Best Places to Take Visiting Relatives and Friends Who Are Active

Learn how to operate a Segway on either the Tempe Town Lake Discovery Tour in downtown Tempe, Arizona or on the Desert Ridge Discovery Tour in the north part of town near the border of Phoenix and Scottsdale. No prior Segway experience necessary. They'll teach you everything you need to know.

East of Phoenix near the Superstition Mountains, this State Park is more spread out than the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix (mentioned above) and captures the natural beauty of the desert.

Right in the center of Phoenix, amid the luxury resorts and the ritzy shopping malls, is a set of mountains. Both Camelback Mountain and Piestewa Peak offer great urban hikes with spectacular city views on clear days. They might not be as challenging as Everest, but you'll get a workout!

A few miles northeast of Scottsdale, Arizona there is a living memorial to a great American architect. Nestled in the foothills of the rugged McDowell Mountains and surrounded by the spectacular Sonoran Desert lays a sprawling complex called Taliesin West, designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Several different tours are available, but the Insight Tour is the most popular.

Scottsdale is internationally known for its art galleries. Every Thursday evening, the galleries of the arts district of Scottsdale open their doors and welcome anyone who wants to stop in, without the pressure of feeling like you've got to pick up a $20,000 painting or sculpture. Sure, you can buy one of those if you'd like to, and there are plenty of more reasonably priced items to consider. But on Thursday evenings just strolling in and out of the galleries and enjoying the environment is perfectly acceptable.