Experience the best of Tombstone

Tombstone was founded in 1879 after the prospector Ed Schieffelin struck silver in the surrounding hills; he had been warned that all he would find there was his tombstone. The historic district preserves Allen Street's boardwalks and saloons and a courthouse of 1882, now a museum, and the town calls itself the Town Too Tough to Die. The gunfight of 26 October 1881, between the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday and the Clanton and McLaury cowboys, took place near the O.K. Corral.

Boothill Graveyard holds the graves of gunfight victims and miners, the Bird Cage Theatre, a saloon and theatre of 1881, still shows bullet holes, and the Rose Tree Museum preserves a Lady Banksia rose planted in 1885 that has spread over a large area. Bisbee, a copper-mining town on a hillside, lies about 40 kilometres south-east, while Kartchner Caverns and Tucson lie to the north-west.

Steaks, chilli, Mexican dishes and saloon-style ribs are the local fare, with margaritas to follow. Tombstone stands at about 1,400 metres in desert grassland, with a summer storm season from July to September and mild, sunny winters.