Learn me: Tucson Gem and Mineral Show 2025

Looking to surprise the Mrs. with a bucket list trip - the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show (the Main Event on President's Day Weekend). Looking at flying out Friday night, coming back Monday midday. Staying at a place less than a mile from the convention center. I know that there's like two dozen shows going on at once. What do I need to know before booking this thing? Is there another can't miss thing (besides the Boneyard of course)? How is public transport between the shows? Night life? Food? Drink?

I'm up in Phoenix, but Tucson has some favorites. The Pima Air & Space Museum is fantastic (as you may have intuited) but it's also well worth a stop to the Titan Missile Museum. If you're sick of gems and minerals, the Sonoran Desert Museum is awesome: It's a museum, botanical garden, zoo, and aquarium. And outdoor guided walking trails.

As far as gems and minerals go, however, I'm afraid I'm of no use. 

Absolutely go to the Alfie Norville mineral museum in the old Pima County Courthouse, it's right downtown with underground parking right next door.  It's unbelievable, if you're a serious mineral collector or admirer, it's top notch!  Plan on a couple of hours to see it well.  Just google Arizona mineral museum to find the website.  You can't possibly see everything associated with the various shows and dealers, so do your online research and pick what you like.  There is a huge vendor area northwest of the main show area (can't remember the exact location but you'll find it if you you do your diligence online - I'll look it up and post here later) with amazing specimens from all over the world.  Be prepared to see fist sized specimens in the $100,000 plus range at the more exclusive places.  My wife and I treat this event as the world's most amazing museum and try to limit our purchases.  You will walk your feet off at the main show and see exhibits from the finest museums in the world.  This is absolutely the best mineral experience in the world.  Enjoy it!  Keep your eyes open to what is going on behind the scenes at some of the big name dealers - many years ago I saw a guy examining a real gold nugget the size of a saucer, then nod his head and shake hands with the dealer as he bought it.  Think about that.  Also saw one of the first big rhodochrosite specimens from the Sweet Home Mine (if you're a mineral person you know what that is) on display with a $250,000 price tag.  You will have an amazing experience, you'll be exhausted, and you'll be back again in the future.

This is just my opinion, maybe your spouse would love being surprised by arriving their. 

But If this is a true Bucket list trip for her I would not surprise her with it.  Make the surprise be during a nice dinner or something a month or so before hand.  

I know for me, I would appreciate being surprised with a bucket list trip but I would much rather be involved in the detailed planning to make sure I saw or did the things that made it a Bucket list for me.   Bucket list implies to me that you will not be returning in the future and this is the one time this trip will happen.  

Let her do the research and planning so she sees everything she wants to see and do at the show.  

Again perhaps your spouse would love the surprise aspect, just giving an opinion.  

In reply to nocones :

Oh yes, absolutely letting her know before we go! I'd like to have the airfare/hotel done and then let her take the reigns from there. It's not usually this late in the month, so it's a bucket list thing because we can actually take a 3 day weekend to go.

In reply to Jim Pettengill :

I absolutely know about Rhodochrosite from Sweet Home! That would be insane!

She's into both actual minerals and gemstones, so hoping to see a quality/quantity of both. Obviously the main show needs to be seen (plus it's the 70th anniversary) but I just don't know what others are worth going to. Trying to plan the hotel where is the best location to see things without needing a car.

Quick update:  Got my new issue of Rocks and Minerals magazine today, it's focused on the Tucson show.  The theme this year is "Shades of Green" so you'll see fantastic malachite, emeralds, tourmalines. dioptases, olivines, peridots, and many others as well as tons of other great stuff.  The other area full of top dealers I was thinking of earlier is up on North Oracle, around the 1700 - 1900 area, warehouses full of individual suites for hundreds of dealers. A big ad from Collector's Edge (one of the biggies and the operators of the Sweet Home mine for the last 33 years - they should be at the main show) announced that the mine closed for good last September, but they plan a big display of the final specimens and will have lots of Sweet Home stories to tell.  Don't forget the U of A's Alfie Norville Gem and Mineral Museum, it is amazing!  Hope you have a great time.

Is the Biosphere still around for tours?

Hope you did or do it. We have this wonderful museum that everybody in my family has been to on a school field trip except me even though it has been only 40 miles away all of my life. I love rocks.

The World Famous Paul Broste Rock Museum