What to See in Arizona, United States

The best things to do in Arizona range from exploring desert cities and historic towns to visiting forests, high country and deep canyons. The state is especially known for Grand Canyon National Park, but its landscapes and history extend far beyond one landmark. Neywo offers free audio guides for 9 cities in Arizona, with 193 narrated places in total.

What to see and do in Arizona

Experience Arizona’s changing landscapes

Arizona is shaped by dramatic contrasts. In the south, lower elevations bring a desert climate, mild winters and intensely hot summers. From June through September, dry heat commonly reaches between 90 and 120 degrees.

Farther north, the landscape changes considerably. Pine, Douglas fir and spruce forests cover parts of the state, while the Colorado Plateau, the San Francisco Mountains and other ranges bring more moderate summers and significant winter snow. Large deep canyons add another dimension to the scenery.

Grand Canyon National Park is internationally known as one of the world’s seven natural wonders. It belongs to a wider setting that also includes national forests, national parks and national monuments. Across Arizona, the landscape may be desert, forested high country or canyon country.

Explore Phoenix and the surrounding cities

Phoenix, Arizona’s capital and largest city, anchors the state’s modern growth. Its metropolitan area includes Mesa, Chandler, Tempe, Scottsdale and Glendale, and has a population of just over 4.7 million.

In Phoenix, Neywo’s narrated places include the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum, the David & Gladys Wright House, the Heard Museum and the Arizona Science Center. The city is also part of a wider urban area where universities, businesses and cultural institutions have helped shape modern Arizona.

Nearby Mesa has 10 narrated places, including the i.d.e.a. Museum, Mesa Historical Museum, Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum and Arizona Museum of Natural History. Tempe also has 10 narrated places, among them the Arizona State University Art Museum, Arizona State University, Sea Life Arizona and Tempe Mosque.

Discover Tucson’s historic character

Tucson is another major Arizona city with a substantial Neywo audio guide. Its 60 narrated places include La Casa Cordova, the Miracle Mile Historic District, the Arizona Daily Star Building and the El Conquistador Water Tower.

The city reflects the state’s mixture of Indigenous continuity, borderland history and urban development. Tucson and Phoenix both operate public bus systems, while Arizona’s larger cities connect with highways running north to south and east to west across the state.

Visit historic towns and frontier-era sites

Arizona’s history reaches back thousands of years before statehood. Ancient Hohokam, Mogollon and Ancestral Puebloan cultures flourished in the region. Their pueblos, cliffside dwellings and rock paintings remain reminders of long and varied human histories.

The state’s more recent history can be explored in its historic towns. In Tombstone, Neywo covers seven narrated places, including Tombstone Courthouse, the O.K. Corral, Schieffelin Hall and the site of the firefight at the O.K. Corral.

Globe has three narrated places: the Elks Building, Holy Angels Church and St. John’s Episcopal Church. In Camp Verde, the audio guide covers Fort Verde State Historic Park and Clear Creek Church.

Learn about Indigenous cultures and communities

Many Native American tribes lived in what is now Arizona when European colonization began. They included the Navajo, Apache, Akimel O’odham, Hopi, Havasupai, Yavapai and Hualapai.

Today, Native American communities remain an important part of the state. Indian reservations cover a large part of Arizona and are home to 27 federally recognized Native American tribes. The Navajo Nation is the largest in Arizona and in the country, with more than 300,000 citizens.

Arizona’s name may preserve an O’odham origin. One explanation traces it to alĭ ṣonak, an O’odham phrase meaning “small spring.” Spanish colonists later applied a version of the name, Arizonac, to an area near the silver mining camp of Planchas de Plata in Sonora.

Follow Arizona’s layers of history

Arizona’s history also includes Spanish exploration, Mexican rule and the formation of the modern United States. In 1539, the Spanish Franciscan Marcos de Niza became the first European to contact Native Americans in the area. Coronado’s expedition entered soon after in search of Cíbola.

The region later formed part of New Spain and then independent Mexico. After the Mexican-American War, much of the territory passed to the United States, while the southernmost section was later acquired through the Gadsden Purchase. Arizona became the forty-eighth state in 1912 and the last of the contiguous states admitted to the Union.

Explore Page, Yuma and northern Arizona

In Page, Neywo covers seven narrated places, including John C Page Park, Jack Doland Field, Manson Mesa and Page Municipal Airport.

Yuma has five narrated places, including Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park, Penitentiary Avenue, Methodist Episcopal Church and Yuma Territorial Prison.

These cities add different perspectives to an Arizona itinerary, from northern plateau country to the state’s southwestern setting near the Mexican border.

Travel across Arizona with Neywo

Download Neywo to explore Arizona with 11 walking tours covering 193 narrated places across 9 cities. Narration is available in 11 languages. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule.

Choose a city, start walking and let the audio guide accompany you from one narrated place to the next. To discover more of the country, continue with the United States destination guide.