The best restaurants, hotels, art exhibits, hikes, cocktail bars and shopping in the Valley of the Sun
TO THE SPORTS-MAD, Phoenix probably looks a lot like heaven. From the Cactus League—spring training for 15 Major League Baseball teams—to the massively attended Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament, to the Super Bowl (coming back to town next year), there always seems to be a reason to visit the Valley of the Sun. But what if you're not a jock or enthusiastic spectator? There's plenty for you, too. The Phoenix-Scottsdale area is a wonderland of midcentury modern architecture (though most of its best bars and restaurants are hidden in strip malls). It's where Chris Bianco makes what many consider to be the best pizza in the country. It is home to not just one, but two of artist James Turrell's "skyspace" installations. Winter is also an ideal time to explore the Sonoran Desert; a hike over the rocky landscape can be by equal turns punishing and thrilling—"Fifty Shades of Beige," if you will. So, even if you can't tell a bunt from a punt, you can have, ahem, a ball in Arizona.
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