside the top hotels and resorts.
DAY 1
Over the past few years, the Scottsdale area has exploded into one of the country's most impressive shopping meccas. Begin your day with breakfast in the heart of the retail corridor at Camelback/Indian School and Scottsdale roads: Daily Dose will fuel you up with grippingly spicy chorizo eggs benedict, an omelet of handcrafted turkey sausage, an egg, bacon and cheese sandwich paved with fiery harissa aioli or killer banana split pancakes. Work off your meal by strolling around Scottsdale Fashion Square, the Valley's most exciting shopping mall, conveniently located right next door to Daily Dose. More than one million square feet of stores, including Juicy Couture, Abercrombie Kids and Hugo Boss, packs something for all ages, tastes and wallets.
After browsing, hop aboard Scottsdale's free, seven-day-a-week trolley for a visit to the nearby Scottsdale Waterfront and adjacent SouthBridge, a new cornucopia of fine stores and restaurants. Jump back on the trolley to continue through the fabulous Fifth Avenue Shops next door, and its adjacent Marshall Way and Main Street arts districts, where locals and visitors alike flock to the sidewalk and garden cafés wedged between eclectic boutiques and fine art galleries.
By now you'll be hungry again. Stop for lunch at Arcadia Farms on the edge of the Fifth Avenue neighborhood. Relax on the picture-postcard garden patio or inside the cheery French Provincial-style cottage for enormous sandwiches, organic salads and fresh pastries. You won't want to miss the best-selling dish, a salad of grilled chicken, strawberries, toasted almonds, mixed baby greens and poppy seed vinaigrette. Or, if you're in the mood for fancier fare, the new Metro Brasserie is a French-styled dream. Boasting gourmet-bistro comfort cuisine with a Southern twist, it serves up delicious options like braised rabbit with bacon and olives, andouille shrimp and grits, custardy beignets and a raw bar.
From here, you'll need a car to continue your tour (the large, sprawling Phoenix area, while progressive, still lacks convenient public transportation). But it's a short drive just a few miles southeast to the Phoenix Zoo for a relaxing tour of more than 1,200 mammals, fish, invertebrates, birds and reptiles. You can easily walk the 2.5 miles of trails, but you might want to jump aboard an open-air tram and reserve your energy for your next stop—the spectacular, 50-acre Desert Botanical Garden located right next door. Home to almost 150 rare, threatened and endangered plant species from around the world, the Garden also hosts seasonal activities such as bird walks, jazz festivals and chile-chocolate tastings.
Next, enjoy more garden finery, but this time on your dinner plate, at Noca, located next door to the Biltmore, about a half hour drive away. The restaurant, which celebrates local ingredients on a constantly-changing menu, serves map-spanning dishes that zigzag from Asian crudo and handcrafted pasta to uncommon treats like skate and complimentary cotton candy for dessert. Cowboy Ciao, a few minutes drive away in Old Town, is another excellent dinner choice if you're hankering for whimsical Nuevo Southwestern fare like espresso-charred filet mignon with pan-grilled vegetables, mashed tortilla potatoes and chipotle hollandaise. Campfire cowboys never lived this well.
Wrap up your evening at Kazimierz World Wine Bar, next door to Cowboy Ciao. The sexy, sophisticated place is hard to find (there's no sign, although insiders know to duck into the unmarked door in back), but a great tapas and drinks menu awaits, with an astonishingly long list of thrilling cult wines.
Continue to Day 2
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America's capital city might have started out a swamp, but now it's a destination for tourists and heads of state alike. Whether you're here to inspect the Constitution or to check out artifacts from the first Apollo mission, we'll help you fit it all in.
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