Arizona Hostels
A burgeoning Southwest city, Phoenix, Arizona is now the fifth largest city in the United States. Growing in population each year, Phoenix also holds steadfast to its history-rich roots. The Phoenix hostel is located just a few miles outside of downtown Phoenix, home to the internationally-recognized Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art, which celebrates both traditional and contemporary American Indian traditions. A second Arizonan landmark, the copper-domed Arizona Capitol Museum, is the primary symbol of democracy in the state. Housed in the 1901 state capitol building, the museum specializes in Arizona’s days as a territory and early statehood through guided tours, exhibitions, and educational programs – don’t miss the USS Arizona exhibit, which displays artifacts and personal items from the WWII battleship.
Want to get back to nature? Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden, located in Papago Park, is the world’s largest outdoor desert plant collection. The garden’s 50 acres of outdoor exhibits include walking trails that displays the ways in which plants were integrated into Native American tribal life. Less than 30 miles away from downtown Phoenix is Taliesin West, the international headquarters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, as well as the famous architect’s former home, studio, architecture school campus, and modern-day museum. Regarded as one of Wright’s most famous works, Taliesin West served as Wright’s winter home until his death in 1959. Literally built from the desert, Taliesin West was constructed from desert rocks and sand.
Phoenix’s rich cultural and natural history is rivaled only by its climate. With more than 300 sunny days per year, Phoenix enjoys a desert climate, which low annual rainfall and low relative humidity. Spring and fall are generally dry, while rainy seasons are from November through March and July through August. Coldest temperatures occur in January, with average temperatures in the mid 60s; the hottest months are June through August, when temperatures often hit 100 degrees.
