Car Hire Phoenix

Guide

Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, is rapidly becoming one of America's mega-metropolises. This growing city is situated in America's ruggedly beautiful southwestern desert and retains an old southwestern flavor. In amongst tall office blocks and numerous resorts, restaurants and spas are museums dedicated to pre-Columbian, Native American and pioneer history. Prebook car hire in Phoenix with us before departing for your holiday, and gain the freedom to explore this amazing capital. Public services are limited so it is a great way to get about.

Explore Phoenix

Your first stop should be the Desert Botanical Garden, which is located in lovely Papago Park and contains the Phoenix Zoo. Additionally, the garden houses an intensive collection of the beautiful and hardy plant life that adorns the local desert. It's a good place to view the amazing desert environment without having to deal with the heat.

The Heard Museum is a good place to learn about local tribal history and enjoy some great arts and crafts shopping. The museum is a great place for visitors of all ages, who come here to view the thousands of exhibits, as well as the great audiovisual displays and live presentations by the staff. Nearby is the Arizona Science Museum, which is home to hundreds of hands-on displays, a planetarium and a five-storey movie theatre.

Take a stroll through the Margaret T Hance Park, more commonly known with the locals as 'Deck Park'. It is the city's second-largest park and close to the park are anumber of famous museums, one of which is the Wells Fargo History Museum.

South Phoenix, the area south of Buckeye Road, is where tourists will find a selection of family based restaurants and roadside stands said to have the tastiest Mexican food in the city. Additionally, you can visit South Mountain Park and the Mystery Castle, two of Phoenix's most remarkable sights.

The Phoenix area consists of several urban areas rolled into one. As a result, the city offers some great variety as well as the beauty of the surrounding desert.

One of the most interesting areas to visit is Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix, which has a wonderfully well-preserved old-west Old Town. Good places to visit are the Scottsdale Historical Museum and the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, which are located in the same building. Before you head home, pick up old-west souvenirs.

Those with an appreciation for architecture will enjoy Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West and Paolo Soleri's Arcosanti, both of which are within 64kms of Phoenix. Taliesin West is a great example of Wright's aesthetic and functional genius, and tours are available daily. Soleri's Arcosanti remains a fascinating work in progress; Soleri was a one-time student of Wright who developed his own complex architectural philosophy called arcology.

The Grand Falls of the Little Colorado River offer some culture and ecological beauty. The falls cascade into a natural swimming pool on the largest Native American Indian reservation in the nation, the Navajo Indian Reservation. Additionally, the reservation is also a great place to purchase Native American Indian artwork and crafts.

Transport

By air
By far the largest airport in the southwest USA, Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is served by many national and international flights. International travellers from Canada, Mexico and the UK have good air access to Phoenix. The airport's three terminals also fly to every major city in the US mainland. To get to the airport, you can take the Hohokam Expressway there directly.

Car rental companies operating from Phoenix Airport include; Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Fox, Hertz, National, Payless, Sixt and Thrifty. All you need to do is fill in your travel criteria above and hit the search button, we'll do the rest for you.

By car
Phoenix is connected to Los Angeles and Tucson by I-10 and to Flagstaff via I-17. Heading towards Scottsdale, the easiest route is to take the Red Mountain Freeway (Arizona 202) east to US 101 north. The Superstition Freeway (US 60) leads to Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler.

I-10 also goes east to El Paso, San Antonio, Houston and New Orleans. I-8, which runs just south of the city, goes east to San Diego; while from Flagstaff, I-40 goes east to Albuquerque. To get to Mexico, I-19 branches off from I-10 south of the city.

By train
Although Amtrak offers daily stops in Tucson, Phoenix cannot be reached by rail at this time.

By bus
Greyhound buses run to destinations throughout the state and cities in the region, with connections to cities farther afield. Although bus is the cheapest option, it is also the least comfortable choice.