December in Arizona -- warm places?
 

For a family vacation involving some elderly parents (and active kids), I've been told that Sedona, while gorgeous, will be just too chilly. We come from the northeast, so we don't need more chilly weather! Yet I love Arizona and would love to find a place to stay. Could anyone tell me which area in Arizona would combine natural beauty (no golf necessary), access to healthcare if necessary, and warm-ish weather? Or am I asking too much? Do we have to go to southern Florida to be warm in the USA in December? Thanks!


[PS: As a newcomer to this site, I think I accidentally posted it to the general US section instead of to the Arizon section. Sorry about that. I'll try to delete the first one in order to avoid duplication.]

Scottsdale (or other parts of the Phoenix metroplex) and Tucson come to mind, because of their low elevation ... Sedona will be sunny (most of the time) but brisk, and no doubt a nice day trip.

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I would suggest Tucson; it will have lovely temps and is really has a nice small town feel to it, more so than Phoenix.

They have museums, restaurants, and many attractions that all should enjoy.

Phoenix is big, spread out and can be tough with older folks.

Sedona will be cold, if you are looking for an escape from NE.

Deb

The scenery in Fountain Hills and North Scottsdale make for nice views. The hiking and biking in Scottsdale will appease the active kids (check out ericsbikenhike.com) and the mayo clinic is right by Fountain Hills and there is hospital right in Old Town Scottsdale.

Remember, you will need a car to get around. Some amazing day drives from Scottsdale/Phoenix - Jerome (1.5 hours), Sedona (2 Hours) Grand Canyon, Tombstone (4.5 hours). There are a lot of vacation rentals in Fountain Hills and North Scottsdale.

Check out Tortilla Flats and the Apache trail drive while checking out the stops in between (google the apache trail).

What activities are your family interested in? The weather is around the 80's in Phoenix/Scottsdale.

We've spent Decembers in both Scottsdale and Tucson in the past and enjoyed both. As Deb said Phoenix is very spread out, the more contained Scottsdale has great resorts, food, amenities but Tucson (and surrounding area) is our family favorite as there is more history, cultural diversity and so much for kids to explore! Something for 3 generations of my family.

The days were sunny and pleasant but desert evenings cool. We took a day trip to Sedona, would have found it too cool to have stayed there. Because of altitude Tucson's temp averages is generally just a couple of degrees cooler than Phoenix/Scottsdale.

Don't miss the Tucson Desert Museum.

I'd stay in Scotsdale and make day trips to Sedona, Tucson. Plenty to see/do there. Weather s/b nice, but don't expect any 80's like South Florida. Average temp is in the high 60's with lows in the 30's.

Here is some 411 about temps in Phoenix (although with the sun it feels like 80 - we have no cloud cover.

http://phoenix.about.com/od/weather/a/averagetemps.htm

and in Florida

http://www.cityrating.com/citytemper...asp?City=Tampa

Surprisingly they are similar!

Here's some weather info on South Florida, which is what they OP was asking about. Quite a bit warmer than Phoenix (but not necessarily a better place to go).