Phoenix: Why The Snowbirds Are Flocking To The Valley of The Sun

With an approximate area of 14,500 to 14,600 square miles, the Greater Phoenix area includes diverse cities like Scottsdale and Mesa. As we journey through this diverse region, we'll first explore its embrace of modern technology alongside a deep respect for traditional cultures.

Back to the Future

The first time you step into a Waymo, an autonomous self-driving robotaxi, it feels like you've stepped into the DeLorean from Back to the Future. Whilst London is getting Waymo trial runs in 2026, Phoenix has had these vehicles since 2020. Banal conversations with taxi drivers will be a thing of the past. You can be your own DJ, and Waymo will even magically remember your preferred temperature settings for future rides.

Futuristic taxis aside, Phoenix also offers cutting-edge planetariums. The Dorrance DOME recently reopened and features one of the most advanced LED domes in the world. At 60 feet in diameter and 8K+ resolution, you'll feel fully immersed in the action. At the "Inside Pop Art" exhibition, Andy Warhol’s masterpieces felt within touching distance.

Experience Indigenous Creativity

One of the most progressive museums in Phoenix is the Heard Museum. It celebrates the rich and vibrant ecosystem of American Indigenous Art, whether it is traditional art forms or contemporary creations. Their artist fund to support indigenous artists is particularly lauded. Unsurprisingly, they have a very close working relationship with leading artists such as Bob Haozous, a renowned Chiricahua Apache sculptor. 

They currently have a retrospective view of his six decades of work, including masterpieces such as "Ozone Madonna". It depicts a female "Mother Earth" figure surrounded by pollutant-spewing vehicles. His socio-environmental messages are as relevant today as when he first created these art pieces.

I've been reliably informed that the best place to buy Native American art is at the Heard Museum shop. The museum is not-for-profit and has an eclectic selection of items on offer, from jewellery to art reproductions. They have all been vetted for authenticity and are often made by artists featured in the museum's exhibitions.

The Design Capital of Arizona

Frank Lloyd Wright, widely regarded as the godfather of organic architecture, lived in Arizona for over two decades. He would spend the winter months at his desert retreat and studio, Taliesin West. Nowadays, it is a world heritage site and a historic landmark. You can take a self-guided audio tour and marvel at the architectural genius of Taliesin West. 

He pioneered integrating buildings with their natural environments, with triangles a common motif in his work. His use of triangular pools, for instance, mirrors the mountain backdrop behind the house. Elsewhere, he paved the way for open floor plans rather than the traditional grid of box-like, enclosed rooms, and incorporated natural elements like boulders into the walls. Beyond this, he embraced using natural light long before it became the trend that it is today.

Phoenix not only celebrates architecture, but also modern art forms like immersive digital installations. Wonderspaces in Scottsdale makes art accessible for all ages. Instead of studying a Rembrandt or a Frida Kahlo, they have three robot portrait artists drawing guests in real-time. There is the mesmerising blooms installation, where 3D-printed sculptures are designed to animate when spun under a strobe light. The optical illusion is such that it feels like you’re witnessing the steady blossoming of a flower.

Experiential Themed Bars

If you miss the golden age of flying before budget airlines came into existence, you need to visit the immersive Carry On cocktail bar. It's a unique 90-minute experience where you can experience a nostalgic "flight" in a recreated 1970s jumbo jet setting. They use an upcycled Pan-Am beverage cart to serve their tableside martinis using penguin-shaped shakers. You can pick up a retro-phone at the bar and hear the pilot's voice on loop (voiced by a local comedian). The destinations change seasonally, and  for the winter season, they are heading to the North Pole. Expect festive cocktails as well as creative serves to warm your cockles.

Plaudits have been showered on Title 9 Sports Grill for being a sports bar that celebrates women's presence in sports. Yes, you will see them show the NBA season-openers, but you will also find Women's NCAA basketball matches shown on their screens. Their cheeky cocktails are named after sporting icons like the Billie Jean spritz or the Coco Gauff Colada. The space is all about inclusivity and empowering more young women to enter the sports arena.

Close Encounters With the Sonoran Desert

Any visit to Greater Phoenix is incomplete without embracing the surrounding Sonoran Desert. You will only start to appreciate that it is an atypical desert environment by visiting the Desert Botanical Garden. Here, the Sonoran landscape supports a wide variety of flora due to the mild winters and biseasonal rainfall seasons. Indeed, half the plant life you will come across actually has tropical origins. Keep your eyes peeled for the Saguaro cacti, which are a symbol of the Sonoran desert and can store vast amounts of water in their fleshy stems.

What you might not expect is a butterfly pavilion with verdant greenery, a water feature, and thousands of live butterflies. You might also be surprised to find an immersive art exhibition in the form of "Desert Pulse"which uses time-lapse 3D scanning to create a "living portrait" of the Sonoran Desert. These videos are displayed on massive outdoor installations. They also run yoga classes, opera performances for children and foodie events throughout the year.

For the ultimate desert thrill embark on an off-road tour with the likes of Stellar Adventures. They provide state-of-the-art ATVs, UTVs and Hummers, along with guided tours in the Sonoran Desert. You can truly soak up the amazing topography of the region, quickly realising how the landscape is far from barren. They have a wide variety of add-ons from stargazing and  BBQ tours at Frasher’s Smokehouse to tasting tours at Arizona’s famous brewery, OHSO Brewery.

A Desert Oasis

Nothing epitomises the can-do spirit of Arizona than a visit to Revel Surf Park. It is the home to Greater Phoenix's only surf wave park at Cannon Beach. While opening a surf lagoon in the middle of a desert might have sounded like sheer lunacy, dedicated co-owners Matthew Gunn and Cole Cannon have turned their dream into a reality. They use proprietary wave-generating technology that most accurately mimics ocean surfing. It is also customisable in terms of the size of the waves it can generate: here are sessions with mellow waves, ideal for younger surfers, and V-land advanced sessions where barrel riders are often found surfing in the tube for 3-4 seconds. 

Bigger plans for the development are already looming on the horizon. Gunn and Cannon are launching an indoor sports park that includes a skate pump track, as well as a hotel retail and culinary openings in the not-too-distant future. 

Greater Phoenix offers an abundance of nature-rich land and local charm with imagination and determination to boot. With this in mind, it seems inevitable that the number of snowbirds and tourists visiting Greater Phoenix will only continue to rise in the coming years.

For more information on Phoenix in general, please visit: visitphoenix.com