Tucson Travel Guide

By Plane

Located 6 miles south of downtown, Tucson International Airport (tel. 520/573-8000; www.tucsonairport.org) is served by the following major airlines: Alaska/Horizon (tel. 800/252-7522; www.alaskaair.com), American (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com), Continental (tel. 800/523-3273; www.continental.com), Delta (tel. 800/221-1212; www.delta.com), Frontier (tel. 800/432-1359; www.flyfrontier.com), JetBlue Airways (tel. 800/538-2583; www.jetblue.com), Northwest/KLM (tel. 800/225-2525; www.nwa.com), Southwest (tel. 800/435-9792; www.southwest.com), United (tel. 800/864-8331; www.ual.com), and US Airways (tel. 800/428-4322; http://usairways.com).

Visitor centers in both baggage-claim areas can give you brochures and reserve a hotel room if you haven't done so already.

Many resorts and hotels in Tucson provide free or competitively priced airport shuttle service. Arizona Stagecoach (tel. 520/889-1000; www.azstagecoach.com) operates 24-hour van service to downtown Tucson and the foothills resorts. Fares to downtown are around $20 one-way and $38 round-trip ($23 and $44 for a couple), and to the foothills resorts around $36 one-way and $62 round-trip ($42 and $74 for a couple). It takes between 45 minutes and 1 hour to reach the foothills resorts. To return to the airport, it's best to call at least a day before your scheduled departure.

You'll also find taxis waiting outside baggage claim, or you can call Yellow Cab (tel. 520/624-6611) or Allstate Cab (tel. 520/881-2227). The flag-drop rate at the airport is $4.50, and then $2 per mile. A taxi to downtown costs around $23, to the foothills resorts about $26 to $46.

Sun Tran (tel. 520/792-9222; www.suntran.com), the local public transit system, operates bus service to and from the airport. The fare is $1. Route no. 6, to downtown, runs Monday through Friday from about 4:50am to 7:20pm, Saturday from about 7:15am to 6:15pm, and Sunday from about 6:20am to 5:20pm. Departures are every 30 minutes on weekdays and every hour on weekends. It takes 40 to 50 minutes to reach downtown. Route no. 11 operates on a similar schedule and travels along Alvernon Road to the midtown area.

By Car

I-10, the main east-west interstate across the southern United States, passes through Tucson and connects to Phoenix. I-19 connects Tucson with the Mexican border at Nogales. Arizona 86 heads southwest into the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation, and Arizona 79 leads north toward Florence and eventually connects with U.S. 60 into Phoenix.

If you're headed downtown, take the Congress Street exit off I-10. If you're coming from the north and going to one of the foothills resorts north of downtown, you'll probably want to take the Ina Road exit off I-10.

By Train

Tucson is served by Amtrak (tel. 800/872-7245; www.amtrak.com) passenger rail service. The Sunset Limited, which runs between Orlando and Los Angeles, stops in Tucson. The train station is at 400 E. Toole Ave. (tel. 520/623-4442), in the heart of downtown and within walking distance of the Tucson Convention Center, El Presidio Historic District, and a few hotels. You'll see taxis waiting to meet the train.

By Bus

Greyhound (tel. 800/231-2222 or 520/792-3475; www.greyhound.com) connects Tucson to the rest of the United States through its extensive system. The bus station is currently at 471 W. Congress St., but this is a temporary location. Call at the time you are traveling to confirm the station location.