Visiting Tucson on a Budget
After receiving a rather substantial income tax check, we decided to visit Tucson, Arizona was a decision made three weeks prior to travel. We did not know anything about the city, its inhabitants, lodging accommodations, desirable sections of the city, or how we would get from Point A to Point B without a rental car.
We did as much online research as we could. We found hotels that were relatively close to the airport, and concentrated on those with airport shuttles. While we found a few from $55 to $76 a night, our ultimate goal of skimping on lodging wasn’t working, based on the online reviews. While many of the package tour sites (i.e. Expedia, Travelocity, AARP, etc.) offered what first appeared to be reasonable accommodations, a little investigation showed that each were representing the same hotel(s), and the same hotel had the same terrible reviews.
A little research on our part found that purchasing tickets through Southwest was our best bet, and it was by far our largest expense. When we started looking, tickets were $99 each way from Manchester, New Hampshire (MHT) to Tucson, Arizona (TUS), but that was for dates at the end of March. Because we chose to go at the beginning of March, with less than 21 days’ notice, we paid for the tickets online; they were $296 plus taxes and fees, for a total of just over $700. If you have more time to plan, Southwest actually has a screen that allows you to pick arrival and departure dates that coincide with the lowest ticket prices. We prioritized departure date over ticket price.
Next we searched for hotels in “our” price range – we were hoping for $50-$60/night. We were disappointed to read bad reviews for hotels in the one- and two-star ranges that ran from $55-$78/night. Because we are a Choice Hotels member, we selected the Quality Inn Airport on E. Valencia Drive. We noted its location less than 2 miles from the airport and at least one casino (there are at least five in the area). We also tried to virtually navigate to areas we thought we’d be able to see in 6 days and 7 nights. We decided we wanted to visit “downtown,” “4th Avenue,” “University of Arizona,” a venue of Native American / Southwest culture, some photo opportunities of local flora and fauna, and at least one casino.
Needless to say, we did everything on our schedule. We did not rent a car, but chose to use Arizona’s public transportation system (Sun Tran bus). A day pass for unlimited rides and transfers is $2. The bus stop was about a half-mile from our hotel, and our first bus driver (Fernando) invited us to ride his entire route while he humored us with stories and history of the area. The transit system is very well organized, with all buses originating from one of three transit stations. Our bus (#6) took us to most of the areas we were looking to see. Bus #11 took us far to the north (close to the mountains) to the Tucson Botanical Gardens and #24 went to and from the casino.
Being without a car created only a slight inconvenience to our site-seeing plans. For instance, we could not find transportation to bring us far enough out to visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum – a must see according to several people we spoke to. The Davis-Monthan was close enough to us that we could watch the airplane maneuvers (we were there to watch the testing of a new stealth aircraft).
We found the area and the sites to be awe-inspiring, the trip to be completely affordable, and the hotel to be lovely. The city is very large and covers a great deal of area, although there is very little greenery (which we were surprised at, being from New Hampshire). We did not think being without a rental car hindered us much, except for those few occasions where we would have liked to access the museum and possible more of Arizona. Consider renting a car for a day or two, rather than your whole stay.
Some words of wisdom:
1) Taxis run an average of $3/mile, and have a drop flag fee as well. We were “warned” to make sure the cab runs the meter and so the taxi driver does not quote a higher flat rate. Taxis are not regulated.
2) The best taxi company we found was ABC Taxi, but they also have different names (A-1) on their cars, so if you call one, you might not recognize it without asking the driver.
3) Yellow cabs are not all yellow.
4) The casinos have similar names – Desert Diamond is closest to the airport and has a shuttle to a second site. Casino of the Sun and Casino del Sol are two others, which are very far out. Our mistake made the difference between a $10 and a $30 one-way trip.
5) Everyone is very friendly, and the city is multi-ethnic. Please remember that you are a visitor and try to blend in. We found no one that was unable or unwilling to talk to us, share some stories, caution or encourage us as to where to go and where not to go.
All-in-all, a beautiful vacation destination and, hopefully, our future home.
