Formerly the best kept secret in the Southwest, the Phoenix metro area has turned into one of the most vibrant and exciting cities in the U.S. Its location makes it a hub city for travel and commerce, culture and the arts, vacationers, young families looking to start fresh, and older residents who come to spend their well-earned retirement in a balmy climate. Chock full of coed atmosphere, Tempe, the home of the Arizona State University with 40,000 students is a lively college town boasting one of the strongest economies in the Valley. Tempe has 48 parks including many golf courses, pools and tennis courts.

Jump to the following:

Heard Museum | Phoenix Museum of History | Tempe Historical Museum | Phoenix Zoo | Phoenix Art Museum

Arizona Science Center | Arizona State University | Breck Girl Hall of Fame | Desert Botanical Garden | Mystery Castle

Superstition Mountains | Hot-Air Ballooning Over the Desert | Castles 'N Coasters | Island of Big Surf | Fiddlesticks

CrackerJax Family Fun Park | Goldfield Ghost Town | Pioneer Arizona Living History Museum | Deer Valley Rock Art Ctr

Schnepf Farms | Champlin Fighter Museum | Hall of Flame Firefighting Museum | Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

America West Arena | Phoenix Suns | Phoenix International Raceway | Tostito's Fiesta Bowl | Parada del Sol Rodeo

Cactus League MLB Baseball

Heard Museum:

• The nation's premier showcase of Native American art and culture has more than 32,000 works of fine art, basketry, pottery, weavings, beadwork, and other ethnographic objects. There are also interactive art-making exhibits for children and live demonstrations by artisans.

• Interactive exhibits allow guests to appreciate the city's multi-cultural heritage and witness its growth from the 1860's through the 1930's Some of the museum's high points include a replica of an old beer bottle sidewalk, the first motorized bicycle in the U.S., the town's first jail and a 1920's living room.

• Arizona Museum for Youth - innovative exhibits delightfully displayed to entice young people to get involved.

  Arizona State Capitol Museum - tour part of the old state capitol, recently restored to its original condition.

• Five designated trails wind through this 125-acre zoo, which has replicas of such habitats as an African savanna and a tropical rain forest. Meerkats, warthogs, desert bighorn sheep, and endangered Arabian oryx are among the unusual sights. Open every day, rain or shine (excluding December 25) Regular season hours from Labor Day to Memorial Day are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Summer hours: Memorial Day through July 31, 7 a.m. to noon and 6-9 p.m. August hours are 6-9 p.m. only.

• The Museum's collection of nearly 16,000 works spans the centuries and emphasizes American Art; Asian Art; European Art of the 14th-19th Centuries; Western American Art; Modern and Contemporary Art; Spanish Colonial and Latin American Art; 18th-20 th Century Fashion Design; and the Thorne Miniature Rooms. And for families, there is an interactive "child-friendly, please touch!" gallery called ArtWorks.

• The Phoenix Symphony
• Arizona Opera

• Lively "please touch" exhibits explain the physics of making gigantic soap bubbles, the technology of satellite weather systems, and more. Dazzling computer graphics simulate orbits and eclipses under the 60-foot dome of the planetarium, and a theater shows films on a massive 50-foot-high projection screen.

• The sprawling 750-acre Tempe campus of ASU is notable for its public art and innovative architecture, much of it designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

• Pop-culture enthusiasts are sure to enjoy this one-room museum containing more than 150 of the signature pastel portraits from the "Breck Girl" shampoo ads, including pictures of Brooke Shields, Kim Basinger, Cybill Shepherd, and other now-famous former Breck Girls. A guide can detail the life and times of Mr. Edward J. Breck, whose lasting contributions to society include being the first person to differentiate between dry and oily. (602) 207-4000

• These 150 acres contain more than 4,000 different species of cacti, succulents, trees, and flowers. A stroll along the half-mile-long "Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert" trail is a fascinating lesson in the many adaptations that plants, animals, and people have made to desert living.

• This curious dwelling was hand-built from desert rocks, railroad refuse, and anything else its builder could get his hands on. Chock-full of oddities that will fascinate everyone in the family, the castle has 18 rooms with 13 fireplaces, 90 bottle-glass portholes, a downstairs grotto, a floating cantilever stairway, and a roll-away bed with a mining railcar as its frame.

• Traveling up the Superstition Highway through Tempe, Mesa and eventually Apache Junction you will come upon the massive Superstition Mountain heaves. Supposedly the mountains are home to the Lost Dutchman Mine of which the location has been debated for many many years.

• The peaceful silence of life hundreds of feet up is unforgettable; since the balloon is carried on the wind, you'll experience no wind yourself. In addition to this awesome tranquility, many elusive desert creatures can be viewed in their natural habitat only from balloon.

• Surround yourself with fun and experience miniature golf or one ofthe many other attractions in magical settings.

• A 2.5-acre ocean in the middle of the desert open for swimming, surfing and other water and sun sports. (602) 947-SURF or 947-7873

• Fun for the entire family, including miniature golf, driving range, go-carts andbumper boats, batting cages and a video arcade.

• Features miniature golf, go-karts, bumper boats, arcade,volleyball, baseball and golf ranges, and a restaurant.

• This authentic 1890's mining settlement features specialty shops, a nature trail, mine tours, gold panning, displays of antique mining equipment, horse rentals and staged gunfight shows. Take the family for a narrated scenic ride on Arizona's only operating Narrow Gauge Railroad - on a 1.5 mile loop ride. Restaurant and Ice cream parlor on site. Jeep Tours, Hiking/ Backpacking Treks and outdoor adventures throughout the Apache Trail and the legendary Superstition mountains are available as well.

• Experience life in turn-of-the-century Arizona, at the largest living history museum west of the Rockies. You can visit 28 historic buildings, including an opera house, a church, ranch complex, sheriff's office, blacksmith shop and school house. Historical interpreters roam the grounds in period costumes. Children are encouraged to touch and feel the spirit of the Old West.

• The largest petroglyph site in the Greater Phoenix area, with more than 1,500 petroglyphs concentrated along the lower slopes of Hedpeth Hills. Plus a 47-acre natural desert preserve where native plants and animals are protected.

• Schnepf Farms has developed one of the best play areas in the Valley. The facilities include a petting corral, sand pile, hay maze, haystacks and a playground. The picnic area is landscaped with palms and pine trees in the middle of a real working farm. You can pick fruit and vegetables directly from their 100-acre garden and orchards. Or you can ride the train through the peach orchard. A 1912 Parker Carousel operates every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

• Depicts the complete evolution of fighter aircraft and pays tribute to the pilots.

• Features steamers, hand and horse drawn vehicles and motor-powered fire engines from around the world. Over 90 fully restored pieces of fire fighting apparatus are on exhibit, dating from 1725-1960. Kids can climb aboard a real fire truck, dress up as firefighters and learn safety tips. examine the world's largest exhibit of firefighting equipment.

• The 35-ft-tall Casa Grande (Big House), an hour's drive south of Phoenix, was built around 1350 by the Hohokam Indians, who farmed this area beginning more than 1,500 years ago, until they vanished mysteriously around 1450. A small museum features other artifacts.

• This grand sports facility is more than just a home of professional basketball and hockey teams. It also has many shops, cafes and an athletic club. Even when there's not a game going on, it's worth a tour.

• This high-scoring NBA team is on the rise and looking for a World Championship. The NBA season runs November through April.

• Host of the Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic, Phoenix 200 Indy Car race and Phoenix 500 NASCAR race.

• The Fiesta Bowl is one of the nation's top 4 College Football bowl games.

• Rough-riding rodeo event that the pros love to win and weekend cowboys and cowgirls love to watch in January.

• Greater Phoenix is a baseball fan's dream every year when 10 major league teams come to town for spring training.