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February is a perfect time to visit Tucson, Arizona, in the American Southwest, for a three day itinerary during the Gem Show. The weather is near perfect, with temperatures far below the triple digits seen in the summers. February is also the time of the Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil show. Read on to see how to spend three or more perfect days in Tucson, Arizona during February and the Gem Show.
Tucson 3 Day Itinerary: Quick View
Embrace the mild, sun-drenched days of February in Tucson, Arizona, with this curated three-day itinerary to visit during the Gem Show. This vibrant desert city, nestled amidst the towering saguaros and rugged landscapes of the Sonoran Desert, calls with a blend of outdoor wonders, cultural exploration, and delicious Southwestern cuisine. Over the next three days, I’ll guide you through the heart of Tucson, from its enchanting desert landscapes to its rich heritage.
I visited Tucson with my sister in February, 2022 specifically to see Saguaro National Park. My grandfather had just passed away at 96 years old, and I was grieving. Since our fiscal year had just ended, I planned a vacation someplace warmer than Seattle. Originally I intended this to be a solo exploration, but my sister came to join me to spend time together while we mourned.
Hi Friends It’s Julia and I were excited to find out that the Gem Show was also in Tucson during the weekend we were there. J and I both love vintage jewelry and gems – we both spend a lot of time and money looking at antique jewels on Instagram. The Gem Show was an amazing coincidence during our three day trip.
Day 1: Sonoran Desert Museum, Saguaro National Park West
Day 2: Saguaro National Park East, Pima Air and Space Museum
Day 3: Gem Show and Art Museum, tour around historic Tucson
About the Gem Show
The Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil show happens in Tucson every late January to early February. Over the course of two weeks, the Gem Show takes over the entire city of Tucson. Let me be clear – it takes over the ENTIRE city from the conventions centers, to hotel ballrooms to tents to hotel rooms. Entire hotels are taken over by gem vendors. They move out the hotel furniture and move in glass showcases. It’s an entirely overwhelming experience. One could spend days wandering the stalls, looking at spectacular cut stones, geodes, fossils and jewelry. We spent an entire day wandering the stalls and part of a second afternoon. By the end of it, everything was blending together and I’m not sure what exactly we bought.
The Gem Show is free and open to the public. For trade or wholesale members, there are additional venues available open. The 2024 dates are January 27-February 11, although not every vendor is open every single day. While it’s called a “show”, in reality it is a series of 43 smaller shows put on over the city.
Day 1
Tucson can be reached by a number of flights from across the United States. Arrive in the morning, or perhaps the evening before at TUS Tucson International Airport.
Morning: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Begin your three day trip in Tucson by learning about what makes Tucson unique – being a part of the Sonoran Desert. At this museum, you will learn about the plants and animals that make the desert their home. See river otters, bighorn sheep and desert fishes in the Riparian exhibit, or gila monsters in their native underground habitat. The museum also has a hummingbird aviary, where you can get up close to these beautiful birds!
The museum is open daily 8:30am-5pm in the winter. Check their website for summer hours and special tours or animal shows. Admission is $30 for adults, $20 for children, with senior/veteran/local resident discounts. Expect to spend a morning at the museum, with most of your time spent outside. Pack sun protection if you’re visiting. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has a cafe, restaurant (that serves alcohol!) and a coffee shop if you need a snack.
I visited a similar museum when I visited Bend, Oregon, and it helped me understand the ecosystem and climate of the area. I always check out the gift shops for unique books, postcards or mementos of the area.
Afternoon: Saguaro National Park West Side
The museum is very close to the west entrance of Saguaro National Park, so you can combine the two activities during day one to save on drive time. Saguaro is divided into two halves, East and West, one on each side of the city. Both have unique characteristics due to the differing geography. I thought the trails in the East District were a little flatter and easier, with more accessible options. The East side also has older saguaro cacti than the West side, which has younger cacti. While the East half of the park is actually three times as large as the West portion, the West receives more visitors.
After stopping into the Visitor Center to get your national park stamp, take the King Canyon/Guold Mine Loop for 2.5 miles to see the canyons and an old mining road. You can also take the Signal Hill hike to see petroglyphs from the Native Americans who lived here. Hike to your heart’s content to work up an appetite for dinner.
Evening: Dinner at El Charro
Tucson is a UNESCO certified City of Gastronomy, the first such city in the United States. Plan on making food a key part of each of your evenings (or days!). My sister and I are not foodies per se, so these are recommendations from our experience. You should absolutely explore to find other dining options to suit your tastes! In fact, Lost Between the Pages did just that with several Tucson foodie recs.
El Charro is at the top of everyone’s dining lists for Tucson, for being the “oldest Mexican restaurant” in Tucson. It was nominated for a 2019 James Beard award, too. But it’s on everyone’s lists…so it’s very busy. Make a reservation ahead of time if you’re planning on going. We drank a few margaritas outside while we waited for a table inside. The tacos were great, although the service was very so-so when we went.
Day 2
Morning: Breakfast at Five Points and Saguaro National Park
Start the second day of your trip by grabbing a coffee or meal to go at Five Points Market, one of the City of Gastronomy certified markets. Five Points happened to be very close to our hotel, so we stopped each morning for huevos rancheros and a coffee. Five Points is also a market, so you can grab a snack, beer, bottle of wine, or local delicacy for later in the day.
After you are fueled up, head the thirty minute drive to Saguaro National Park – Rincon Mountain District East Entrance. Stop by the Visitor Center for the latest weather advisories and conditions.
In Rincon Mountain District/East, there is a flat ¼ mile Desert Ecology Trail, and a flat mile-long Homestead trail that would be suitable for all ages. We hiked the Loma Verde Trailhead, which bordered on the wilderness portion of the park. We saw lots of Saguaro cacti but no real wildlife.
The East side of the park has more paved roads than the West portion, making it perfect for an e-bike tour around the park. For two and a half hours, you will explore all that the park has to offer. E-bikes make any rolling hills in the park easy to ride.
Afternoon: Pima Air and Space Museum
After enjoying Saguaro National Park, head 15 minutes east to the Pima Air and Space Museum. You’ve likely seen pictures of the Airplane “Boneyard” or “Graveyard” before. While tours to these decommissioned airplanes are no longer offered, you can learn more in the Air and Space Museum.
Instead, you can take an $8 tram tour to tour all of the planes in the four hangars of the museum. The museum also offers $75 per group walking tours of the planes inside the main hangar, including F-14 Tomcat! They have an incredible number of airplanes on display (over 400!!), both hanging, in hangars, and outside. Tickets are $20 for adults, $13 for children with senior and local resident discounts available.
Evening: Dinner at Penca
This authentic fine dining Mexican cuisine restaurant also features a small-batch Mezcal bar. Everything we tried was delicious. I loved the arroz poblano and calabacitas. We also tried several tacos (turkey and grouper) and empanadas. And margaritas, OF COURSE. My Instagram stories say that I had one of the best margs I’ve ever had, and J had a smoked corn mezcal bevvy. All in all, delicious!
Day 3
Today is Gem Show day! You could spend several days at all the Gem Show has to offer. For the purposes of this itinerary, I’ve added an optional afternoon activity if you want to continue to explore Tucson. For a three day itinerary trip to Tucson during the Gem Show, I think it’s okay to spend only a half day at the show. J and I spent a full day plus a late afternoon, which might have been too much if we are being honest.
Morning: Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
As I mentioned earlier, the Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show is an enormous convention that takes over the entire city. It is free to the public, but there is a lot of overlap among venues. Pick a venue and browse it for a morning, going from room to room or booth to booth.
I suggest the 22nd Street Show, since it’s one of the largest three shows, has aircon and wifi. You can walk there from the main part of the city on the greenway.
You will find both raw and cut gems, plus pre-made jewelry, beads, fossils, crystals, and also a lot of junk. A lot of junk. We each bought a cut tourmaline gem, and I bought some garnets to make into earrings. I also bought quartz beads to make a necklace which I still have not done.
Some vendors will have bins of gems that are $10-50 dollars, which can make an inexpensive souvenir. However, you will go blind from digging through and looking at gems. Most vendors took credit cards or tap-to-pay, with a significant discount for cash purchases.
Afternoon: Tour around Historic Tucson
Tucson is the ancestral homelands of the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui peoples, who settled there at least 4,000 years before Spanish missionaries began settling in the 1600s. Tucson has a unique appearance, a mix of Spanish influence style and “Old West.” The best way to get a sense of the “Old Pueblo” city is to take a tour around historic Tucson.
I love a walking tour; it’s one of the best ways to get a feel for a city and orient yourself for the rest of your trip. Even better are tours hosted by locals, so you get the inside scoop. Historical Guided Tour in Tucson is a three-hour tour of walking and driving around the Presidio, University of Arizona and More. A self-guided audio tour might be more your speed, if you prefer to walk and explore at your own pace.
The Presidio San Agustin Del Tucson Museum has a number of free and paid walking tours, as well. The Turquoise trail is a self-guided 2.5 mile loop through downtown Tucson. The website notes that the PDF is almost impossible to print out, so it may behoove you to track down a paper map at their location. Additional paid tours are available on a scheduled basis; see their tour listings for more details.
If a walking tour isn’t your style, find a food tour, like from Secret Food Tours, to enjoy all the unique foods Tucson has to offer. I can’t wait to return to take a taco bike tour around Tucson. See, you ride the bike and then the tacos are healthy. A perfect combination.
Evening: Dinner and Leave
This is likely your last evening in Tucson. Eat a Sonoran dog from El Guero Canelo, or find a City of Gastronomy certified restaurant for a final Sonoran meal.
Best Day Trips From Tucson
Day trip 1 – Tumacácori National Historic Park
Tumacácori National Historical Park protects the ruins of three Spanish colonial mission communities in southern Arizona, with the Tumacácori Mission founded in 1691 as the prime attraction. Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the Jesuit mission church, cemetery, and remnants of irrigation systems. This site is a stark glimpse into what it meant for the indigenous Tohono O’Odham peoples when Christian Spanish missionaries colonized this era.
When J and I visited, there were a number of local Tohono O’Odham available to explain different aspects of their culture, including a very nice lady named Carolina who was making homemade tortillas and beans. A free snack!! The visitor center has a number of self-guided tour guides available to focus on the architecture, history, agriculture or women’s impact on the site. Admission is free with your National Park pass.
Tumacácori is about an hour south of Tucson, about thirty minutes from the Mexican border. You could continue along the highway to cross into Mexico if you bring your passport. Or instead, you could stop at Dos Cabezas tasting room for some wine and lunch. I picked up a bottle of their homemade hot sauce to take home as well.
Day trip 2 – Tombstone and the Wild Wild West
If you want more of that Wild, Wild West feel, take a day trip to Tombstone, home of the famous OK Corral. This is a recreation of the heyday of this mining town, complete with historic buildings, and costumed actors in reenactments of gunfights between Wyatt Earp and whatever cowpoke dared cross him. Several outfitters also arrange private tours to Tombstone.
Just south of Tucson, Mission San Xavier del Bac provides a very different historical experience. This Spanish Catholic mission church dates back to the late 1700s and still holds regular services. Marvel at the striking white architecture, intricate carvings, and artwork inside. Wander the lovely grounds and cemetery surrounding the mission.
If you do not want to drive, join a tour that combines Tombstone and the Mission. Or combine Tombstone with the antiquing town of Bisbee on a tour.
Where to Stay in Tucson
With both the Gem Show and University of Arizona, there is no shortage of places to stay in Tucson.
Budget – Welcome to Casa Hibiscus! Amenities galore!! Hot tub+bike+bbq+fire pit ! Pets!
This cute casita house from VRBO has a fully fenced backyard and is pet friendly!! It is a four minute walk to the University of Arizona, has lots of outdoor seating, and plenty of amenities. The headline makes it seem like the pets are included in the listing, but alas, they are not. However, it is BYOP: Bring your own pet.
Budget – Casita Encanto – Renovated Historic Guest House with Private Pool
This little guest house on VRBO is on the National Register of Historic Places. It doesn’t have an oven/dishwasher but it is pet-friendly. If we’re being real…do you need a dishwasher in Tucson? No. You’ll be too busy eating tacos and margs to worry about cooking.
Mid Priced – Downtown Clifton Hotel
This is the hotel I stayed at when I visited Tucson. I found it to be completely charming, with a quirky mod/mid century feel. The lobby has record players to borrow, plus books in each room. The hotel also has a bar and restaurant onsite, with clever craft cocktails, and live music several nights a week. This was walking distance to Five Points Market, and was perfect for our needs. Rates from $139.
Mid Priced to Bougie – The Graduate Hotel Tucson
This boutique hotel near Arizona State has a coffee shop, gym, and outdoor pool. The decor also trends towards that mod/mid century vibes you’ll find around Tucson. Rates from $200.
Bougie – JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort
What a resort! Relax your cares away at this resort that has golf courses, pools, restaurants and hot tubs galore. It’s also right next to the west entrance of Saguaro National Park in the middle of a saguaro forest, so you’ll have an experience like no other here. I heard great things about this resort and might need to use my points to stay there next time. It looks so relaxing.
Tucson Itinerary FAQ
If you still have questions about your three day itinerary to Tucson, read on;
Is 3 days in Tucson enough?
Yes, three days in Tucson is enough. A long weekend will give you exposure to all that the city has to offer, through a variety of activities.
What time of year is cheapest to visit Tucson?
Summer is the cheapest time to visit Tucson, but it’s also the hottest during the summer. Travel during the shoulder seasons for better rates, or winter for mild weather.
Why Is Tucson worth visiting?
Yes! Tucson is absolutely worth visiting. I really liked my trip to Tucson with all of the amazing food and sights to see. Tucson is great for adults and kids who like Southwest culture, hiking, deserts, the outdoors, and more. Tucson is especially worth visiting for the Gem Show.
What is the best month to go to Tucson?
The best month is February, so you can also go to the Gem Show. For Tucson, it’s really about when not to visit – the summer. Temperatures can top 120 degrees!!
Can I walk around in Tucson?
Yes, Tucson is fairly walkable for tourists. I found the city streets to be very open and flat. However, there were not sidewalks everywhere so you might take extra caution as you walk.
Should I rent a car for three days in Tucson?
Yes, you need a car in Tucson as a tourist. If you are spending time just in the city, you could get by with rideshares, taxis and walking. However, if you want to venture to Saguaro National Park or further afield, you will need a car. As far as I could tell on Google Maps, there are no city buses to Saguaro from the city.
Conclusion: Your Tucson 3 Day Itinerary
When you visit Tucson, you’ll find a variety of cultural and outdoors activities to entertain you. Learn more about the ecology and desert at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, learn about the indigenous peoples at Tumacacori, get decked out in gemstones at the Gem Show, and see the classic saguaro cacti at Saguaro National Park. Top it all off with margaritas and Sonoran Mexican food at any one of the restaurants in the City of Gastronomy.
Land Acknowledgement
I acknowledge that Tucson and the surrounding areas are the ancestral homelands of the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui peoples. The land on which we explore today originally belonged to these Native American tribes who have inhabited this region for centuries. It’s important we recognize the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui peoples as traditional stewards of this land and show respect for their sovereign rights and cultural legacies.
Check out MY GUIDE TO HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK. Want to read more about my LOVE OF NATIONAL PARKS ? all of my Parks posts are here.
I absolutely loved my time in Tucson and still crave those tamales at El Charro.
I need to go back for the tamales and margaritas!
Oooh both Tucson and the gem show look fabulous! I have always been interested in geology and fossils so this looks amaaaazing. Spending time in the Sonoran Desert and eating yummy food makes it all sound fabulous.