Phoenix is the capital and largest city in Arizona. The Phoenix metropolitan area, commonly referred to as the Valley of the Sun, is comprised of Phoenix and numerous surrounding cities, most notably (but not limited to) Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale, Paradise Valley, Mesa, Peoria, and Chandler. Several distinct regions, districts and neighborhood areas exist within each respective city.

In Phoenix, some of the most popular districts include Downtown (also known as "Copper Square"), Midtown, the Biltmore, Arcadia, Ahwatukee and Sunnyslope.

Downtown Phoenix is the financial and government hub of Arizona. It is home to numerous venues and attractions like Chase Field (home to the Arizona Diamondbacks), U.S. Airways Center (home to the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury), and the massive Phoenix Convention Center. Several performance venues, including Phoenix Symphony Hall, Dodge Theater, the historic Orpheum theater, and the Herberger Theater, all call Downtown home as well. Other attractions include the Arizona state capitol building, the Arizona Science Center, Phoenix Museum of History, Arizona State University's Downtown campus, St. Mary's Basilica, Irish Cultural Center, Japanese Friendship Garden, Deck Park, Phoenix's Central Library, historic Heritage Square, and the large shopping, dining and entertainment complex Arizona Center. The main area of Downtown also contains numerous other, smaller attractions, business, restaurants, hotels, museums, municipal buildings and other things of interest to tourists. Many of which are in walking distance of each other. There is also a free shuttle bus circulator called DASH that operates on weekdays.

Heading north from downtown Phoenix along Central Ave, you enter what is known as Midtown. Marked by a string of high-rise office buildings that dot Central Ave, north of Downtown, this large area of central Phoenix is primarily a business district by day, and a quiet patchwork of historic neighborhoods by night. Midtown home to a few prominent points of interest, most notably PAM (Phoenix Art Museum), the esteemed Heard Museum of Native American art, and Steele Indian School Park. Many funky and interesting restaurant and shopping options coexist throughout.

Traveling east on Camelback Road (between about 20th St and 44th St), you enter what is known as the Biltmore district. Essentially equated as Phoenix's version of a "Beverly Hills," the Biltmore gets its named from the historic grand dame of Arizona resorts located here, The Arizona Biltmore. The area is well known for its high-end hotels and resorts, offices, shopping, nightlife and dining options. The Biltmore Fashion Park, home to such prominent retailers as Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, Cartier and Escada, and the Camelback Esplanade, a large mixed-use complex housing high-rise condos and corporate offices, a large movie theather, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and several other posh dining and nightlife options.

The Arcadia area is the Biltmore's more laidback (and low-slung) companion to the east. In what was once just a collection of sprawling mid-century, ranch style homes set on large lots with overgrown foliage, the Arcadia neighborhood has become a hot spot for young up-and-coming Phoenix and Scottsdale professionals and empty-nesters creating a wave of urban revitalization. The intersection of 40th St and Campbell Rd has become the unofficial nexus of this neighborhood, boasting a small but very popular (read: parking headaches abound) collection of dining and shopping options, most especially the small and intimate La Grande Orange specialty market. Well-known luxury accomodations like The Royal Palms, Hermosa Inn and the Phoenician Resort.

Phoenix is a vast city, containing a vast variety in regions. Generally an auto-driven city, the city thus stretches for miles and miles in all directions, flooding into neighoring suburb after suburb. Though not without character, with the exception of some pockets in central Phoenix (Downtown, Midtown, Biltmore, etc.), the entire urban area is distinctively suburban in nature compared to many other, older cities.