Highlights

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Itinerary

Day 1 – Tucson, AZ – Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum – Casino Del Sol

 Your deluxe motorcoach will meet your group at the Phoenix airport to begin your 8-day Arizona winter tour. Then travel to Tucson, AZ where your first stop today is a tour of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, an outdoor experience on 21 acres of pristine desert, and focuses on the Sonoran Desert region of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. The Museum includes 230 animal species in a zoo with a popular hummingbird aviary, 56,000 plants in the botanical gardens, a natural history museum, one of the most comprehensive regional mineral collections, the Warden Aquarium, the Ironwood Art Gallery, and two miles of walking trails.  A box lunch is included for you to enjoy while you are at the Museum.

Next, check into the Casino Del Sol for a two-night stay. The casino hotel is located in the scenic desert with gorgeous mountain views. Experience gaming like never before with over 1,300 lot machines and live poker, blackjack, bingo and more. There are also multiple restaurants, shopping, a spa and salon, and a luxurious outdoor pool with private cabanas, bar, and fire pits. Dinner is included this evening at the casino. (D)

Day 2 – Tombstone Trolley Tour – Tombstone Historama – Gunfight Show – Lunch at the Crystal Palace Saloon – Visit the Bird Cage Theatre – Free Time 

Enjoy a full day in Tombstone, the “Town Too Tough To Die!”  This day also is fully guided by a local expert. You will see all of the hotspots in Tombstone beginning with the historical trolley tour. This is a 30-minute, 3-mile narrative tour, the most informative tour in historic Tombstone, that takes you out of the historic district, highlighting all the old churches, and out to the Boot Hill Cemetery.

Next, watch the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. See Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Virgil and Morgan Earp fight the McLaurys and Clantons in daily reenactments of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in The Streets of Tombstone Theater.  Learn what caused the 30-second showdown that left three cowboys dead.

Also included with your admission to the O.K. Corral is the Tombstone’s Historama.  Witness the dramatic events that made Tombstone famous: the silver boom, the great fire, the O.K. Corral gunfight, the assassination of Morgan Earp, and more.  Hear actor Vincent Price narrate this exciting multimedia history of Tombstone from Geronimo’s Apaches to modern times.

Tour C.S. Fly’s Photo Gallery. See his world-famous photos of the Apache warrior Geronimo and his historic photos of 1880s Tombstone life. Walk through the O.K. Corral stables as they appeared in the 1880s. Admire the 1880’s blacksmith shop and sit in a buggy.

Lunch is included today at The Crystal Palace Saloon. This establishment was one of early Tombstone’s first and finest saloons. Enjoy and relive the one-of-a-kind history of Tombstone’s Crystal Palace Saloon!

Visit the Bird Cage Theatre, the site of the longest running poker game in history. Legend has it that 26 people were killed in the theatre during its reputed years as one of the wildest and meanest places in Tombstone. Over 140 bullet holes remain in the building.  Some have even reported seeing “spirits” of some of the dead.

Enjoy some free time to explore Tombstone on your own – there is plenty to see. Visit the Heritage Museum or the Gunfighters Hall of Fame, take a Silver Mine Tour or stop at one of the local studios for an Old Time Photo. Do a little shopping and wander through some of the many Shops and Galleries. You can find Antiques, Books, Western Clothing, Souvenirs, and a whole lot more. Don’t forget to stop for a drink at one of the local saloons.  This evening, return to Tucson where you spend your second night. Dinner is on your own this evening. (B,L)

Day 3 – Phoenix – Musical Instrument Museum – Desert Botanical Gardens 

This morning travel to Phoenix.  Visit the Musical Instrument Museum, the largest museum of its type in the world. The collection of over 15,000 musical instruments and associated objects includes examples from nearly 200 countries and territories, representing every inhabited continent. It is a unique experience of sight, touch and of course sound.

Next, visit the Desert Botanical Gardens.  Think the desert is all dirt and tumbleweeds? Think again. Visit Desert Botanical Garden home to thousands of species of cactus, trees and flowers from all around the world spread across 55 acres in Phoenix.

Late afternoon check into the Drury Inn just outside of Phoenix, in Chandler, Arizona for a four-night stay. Dinner is on your own this evening, but your group can take advantage of Drury Inn’s Happy Hour known as “the 5:30 Kickback” (HH) featuring a rotating menu of hot foods and cold beverages or visit the Chandler Fashion Center, near your hotel, an indoor shopping area with higher-end and mainstream retailers, a movie theater, restaurants and a food court.  (B,HH)

Day 4 – The Heard Museum – Old Town Scottsdale

This morning visit the Heard Museum sets the standard for collaborating with American Indian artists and tribal communities to provide visitors with a distinctive perspective about the art of Native people, especially those from the Southwest.

Your afternoon is filled with exploring Old Town Scottsdale with its many art galleries, shops and boutiques. There are contemporary public art installations, world-class museums, and historic sites from the late 1880’s. It’s an effortless blend of urban chic and Old West charm, and it gives this city’s downtown a one-of-a-kind flair.

Dinner tonight is at the Old Town Tortilla Factory, in the heart of the charming art district. Built from an historic 75-year old Scottsdale adobe home. it captures the timeless charm and of the Southwest. This restaurant boasts a 1400 square foot flagstone patio that is surrounded by green vegetation and shaded by 100 year old pecan trees. In the winter months the patio it is heated to spring like temperatures and in the summer months the patio is cooled with a state of the art mist system. After dinner, return to Phoenix. (B,D)

Day 5 – Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West – Queen Creek Olive Mill Class 

Start the day with a visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s, Taliesin West.  This beloved winter home and desert laboratory, was established in 1937 and diligently handcrafted over many years into a world unto itself. Deeply connected to the desert from which it was forged, Taliesin West possesses an almost prehistoric grandeur. It was built almost entirely by Wright and his apprentices, making it among the most personal of his creations.

Next, enjoy a Queen Creek Olive Mill Tour.  During your Olive Oil 101 Educational Tour, you’ll learn how extra virgin olive oil at Queen Creek Olive Mill is made, how to use it in the kitchen, and why it’s so darn good for you! Experts will teach you how to correctly taste olive oil (no bread) and help you shop in the gourmet Marketplace following the tour.  This afternoon, return to your Phoenix hotel for a free evening and dinner at the hotel (HH) or on your own. (B, HH)

 Day 6 – Pueblo Grand Museum & Archeological Park – Goldfield Ghost Town – Mine Tour – Superstition Scenic Railroad – Steamboat Dinner Cruise 

This morning you begin a full day locally guided tour that includes the Pueblo Grand Museum & Archeological Park. This ancient village appears to have been settled sometime before A.D. 500 and was abandoned around 1450 for reasons not quite known.

The afternoon features the valley’s favorite ghost town…Goldfield. Here you will see historic buildings and hear the extensive mining history of the town. Excellent exhibits of the mining tools that old timers used to extract gold and silver are everywhere. 

The Goldfield Mine Tour is an underground guided tour that takes you back in time to 100 years ago. The guides are well versed in the history of the mine, town, gold mining equipment and procedures. Hang on tight as an exploding dynamite simulator shakes the mineshaft.

Also included today is a ride on the Superstition Scenic Narrow Gauge Railroad.  This 36″ gauge train consists of a Plymouth diesel pulling a passenger car and a caboose. A mile and a half of track circles the town, and the narrated journey lasts 20 minutes. The engineer tells of the history of Goldfield, the Superstition Mountains, and the desert southwest in general.

Ending the day, you dine in style on the Dolly Steamboat Twilight Dinner Cruise. At this magical time of day, you should see Canyon Lake wildlife, like bighorn sheep and bald eagles as they settle in for the night. You will have a chance to capture memorable photos of incredible rock formations framing Canyon Lake and enjoy a delicious meal under the Arizona night sky.  (B,D)

Day 7 – Sedona – Sedona Pink Jeep Tour – Tiaquepaque Village – Chapel of the Holy Cross

Today you motor north to Sedona for an exciting ride on the open-air Pink Jeep Tours. Climbing 2000 feet above the town to the very top of the Mogollon Rim you find a magnificent view. This tour is off-road fun with fantastic photo opportunities as you drive past majestic red rock formations, through pine forest and desert, to the mountain top and back.

Your Sedona experience will include spending time at internationally renowned Tlaquepaque (pronounced T-la-keh-pah-keh), Sedona Arizona’s Arts & Crafts Village. Nestled beneath the shade of the sycamores on the banks of beautiful Oak Creek in Sedona, Tlaquepaque is the most distinctive Sedona shopping experience to be found in the Southwest. You will have time for shopping and lunch on your own while there.

Visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which sits high atop the red rocks in Sedona, Arizona, was inspired and commissioned by local rancher and sculptor Marguerite Brunswig Staude. In 1932 she was inspired to build such a church by the construction of the Empire State Building. Staude initially attempted to do this in Budapest, Hungary with the help of Lloyd Wright, son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. However, their attempt was aborted due to the outbreak of World War II. With this unfortunate turn of events, she decided to build the church in her native home land, Arizona.

Then check into your Sedona, Arizona hotel for the night. A farewell dinner is included this evening at a local Sedona restaurant. (B,D)

Day 8 – Depart for Home

This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, your motorcoach will transport you to the Phoenix airport where you meet your return flight home. (B)

Tour Map