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Sedona and the Grand Canyon in 4 Days

Guest post by karenj

Map tips: each color represents a different day. Click a marker to learn more about the spot, and click the star in the map header to save the entire map under Your Places in Google Maps.

Over Memorial Day weekend I had a wedding to attend in Sedona, AZ, so we flew into Phoenix on Friday, spent Saturday in Sedona, drove to the Grand Canyon on Sunday, and flew home on Monday. It was a whirlwind trip but how can you go to Arizona and NOT visit the Grand Canyon?!

Day 1

We flew from Cleveland to Phoenix and then drove 2 hours from Phoenix airport to Los Abrigados Resort in Sedona (where the wedding was held) so we got there around 8:00pm.

Day 2

  • Pink Jeep Tours Sedona
  • Chapel of the Holy Cross
  • Cathedral Rock
  • Tlaquepaque

We started our first day in Sedona by taking a Pink Jeep Tour. We did the 2 hour Red Rock Range tour, as it was the most mild option and we had some people in the group concerned about the real “off-roading” options. It was great! Highly recommend taking any of the Pink Jeep Tours when in Sedona. After the tour we had a quick lunch across the street at Wildflower Bread Company. Next we drove to the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Parking can be a bit daunting, but they really move the process along so you don’t end up waiting terribly long. It’s a site to see, and a great way to spend some time in Sedona. I would say you don’t need more than an hour or so here. Afterwards we did a quick stop at the Cathedral Rock Trailhead, and then killed some time at the Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village before the wedding. Note: Everything in Sedona closes super early! The wedding party had to specially request to keep the hotel bar open past 9:00pm.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Day 3

  • Mather Point
  • Lookout Studio
  • Desert View Watchtower

We got an early start on Day 3 to make the 2 hour drive to the Grand Canyon. At least it’s a pretty drive! We parked at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center and walked to a couple of viewpoints. Then we jumped on one of the free shuttles to take us down to Lookout Studio, El Tovar Hotel, and Maswick Lodge. The shuttle is free and convenient, but certainly gets packed! It was a holiday weekend so it was probably even worse than normal. We had lunch at the Maswik Lodge Food Court which is a great option if you’re in a hurry but want good food. On the way back to Sedona we stopped at the Desert View Watchtower for another view of the Grand Canyon. All of the various viewpoints were unique in their own way, so it’s definitely worthwhile to stop at a few! After the drive back to Sedona we had dinner at La Mariposa. It was great food, with an unbeatable view. Highly recommend.

Day 4: Bell Rock

On our last day we had breakfast at the Coffee Pot Restaurant (101 omelet choices!), stopped at the Bell Rock trailhead, and then made the drive back to Phoenix for our flight home.

As a sidenote, we stayed at Los Abrigados because it was the location of the wedding, but it was very nice! They have huge suites and a couple of different restaurants and a lot of activities (we didn’t get to partake in any of them because it was such a short trip). It was also a perfect location in Sedona and was within walking distance to Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village.

Traveled in May 2016

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