Travel to Arizona

If you are flying to Arizona via commercial airlines during your travel to Arizona, you will arrive at one of two major Arizona airports.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is the largest airport in Arizona.

Many Arizona travelers take flights to Phoenix as this large city - the state's capitol - is centrally located in the state.

Downtown Phoenix as seen from Sky Harbor Airport

Therefore, Phoenix makes a good starting point for traveling to other areas of Arizona such as Sedona, Flagstaff, and the Grand Canyon.

If you plan to visit southern Arizona, however, you may want to fly to Tucson International Airport.

If you have your own plane, there are several smaller Arizona airports scattered around the state, too.

Amtrak is the only national passenger train service in the United States.

They currently have stops in Yuma, Tucson, Benson, Kingman, Williams, Flagstaff, Winslow, and Maricopa, Arizona, which is about 30 minutes southeast of Phoenix.

If you'd like to take a bus to Arizona, the Greyhound bus line travels to several Arizona cities including Phoenix, Glendale, Tucson, and Flagstaff.

Do you need to rent a car once you get here?

If you are just planning to stay around a resort or at a hotel in downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale or Tucson, you could just take an airport shuttle or a taxi to your lodging and not rent a car.

Then you could get around on foot, hire a taxi or take a bus around town.

However, if you want to explore out into the desert and your time is limited, you will probably need to rent a car.

Both Sky Harbor and Tucson International airports have rental car facilities.

For the most part, really good, extensive public transportation is woefully lacking in Arizona.

There are no commuter trains or subways systems such as you might find in Europe, or even in New York or San Francisco.

If you travel to Arizona during summer, you'll see monsoon thunderstorms like this one over Interstate 17 near Camp Verde, Arizona

However, the city of Phoenix has built a light rail system, which primarily serves the downtown Phoenix area and a few outlying areas.

To see a map of the rail line and stations, visit the official Valley Metro Transportation Agency web site.

Arizona's major cities and towns do have public bus systems.

Depending upon where you will be going during your travel in Arizona, the bus may not be convenient or time efficient.

Your destination and budget will determine if the public bus system will work for you.

Whichever way you travel to Arizona, you'll need to know what to pack, what to expect, and when the best time is to go.

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