Visit Tucson

Tucson is a special place for anyone who find their inspiration in nature. Whether your "happy place" is a Zen rock garden, an orchid greenhouse, a hummingbird aviary, or a vast desert of enormous cacti, you can find it right here in Tucson thanks to these five unique and beautiful environments.

Five Tucson Area Gardens That Will Inspire

An ancient tradition of inspiring design.

Yume Japanese Gardens is made up seven gardens that are distinct in style but all distinctly Japanese. They include a courtyard garden, dry river garden, stone and gravel garden, Zen contemplation garden, strolling pond garden (featuring a koi pond), and modern garden, each making different use of stones, plants, and water features.

Garden design in Japan is an ancient tradition that includes many different styles and functions with some key themes in common. While much of the world thinks of a garden as primarily a place for plants, in the Japanese tradition, carefully placed stones are the most essential element. A book on gardening written in Japan in the 11th century listed five different styles, defined in terms of their stone placement, and advised gardeners to follow the “desire" of the stones. While the ancient gardens were generally places for noblemen to party, in the medieval period they evolved into places for meditation, ritual and allegorical storytelling.

As if seven gardens weren’t enough to fit into three quarters of an acre in central Tucson, Yume also includes a a museum and art gallery. It serves as an embassy of Japanese culture in Tucson, offering tea ceremonies, holiday events, and classes in modern and traditional Japanese arts including ikebana, origami, and calligraphy.

Cover image: desert_rain88 via Instagram.


Yume Japanese Gardens

The Tucson Botanical Garden, located on about six acres in the heart of the city, is often described as a hidden gem in the world of urban gardens. Like the Desert Museum, it’s a great place to learn about the surprisingly verdant desert ecosystem that surround Tucson. But if you’re not in a desert mood, step inside the pavilion to get up close and personal with butterflies, orchids, and exotic plants from around the world. The “Butterfly Experience,” an immersive exhibit that is open October through May, is a favorite among visitors.

The grounds also include a Zen garden, a prehistoric garden, and a children’s garden. The “xeriscape” experimental garden demonstrates techniques for gardening that don’t require irrigation. Yume offers a wide  variety of classes and programs for kids and adults, including meditation and yoga in the garden, and art classes inspired by the beautiful surroundings.

Get inspired with orchids and butterflies

Cover photo: tucsonbotanical via Instagram.


Tucson Botanical Garden

The landscape that inspired a great artist.

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun was created in the 1950s by artists Ettore “Ted” and Marion Degrazia and served as the couple’s home, studio, gallery, and 10-acre retreat. It’s now a National Historic Site and gallery dedicated to Ted DeGrazia, housing over 15,000 of his works.

Ted DeGrazia was the son of Italian immigrants, born in Arizona when it was still a territory. He attended the University of Arizona where he supported himself by planting trees on campus and playing trumpet in a band. During a trip to Mexico, he met legendary artists Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco and interned at their studio. Back in Tucson, he couldn’t find a gallery to sell his work, so he built his own studio/gallery that was very successful. Ted married Marion, a sculptor from upstate New York, in the early 1950s when Tucson was growing rapidly. The couple bought this land outside the city to create a new studio/gallery.

The grounds offer a desert landscape to explore, featuring DeGrazia’s sculptures and a view of the Catalina mountains. A smaller building on the property, an adobe building resembling a Spanish mission, was actually built by Ted DeGrazia as an interfaith chapel called the Mission in the Sun. It’s dedicated to Eusebio Kino, the Jesuit priest who established missions throughout Arizona and Northern Mexico, and the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Cover image: degraziagallery via Instagram.


DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun

Like many of the destinations on this adventure, Tohono Chul combines a botanical garden with some unexpected but welcome elements for a unique Tucson experience. In this case, the garden is accompanied by art, brunch, wine, and a view of the Catalina mountains.

The name means “desert corner” in the language of the Tohono O’odham, the indigenous people of Southern Arizona, but the park is the legacy of Richard Wilson, a geologist at the University Arizona and son of a Texas oilman, and his wife Jean. In the 1960s, the couple bought a home here, then began to buy up land around it, eventually creating a park that would celebrate the nature, art, and culture of the Sonoran desert region.

Tohono Chul’s courtyard celebrates the desert environment, with sections including a xeriscape (non-irrigated) garden, a Moorish garden, and a meditation garden. Outside the courtyard are several more themed gardens, including an ethnobotanical garden (featuring plants used by indigenous people and early settlers), a hummingbird garden, a children’s garden, and a “geology wall” made up of rock samples from the mountains.

In addition to gardens and walking trails, the park includes a bistro that serves brunch from 8-4:30 Monday through Sunday, featuring mimosas and margaritas. There’s also an art gallery with a permanent collection and exhibitions dedicated to Southwestern regional artists. Tohono Chul offers a variety of public events as well as art and wellness classes.

Cover image: travelandfood18 via Instagram.


Tohono Chul Park

If you think a desert is a lifeless wasteland, you're in for a big surprise.

Viewed from the window of an airplane, Tucson might seem like a sad place for nature lovers. It’s surrounded by what appears, from a distance, to be a vast, lifeless wasteland. In fact, the Sonoran desert is a gem of biodiversity, home to countless fascinating animal and plant species, many of which can only be found here. The AZ-Sonora Desert Museum, a 98-acre mostly-outdoor museum surrounded by a pristine desert ecosystem, lets visitors experience it up-close.

The Museum describes itself as “a fusion experience: zoo, botanical garden, art gallery, natural history museum, and aquarium.” Its 16 gardens are home to over 40,000 plants representing about 1,300 species, all native to the Sonoran desert region. If you include the plants that grow on the grounds, the museum estimates you an see about 1,400 species here. That’s in addition to about 230 species of animal and over 14,000 geological specimens.

This is a great place to see tree-sized saguaro cacti and big, vibrant cactus flowers, as well as a variety of desert wildflowers. It's also one of the only places to see a Mexican gray wolf, a nearly-extinct native of this region that the museum is helping to repopulate. 

If you’re looking for inspiration, there’s nothing like a close encounter with a hummingbird. Here you can check out a variety of species in the indoor hummingbird aviary, or meet he local birds in the outdoor hummingbird garden.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

ANN ARBOR

AUSTIN

BALTIMORE

BOSTON

CHARLESTON

CHARLOTTE

CHICAGO

COLUMBUS

DALLAS

DETROIT

GRAND RAPIDS

HOUSTON

MILWAUKEE

MINNEAPOLIS

NASHVILLE

NEW ORLEANS

NEW YORK

ORLANDO

PHILADELPHIA

PHOENIX

RICHMOND

SAN DIEGO

SANTA FE

SAVANNAH

SEATTLE

TUCSON

VIRGINIA

WASHINGTON D.C.

INSPIRATION

Destinations

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Minneapolis.

Plan your next getaway

Where Do You Want To Go?

We are adding new cities every week!

Featured Cities

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Chicago

Top-rated stories told and curated by local experts.

Must-See in Chicago

See what's near you.

Local Things to Do in Chicago

Get lost in Chicago. 

All Experiences in Chicago

Experiences curated by official city guide partners.

Top Chicago Channels

Where to next?

Plan Your Next Getaway

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in New York

Must-See in New York

Local Things to Do in New York

Get lost in NYC.

All Experiences in New York

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Tucson

Must-See in Tucson

Local Things to Do in Tucson

Get lost in Tucson.

All Experiences in Tucson

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Austin

Must-See in Austin

Local Things to Do in Austin

Get lost in Austin. 

All Experiences in Austin

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Virginia

Must-See in Virginia

Local Things to Do in Virginia

Get lost in Virginia.

All Experiences in Virginia

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Boston

Must-See in Boston

Local Things to Do in Boston

Get lost in Boston.

All Experiences in Boston

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Grand Rapids

Top-Rated Stories told and curated by local experts.

Must-See in Grand Rapids

See what's near you. 

Local Things to Do in Grand Rapids

Get lost in Grand Rapids.

All Experiences in Grand Rapids

Must-See in Inspiration

The most current experiences curated by staff.

New Experiences in Inspiration

Top Channels

Choose Chicago® is the official destination marketing organization for Chicago, Illinois. When you’re in Chicago, you’re home. With the countless experiences there are to have here, you're absolutely welcome to do any and all of them.

Top summer experience for Chicago 

Summer 2019

Check out the unique perspective 

Off the beaten path

Check out all other hidden gems

Know more about Chicago

Choose Chicago

Theatre is where Chicago bares its fearless soul. Home to a community of creators, risk-takers, and big hearts, Chicago theatre is a hotbed for exciting new work, storefront plays, musicals, improv, and more. Book your next show today at ChicagoPlays.com or find half-price theatre deals at HotTix.org.

All the unique Theatres in the Chicago

The Unique Theatres

Introducing all neighborhood Theatres in Chicago

Theatres in the neighborhood

2019 Year of Chicago Theatre

From historic lighthouses and the birthplace of the blues to Hemingway’s apartment and more, let Chicago’s museums take you around the city and discover its history and hidden gems.

Chicago Top Museums

World Class Museum

Check out all hidden gems on Chicago

Unique Museums in Chicago

Chicago Museums

Experiences curated for our guests

Fairmont's Choice

Get to know Scottsdale with a day at the museum

Museums

Explore Scottsdale's Activities and Attractions

Things to Do 

Grab a bite at one of our featured locations

Food & Drink

Find your next experience nearby

Explore Scottsdale

Experiences Near Fairmont Scottsdale Princess

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Houston

Looking for something to do? This is a good place to start. 

Must-See in Houston

Local Things to Do in Houston

Get lost in Houston.

All Experiences in Houston

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Columbus

Must-See in Columbus

Local Things to do in Columbus

Get lost in Columbus.

All Experiences in Columbus

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Detroit

Must-See in Detroit

Local Things To Do In Detroit

Get lost in Detroit.

All Experiences in Detroit

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in New Orleans

Must See in New Orleans

Local Things To Do

Get lost in NOLA. 

All Experiences in New Orleans

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Phoenix

Must See in Phoenix

Local Things to Do in Phoenix

Get lost in Phoenix. 

All Experiences in Phoenix

Where to next? 

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Milwaukee.

Must-See Experiences in Milwaukee

Tourist and local favorites.

Local Things To Do in Milwaukee

Get lost in Milwaukee.

All Experiences in Milwaukee 

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Seattle

Must-See in Seattle

Local Things to Do in Seattle

Get lost in Seattle. 

All Experiences in Seattle

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Charlotte

Must-See in Charlotte

Local things to do in Charlotte

Get lost in Charlotte.

All Experiences in Charlotte

Plan you next Getaway 

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Richmond

Must-See in Richmond

Local Things to Do in Richmond

Get lost in Richmond.

All Experiences in Richmond

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Savannah

Must-See Spots in Savannah

Local Things to Do in Savannah

Get lost in Savannah.

All Experiences in Savannah

Explore the hidden gems and stories behind the places around you in Nashville.

Five Tucson Area Gardens That Will Inspire

Yume Japanese Gardens

Yume Japanese Gardens

Tucson Botanical Garden

Tucson Botanical Garden

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun

Tohono Chul Park

Tohono Chul Park

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Download our app to experience the content you're previewing right now.

Watch, Listen, and Learn

Stories happen here

Find your inspiration