Restaurants

China Chile

Gallo Blanco

Mi Patio

Hotels

Holiday Inn Phoenix Downtown North

The Clarendon Hotel

View Central Ave at Osborn Rd METRO Station in a larger map

The entire length of the METRO light rail system in Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa can be found here.

If you decided to take your bike for a spin today, be sure to share your trip (drama free or not) in the comments below. Enjoy the ride!

I overhear many conversations during my carfree commute using the light rail in Phoenix, however the chatter that sticks out the most involves the question dude, where’s my stop?

Actually, the conversation that sticks out the most was the one between two men talking about their friend “Frankie” who’s back in the pokie.  This time, he held up a local department store at knife point.  He needed new pants for a job interview.

Anyway, the other conversation that stands out is one I hear almost every train ride: Where do we get off? Many people know their destination, but it appears they don’t do the research to find out which station to de-board and how to get to their destination once they get off the train.

I looked online to see which website has the best information about station location combined with nearby attractions and places of interest.  I’ve put together a list of the better ones below.  If I missed any, please let me know in the comment section and I will add the site to my list.

The Arizona Republic‘s website directs you to a page with a fairly extensive list of restaurants and bars along the light rail plus a google map to give you a sense of direction once you de-board the train.  There’s also has a brief description of each restaurant which might help in making your dining/drinking choice.  And let me know if you figure out what’s going on in the thumbnail picture for the 7th Avenue and Camelback station.  As far as the station location information goes, click here and then on the station location to find a list of restaurants and hot spots.

Light Rail Beer is a site where you select a bar, enter your email, and a station location will be sent to your inbox as well as a list of other bars and to print and take with you.  There are several listed along the light rail line, but I can think of a few that are not on the site. The site is easy to use, however lacks detailed information as to how to get to your final destination once at the station.

Museum Spot has a good list going of venues along the light rail, however the information doesn’t tell you exactly which light rail stop to de-board.  Navigating the site will take some resilience on your part, as you have to go deep into the links to get an answer.  To use the site, just look for the attraction and then click on a link which takes you to the attraction’s main page.  Museum Spot can be found here.

Rail Life probably has the best information in terms of local attractions and points of interest around each station.  Mad props go out to fellow blogger Nick and his crew who have been working hard to assemble a great resource of information for people who not only live here but also for those visiting the Valley.  The map is very easy to use.  Just roll your arrow over a station and a pop up screen reveals a picture and links to nearby landmarks.  Click here to see the map.

Valley Metro has a transit trip planner here.  I must say I’ve had difficulty using the site in the past, but VM’s IT people must have worked out the bugs since then because I found it very user friendly in researching for this post today.  In fact, it was probably the easiest of all the sites I tested.  A word of caution: if you are not going to a major landmark, you must at least know an intersection in order for the planner to work.

I hope this helps, and if all else fails and you need more information, I would suggest doing what most people do these days and “Google it” or just go to the main webpage of the restaurant/museum/bar/theater/etc.