Phoenix

Phoenix is an urban oasis in the midst of one of the hottest deserts on the continent. It’s a city in touch with its surroundings: the views of the distinctive Camelback Mountain are ever-present from Downtown, and Phoenix takes pride in the desert’s surprising vitality. In particular, the Desert Botanical Garden will impress with its vibrant, multi-coloured cacti.

It’s not just nature providing drama and colour – this is a hotbed of human creativity too, which you’ll encounter in airy, contemporary spaces like the Phoenix Art Museum. The pioneering restaurants here are reinventing Mexicana cuisine with punchy flavours and artistic flourishes.