Phoenix
Phoenix is the capital and most populous city of the U.S.
Phoenix is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, Phoenix is the fifth-most populous city in the United States and the most populous state capital. The Phoenix metropolitan area, with an estimated 5.19 million residents, is the tenth-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. and the most populous in the Mountain states and Southwest. Phoenix is the county seat of Maricopa County in the Salt River Valley and Arizona Sun Corridor and, with an area of 517.9 square miles, is the largest city by area in Arizona and 11th-largest city by area in the United States.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Phoenix
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Mortgage Matchup Center
Mortgage Matchup Center is a multi-purpose arena in Phoenix, Arizona. It opened under the name America West Arena on June 6, 1992, at a cost of $89 million.
400 m · arena in Phoenix, Arizona, United States · Wikipedia - 02Chase Field
Chase Field, formerly Bank One Ballpark, is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks.
700 m · baseball park in Phoenix, Arizona, USA · Wikipedia - 03Arizona House of Representatives
The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Senate.
2 km · lower house of U.S. state legislature · Wikipedia - 04Arizona State Capitol
The Arizona State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Arizona and is located in its capital city of Phoenix. The capitol comprises the original State Capitol building; two buildings housing the legislative chambers for the Arizona State Legislature made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate; and Executive Tower containing offices for the Governor.
2.1 km · state capitol building of the U.S. state of Arizona · Wikipedia - 05Chase Tower
Chase Tower is a 40-story skyscraper at 201 North Central Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona. Opened in 1972, the building was designed by architects Welton Becket and Fred M. Guirey.
300 m · skyscraper in Phoenix, Arizona · Wikipedia - 06Heard Museum
The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitions of traditional and contemporary art by American Indian artists and artists influenced by American Indian art.
2.8 km · art and culture museum in Phoenix, Arizona · Wikipedia - 07Arizona's 7th congressional district
Arizona's 7th congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona. The district stretches along the Mexico–United States border and includes the western third of Tucson, parts of Yuma and Nogales, as well as Avondale and Tolleson in Metro Phoenix.
4.8 km · U.S. House district in Phoenix, Arizona · Wikipedia - 08Grand Canyon University
Grand Canyon University is a private Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The university offers degrees in over 200 areas of study and is administratively divided into nine colleges.
8.8 km · private Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona · Wikipedia - 09Phoenix Art Museum
The Phoenix Art Museum is the largest museum for visual art in the southwest United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the museum is 285,000 square feet.
2.1 km · art museum in Phoenix, Arizona · Wikipedia - 10Cathedral of Saints Simon and Jude
The Cathedral of Saints Simon and Jude is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona, in the United States. As of 2025, the rector of the cathedral is Monsignor Matthew Henry.
9.9 km · church in Arizona, United States · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
The cultural, governmental, and business center of the city is Copper Square, which is striving to become one of the southwest's most distinctive urban centers. Copper Square was built around the original Phoenix historic town site. Its boundaries extend from Fillmore to south of Jackson Street, 7th Street to 3rd Avenue.
- 01Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve
3711 W Deer Valley Rd (From I-17 North: Take Deer Valley Road exit.
- 02Desert Botanical Garden
1201 N Galvin Pkwy (in Papago Park, near the Phoenix Zoo),.
- 03Ro Ho En Japanese Friendship Garden
Japanese-style garden with koi pond and tea house.
- 04Phoenix Zoo
June–August 7AM-1PM; September–October 9AM-5PM.
- 05Arizona Science Center
This center features 350 permanent hands-on exhibits and regularly hosts nationally acclaimed traveling exhibits.
- 06Heard Museum
2301 N Central Ave (Car: Between E Monte Vista Rd & E Hoover Ave; Valley Metro Light Rail: Encanto/Central; Valley Metro Bus: 0),.
From Wikivoyage: Phoenix, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Winter visitors to the area will generally be looking for outdoor events. The area has many resorts with the relevant amenities, such as golf courses and the requisite pools and other activities on site. In the summer, due to the extreme heat, virtually everyone tries to avoid being outside more than necessary.
From Wikivoyage: Phoenix, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
For cheap eats, look out for many 24-hour Mexican food places such as Filiberto's and other restaurants offer a burrito the size of your forearm for less than $4. Chicago Hamburger Company, 3749 E Indian School Rd,. Mon-Sat 10:30AM-8PM. "Home of the Original Windy City Slider" is the restaurant's slogan, and the small burgers (along with larger fare) are found here.
- 01Fry Bread House
Since 1992 this Tohono O'odham-owned and -operated restaurant has served authentic Native American cuisine, based on family recipes that the restaurant owner learned as a child.
- 02Green Restaurant
PETA named the secret BBQ Chicken sandwich as the best faux chicken sandwich in the USA.
- 03Matt's Big Breakfast
Very popular breakfast restaurant in downtown Phoenix.
- 04Cherryblossom Noodle Cafe
An interesting fusion of Japanese and Italian cuisine.
- 05Garcia's Las Avenidas
2212 N 35th Ave (near intersection of 35th Ave & Encanto Blvd),.
From Wikivoyage: Phoenix, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Phoenix
- Airports
- Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX), 6 km · Tucson (TUS), 182 km
- Stations
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, 6 km · Goldwater Air National Guard Base, 6.2 km · Union Station, 700 m · Thomas Road and Central Avenue, 3.6 km · Van Buren/Central Avenue, 400 m
- Tucson → Phoenix173 km · quickest by road, 2h 41m · $15–20
- Las Vegas → Phoenix412 km · quickest by air, 4h 5m · $150–220
- Palm Springs → Phoenix416 km · quickest by air, 5h 41m · $130–200
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Phoenix
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Phoenix. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inMain building at 15000 N Airport Dr | lat -111.9161 | content = It's one of the busiest single-runway airports in the United States, and Signature Flight Support and Ross Aviation operate the two private terminals for chartered VIP flights.
- Get inAir charter companies including Valley Jet and Phoenix Jet Charter offer access to private planes based at any of the airports in the Phoenix-area, with planes ranging from luxury jets to cost-effective single & twin-engine planes.
- Go nextA good option for a day trip, or longer, out of Phoenix is a drive north to Sedona.
From Wikivoyage: Phoenix, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 011,859 km
- 021,953 km
- 032,004 km
- 042,009 km
- 052,089 km
If you know how people move in Phoenix – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Phoenix
Phoenix is 23 km from Mesa, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Alhambraurban village of Phoenix, Arizona, United States7.9 km
- Central Avenue Corridorhuman settlement in Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America4.9 km
- Encantohuman settlement in Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America3.4 km
- Camelback Easthuman settlement in Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America9.3 km