Phoenix is the capital city of Arizona and is the fifth most populated city in the US. The city is located in the Salt River Valley and has plenty of tourist attractions and natural beauty. Arizona Science center is a among the top tourist attractions of the city. The center aims at educating and entertaining people. The center has over 350 permanent exhibits and a newly launched IMAX screen.

Consider a visit to the Heard Museum, which focuses on educating people about the culture, art and the heritage of Native people. For its contribution to the field of native culture, the museum has been named Phoenix Point of Pride. The admission charges are as low as $12 for adults and $5 for students. Some of their prized collection includes Mareen Allen Nichols Collection featuring 260 pieces of jewelry, natives of southwest, exhibitions about the life and culture of the natives.

Arizona Capitol Museum Store is a museum which preserved the memories of Arizona from the territorial times till now. This free entry museum hosts many exhibitions along with special events and tours. The operational hours are from Monday - Friday 9am to 4 pm. Some of their exhibits include artifacts from the French Merci Train Expansion, Historical figures from the Arizona's past, Life and death of USS Arizona and many more.

Arizona Mining & Mineral Museum portrays the mines from where tons of gold and silver comes each year. The museum exhibits earth moving heavy mining machinery along with priceless stones and minerals. With admission fee of only $2 the place is a favorite among the tourists.

When you select Phoenix as your vacation destination, it is important to gather exhaustive details of tourist attractions in Phoenix before you land there. It is natural that every major tourist destination has several important attractions. Do you have the time to visit all of them and if not, how do you assign priorities. The composition of your team will determine the priorities. When you travel with family, you need to consider attractions which cater to the young and old alike, or may be focus on attractions for children with fewer attractions that are exclusive to elders.

http://phoenix.about.com/od/attractionsandevents/a/15bestplaces.htm

Here is an overview of some of the important tourist attractions in Phoenix to help you decide your itinerary. A more exhaustive list of 15 attractions is available when you visit the link above.

The list below is a random selection and therefore does not conform to any particular order in terms of geography or importance.

Heard Museum

This is a unique museum in Phoenix with a long and enviable history behind it. There are several annual events which are the worth the while if they blend with your itinerary.

Chase Field (formerly Bank One Ballpark)

The first ever base ball facility in the world combining air conditioning, retractable roof, and a natural turf field. Even if you are not a great baseball fan or sports buff, you can still squeeze this into your itinerary. An intelligent way, in such circumstances can be planning your Dinner or even lunch at Friday's Front Row Sports Grill. The place is open almost year round (363 days) and will play host to you from 11 in the morning till midnight. On a day when the games are on, you will need a booking and interestingly for sports enthusiasts, 50% of ticket cost is credited for food and beverages! Is that some reason to be a sports enthusiast?

Desert Botanical Garden

This is where you will get to see some of the finest desert plants await your arrival. The garden is expansive and you will need several hours to savor the treatise. The garden is in Central Phoenix at the Papago Park.

The Desert Botanical Garden has one of the world's finest collections of desert plants. It is one of only 44 botanical gardens accredited by the American Association of Museums. At the Desert Botanical Garden you will find 50 acres of beautiful outdoor exhibits. Home to 139 rare, threatened and endangered plant species from around the world, there is no finer place to enjoy desert beauty than the Desert Botanical Garden. The Garden is located in Papago Park in Central Phoenix.