17 of my favorite non-touristy places in Tucson

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is one of my all-time favorite places in Tucson — a walk along the trail to the javelinas on a winter day, the colorful blooms in spring, the sunsets when the museum stays open late in the summer. 

If you’re asking for recommendations on where to take your out-of-town friends, the Desert Museum will probably be mentioned more than once. It’s the No. 1 attraction on TripAdvisor — and for very good reason.

But there are countless spots in Tucson that might not rank as high on TripAdvisor. Below, you’ll find a list of places that I’d want to visit if I was on vacation in Tucson — all of which might not be the highest-ranked spots according to a platform like Yelp. Some might be hidden gems, others are spaces that tourists just don’t visit as much.

‼️ Sometimes we love to gatekeep our favorite spaces. You might think, “No! I don’t want my favorite bar to get crowded!” While I completely understand that sentiment, I also think if we love a small business, we should scream it from the rooftops.

So, go to the Desert Museum. I know I will. But pay a visit to these places, too — whether you’re a tourist or not.

Yolia Botanica

Lupita Zepeda’s shop is grounded in Mexican folk medicine, but it’s also grounded in community. She creates products for modern brujas looking to care for their spiritual bodies. That includes canelitas and bundles of dried flowers for smoke cleansing and bath oils made with the desert’s beloved creosote.  

Yolia Botanica also sells items made by many other small businesses including ritual supplies, chimineas, healing books and other gifts. Lupita is an activist and often opens her space for mindful activities and limpias. 

Location: 1307 W. Saint Marys Rd. More info here!

Chappopin Cafe

Natalia Chappotin merges coffee with Latin culture at her cafe near the northern edge of downtown. You could order your regular iced latte at Chappopin Cafe, but why would you do that when the menu features specialties like the Frida, which has Abuelita hot chocolate mixed with lavender? Other specialities include a latte combined with horchata, and the Cafe de Olla which combines piloncillo, cinnamon, clove and star anise.

You go for the coffee, but you stay for the atmosphere — especially on the days when vendors set up amid music and other festivities.

Location: 640 N. Stone Ave. More info here!

Lumbre Pizza & Bagels

Tucson is home to a lot of good food, including pizza. Lumbre is my favorite.

Owner Leo Garcia uses Sonoran flavors in his wood-fired pies and slices — think pizza topped with carne asada and carnitas. My go-to is the Elotero which is a white pie topped with elote and a cilantro ranch. I could eat it every single day.

Leo also sells bagel sandwiches with ingredients like chiltepin sausage and your classic bacon, egg and cheese. 

Location: Lumbre Pizza is a food truck that pops up at rotating locations. More info here!

The bats!

There’s just something about watching the sun start to set, hues of pinks glowing in the sky — and then thousands of bats fly by. In the summer — and by summer, I mean Tucson summer, so April-ish to September-ish — you can see the bats nightly as the sun goes down but before it’s completely dark. 

Location: Several areas including the bridge over the Rillito River along Campbell Avenue (aka along The Loop where the Trader Joe’s is at 4209 N. Campbell Ave.) and the bridge over the Pantano Wash at Broadway (near the Hilton at 7600 E. Broadway Blvd.). For more information about the bats — and bat safety! — click here. 

P.S.: Local artist Jos Par sells merch that celebrates the bats.

Casa Video and Film Bar

I can still remember the layouts of the two Blockbusters I frequented as a kid. I remember the feel of the VHS cases and the dropbox out front where you’d say goodbye to the movies you just watched and loved.

Casa Video and Film Bar is Tucson’s decades-old video rental store — and it’s far better than Blockbuster. Find shelves upon shelves of movies to rent, plus a bar that serves locally-brewed beer. There’s a stacked event calendar, too, from trivia nights to movie screenings.

Location: 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. More info here!

“What We Do in the Shadows” mural

If you’ve never watched the TV series “What We Do in the Shadows” about vampires who live on Staten Island, you can probably keep scrolling. But if you’re as big of a fan as I am, this mural is a must-see — and one I’d definitely want to take a photo with if I was visiting a city.

You might recall season 2, episode 6 — when Laszlo flees New York and becomes a “regular human bartender” named Jackie Dayona from Tucson, Arizonia. 

Courtesy local muralist Danny Martin, Tucson’s favorite regular human bartender — not vampire — is painted on the side of 191 Toole. The design is also sold on shirts at El Regalo, the Rialto Theatre’s gift shop!

Location: 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole Ave. 

Z-Street International Marketplace

Amanuel Gebremariam started Zemam’s in 1993, serving delicious Ethiopian flavors in midtown. While Zemam’s has long been a Tucson favorite, the concept saw an expansion in 2025 with the addition of Z-Street — a hub that not only includes Zemam’s but also a bar called Zerai’s and a coffee shop called Zedamo.

Beyond the food and drinks, Z-Street is home to countless community events — Blk House Mrkt, a third space for the Black community; Passport Global Dance Parties, featuring music African disco, Ethiopian funk and Latin music spin by DJ Herm; and Tiny Beats, a dance club for kids.

Location: 2731 E. Broadway Blvd. More info here!

Warm Shape

Warm Shape is one of my favorite stores in Tucson. It’s absurd, it’s weird, it’s kitschy, it’s campy — all in the absolute best ways possible. There are funky drawings on prints, bumper stickers that say “future garbage,” shirts that say “world’s greatest dad in Pima County.” You get the idea.

Warm Shape’s owner, Linus Schief, also does something called Face Me Portraits — like caricatures but better. Linus draws your portrait while looking straight at you. She never looks down at the paper. The result is silly and you’ll love it.

Location: inside the MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida del Convento. More info here!

The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures

A couple years ago, a viral TikTok landed on my For You Page. It was of Tucson’s beloved The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures — a museum dedicated to miniature objects.

It’s a space I’ve always loved, but not one I ever considered would be such a fascination to visitors. “Doesn’t everyone have a miniature museum?” I thought to myself. I don’t know why that originally filled my brain, but as I read through the comments from people in awe of our midtown museum, the assumption was slowly debunked and I realized — wait, this museum is really unique!

TL;DR — If you like mini things, go here.

Location: 4455 E. Camp Lowell Dr. More info here!

Houlden’s Rise Above

I’m not exaggerating when I say everything at Houlden’s is delicious. And it’s all vegan!

While owner Hannah Houlden does often sell out of her precious pastries, I wouldn’t call it a touristy hub nor a hidden gem. People in Tucson love it. People visiting Tucson will also love it.

I’d tell you my favorite item are the donuts, but I think that’d be a lie because my favorite sweets from Hannah change so frequently. The brownies, maybe? The croissants, perhaps? The pop tarts? I don’t know. It’s all good.

Location: 5029 E. Fifth St. More info here!

Tucson Hop Shop

This is another space in Tucson that’s beloved and popular among Tucsonans — it’s certainly not hidden, but a gem no less. 

Tucson is home to lots of bottle shops, breweries and bars, each with their own vibes and specialties. If you’re a tourist looking for a casual space to have a drink, Tucson Hop Shop should be added to your list. (It’s also a bike-friendly spot very close to The Loop, Tucson’s no-cars-allowed bicycle path.)

Beyond the drinks, there’s a pizzeria next door, a dog-friendly patio and a local vending machine filled with curated art. Not to mention the community events like twice-a-year markets for queer artists, crafting pop-ups and collaborations with Tucson Village Farm.

Location: 3230 N. Dodge Blvd. More info here! 

La Rosa

If you can catch an event at La Rosa, do it.

The church-turned-venue hosts concerts, dance parties and markets inside midtown’s former Benedictine Monastery. Order a drink from a confessional booth and admire the architecture while enjoying an event like a vintage market, a concert featuring a touring or local musician, a goth dance party, a burlesque show and lots more on the stacked calendar.

Location: 800 N. Country Club Rd. More info here!

Raspado shops and other antojitos

When people come to Tucson, they often want to try Sonoran food but the discourse usually involves dishes like tacos, burros, birria and Sonoran hot dogs. You should absolutely try all of those things and you should also add antojitos (snacks) to the list. 

That might include a raspado — a sweet or tangy shaved ice concoction often with fresh fruit and ice cream or chamoy and Mexican candies. I always order fresas con crema, which is a cup filled with chopped strawberries and lechera. 

Or you could go for Tosti-Locos, which is a bag of Tostitos (usually the salsa verde ones) topped with things like chamoy, candies, cucumber and more fixins. There are lots of items to choose from at raspado shops.

Location: Google “raspados” and you’ll find a place near you. My favorites are Raspados El Paraiso, Sonoran Delights and Mangos Refresqueria but you can’t really go wrong anywhere. 

Pro tip: Get Mexican candy from Tanna’s Botannas and Dirty T Tamarindo. 

Ignite Sign Art Museum

Ignite is dedicated to neon signs, especially historical ones that lifelong Tucsonans might recognize — Molina’s Midway, for example. While Ignite is temporarily closed due to a fire that destroyed a chunk of the museum, I think it’s an important space to bookmark for the day they reopen.

Tucson is home to so many incredible museums, all of which deserve their own spotlight and rankings on Yelp. Ignite is my personal favorite — so much so that whenever I visit another city, I look up whether or not they have a neon museum. I love ours so much that I want to visit others.

Location: 331 S. Olsen Ave. More info here!

Sweetwater Wetlands

You can’t go wrong watching the sunset from Gates Pass or driving through Cactus Forest Loop Drive in Saguaro National Park. You can’t go wrong with the waterfalls in Sabino Canyon and the poppies in Catalina State Park. There are so many spaces in Tucson to hike, bike and immerse yourself in nature.

One of my favorites is Sweetwater Wetlands, a water recharge facility that’s a sweet little oasis in the desert. See one of more than 300 species of birds and other wildlife while walking a loop around the water.

Location: 2511 W. Sweetwater Dr. More info here!

Slow Body Beer

There’s just something really cool about Slow Body Beer. Maybe it’s the comfy seating, accessible board games and the expansive — and lush — patio. Maybe it’s the drinks (both alcoholic and not) or the handhelds that come out of Holy Focaccia, a bakery that holds a residency inside the brewery. Maybe it’s the live music, the artisan markets and the benefit shows that help mutual-aid groups. Maybe it’s all of that.

Like Tucson Hop Shop, mentioned above, Slow Body Beer has quickly become a beloved space among Tucsonans. It’s always busy, but it might not be a space that tourists think to visit.

Location: 831 E. 17th St. More info here!

A speakeasy experience

Tucson is home to many bars with different vibes — Sidecar, La Esquina, The Jackrabbit Lounge, Che’s Lounge, Surly Wench Pub, Vertigo Wines (where you can mix together your own custom wine) and lots more places to visit for a drink.

But Tucson is also home to a handful of speakeasy-style bars, including:

• Cabali, a tiki-themed bar at 8195 N. Oracle Rd. next to restaurant The Landing.
• Old Pueblo Club, tucked inside Sonoran House which is also home to a restaurant, coffee shop and market at 2513 E. Sixth St.
• Tough Luck Club, a basement bar located at Reilly Craft Pizza and Drink, 101 E. Pennington St.
• Snake & Barrel, home to the basement of downtown whiskey bar Batch, 118 E. Congress St.
• The Still, a craft cocktail bar at restaurant Vero Amore, 2920 N. Swan Rd.
• Prohibición, where there are no menus! Located at Sonora Moonshine Company, 124 E. Broadway Blvd.

Honorable mentions

I haven’t yet been to the University of Arizona’s Mirror Lab or Seven Cups Fine Chinese Teas, but I’m betting both would end up on this list.