Scottsdale & Sedona - USA
Duration: 2 full days in Scottsdale; 5 days in Sedona (across two separate trips)
Locations Visited: Old Town Scottsdale, Papago Park, Phoenix Zoo, Boynton Canyon area, Sedona town, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend
How to Get There: Fly into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX). You can Uber to Scottsdale, but you'll need to rent a car to get to Sedona.
How to Get Around:
Scottsdale: Uber, Lyft, and Waymo
Sedona: Rental car - technically there is Uber in Sedona, but it’s very scarce and wait times could exceed 30-60 minutes
When to Go: Spring and fall offer the best weather. Winter typically brings warm days (though it may be too chilly to swim) and cold desert nights. Summer has extreme daytime heat.
Pace: Relaxing to moderate
Ideas for a Future Trip:
More golf around Scottsdale and Phoenix
A Northern Arizona road trip to the Grand Canyon
Scottsdale at Night
Day 1: Old Town Scottsdale
We spent much of our first day exploring Old Town Scottsdale, just a short drive from our hotel. It’s the historic heart of the city, where Wild West roots meet trendy shops, rooftop bars, and modern art galleries. Originally settled in the late 1800s and named after U.S. Army chaplain Winfield Scott, Scottsdale began as a small farming community and eventually grew into a hub for artists, cowboys, and winter visitors drawn to the sunshine. Today, Old Town is filled with restaurants, bars, boutique stores, and museums—all within walking distance.
We started our morning at the Old Town Farmers Market, which runs Saturday mornings from October through June. The market features local produce, spices, flowers, crafts, and wellness goods. Just across the street is the Old Adobe Mission, the oldest standing church in Scottsdale. Built in 1933 by Mexican Catholic settlers, it was constructed using more than 14,000 handmade adobe bricks.
From there, we wandered through the rest of Old Town. Most of the shops and restaurants are north of the Farmers Market, centered around N. Scottsdale Road and N. Brown Avenue. We stopped at the Scottsdale Historical Museum, located in a restored one-room schoolhouse, and passed by other cultural stops like the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) and Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West.
We had lunch at Cien Agaves Tacos & Tequila, followed by ice cream at the retro-style Sugar Bowl. I’d recommend making reservations for popular restaurants—things can get busy, especially on weekends.
In the afternoon, we headed toward the waterfront area (you can use the Bronze Horse Fountain by Bob Parks as a landmark). On the way, we grabbed drinks from Three Beans Cafe, a hybrid coffee shop and bar known for espresso-based cocktails like espresso martinis. The boutique shopping continues in this direction, with plenty of stores selling crystals, jewelry, and souvenirs.
After spending some time by the waterfront, we went back to the resort to freshen up for the evening. On the way to dinner, we called a Waymo—a driverless rideshare service operating in Phoenix and a few other U.S. cities. If you haven’t tried one before, it’s definitely an experience worth having.
We started the night at Outrider Rooftop Lounge, located atop the Canopy by Hilton, where we enjoyed drinks and sunset views of Scottsdale and the surrounding desert. Dinner was at Uchi, a Japanese restaurant in Old Town that’s definitely worth the reservation. Afterward, we checked out one more rooftop spot—Cottontail Lounge—which had a more loungey, club-like vibe. If you’re looking for more nightlife, the area around E. Indian Plaza and N. Saddlebag Trail is where you’ll find many of Scottsdale’s most popular bars and clubs.
This wrapped up our first day in Scottsdale before heading back to the resort to rest up for the next day's adventure.
Day 2: Papago Park, Hole in the Rock, & Phoenix Zoo
We started the day with an Uber ride to Papago Park to visit the famous Hole in the Rock—a sandstone butte with a natural opening that offers panoramic views of the park and surrounding area. It’s a short and fairly easy 10-minute walk from the parking lot. The area also features multiple walking and hiking trails (the second most well-known being Governor Hunt’s Tomb), along with nearby golf courses.
Within walking distance, you’ll also find the Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix Zoo. We had our hearts set on seeing the desert foliage at the botanical garden, but unfortunately, a private event had closed it for the weekend.
Instead, we opted to visit the Phoenix Zoo, which houses a wide range of animals including giraffes, rhinos, lions, hyenas, monkeys, tigers, and elephants. The zoo makes for a nice, low-key activity for a few hours. It’s not huge, but it includes shaded paths, food stalls, gift shops, and guided cart tours if you want to cover more ground.
After the zoo, we headed back to the hotel to relax by the pool and spa—something Scottsdale is known for, thanks to its strong wellness and resort culture.
For our final dinner in town, we ate at The Mission Old Town, a Latin American restaurant located in Old Town Scottsdale. This wrapped up our Scottsdale adventure.
Day 3 & 4: Sedona Wellness Retreat
From Phoenix, Sedona is about a 2–2.5 hour drive north into the Colorado Plateau. You’ll need to rent a car, as there’s no reliable public transportation to, from, or around Sedona, and getting an Uber there feels risky. The drive is scenic—Sedona and its surroundings are filled with vibrant red and orange rock formations, primarily composed of Schnebly Hill Formation, a type of sandstone deposited during the Permian period (around 280 million years ago). The rich red color comes from iron oxide in the rock.
For our first trip to Sedona, we opted for a calmer, more relaxing pace for this leg of the trip and stayed at Enchantment Resort. The property includes multiple restaurants, pools, a gym, and a spa. In addition to paid experiences, the resort offers a wide range of complimentary wellness activities throughout the day, such as yoga, meditation, chakra introductions, grounding exercises, and stargazing—all of which we attended. The on-site Trail House can help plan hikes or rent mountain bikes. While we didn’t have time for it, there’s also a nearby golf course that winds through the canyons.
Although we mostly took it easy, we did fit in two hikes that begin right from the resort: the Boynton Pass Vortex Trail and the Boynton Canyon Trail. Neither was particularly long or difficult, though the final stretch of the canyon trail includes a steep incline. Beyond hiking and visiting a few restaurants and a brewery in town, we primarily spent our time enjoying the resort and spa before heading back to Phoenix.
Sedona is known for its Vortex Sites, which are believed to be swirling centers of spiritual energy. Some of the major vortexes—aside from Boynton Canyon—include:
Cathedral Rock
Bell Rock
Airport Mesa
If you’re looking to see more of the area’s iconic rock formations, be sure to check out:
Cathedral Rock
Bell Rock
Courthouse Butte
Chapel of the Holy Cross
Devil’s Bridge
Not all of these hikes are beginner friendly, and some require climbing, so do your research prior to attempting.
Day 5: Sedona Town & West Fork Hike
After our first trip to Sedona at the Enchantment Resort, we went back for a second trip over Memorial Day weekend, which led to much hotter days and warmer nights than we experienced in November. This time, we stayed at L'Auberge de Sedona, which is right in the heart of Sedona. There are pros and cons to both resorts, with Enchantment feeling much more isolated and focused on wellness and relaxation, while L'Auberge offers a more convenient location and feels less like a true retreat. Personally, I would be inclined to return to Enchantment, as it felt like a more unique experience.
We took our first morning back in Sedona easy, as we had arrived after midnight. After ordering breakfast, we took some time to explore the resort and check out the town, which is connected to the property. The town of Sedona shares some similarities with Scottsdale, combining an artsy, upscale vibe with elements of the Wild West. Sedona has many art galleries, crystal shops, souvenir stores, and restaurants, with a particular emphasis on Mexican food. Throughout the town, you'll find many views of the red rocks.
After lunch and some exploration, we drove about twenty minutes to the West Fork Trail. We decided on this trail primarily because of its tree cover, as the heat was making it slightly unbearable to be in direct sunlight for more than a few minutes at a time. We were looking for a non-technical hike with no scrambling, climbing, or scary edges. Some other options we considered were Bell Rock + Courthouse Butte Loop, Airport Mesa Loop, and Soldier Pass Loop. From a scenic perspective, I think all of these would have been superior to West Fork, but they would have been much less enjoyable in the heat.
West Fork wasn't particularly challenging or technical, and while there were a few easy river crossings, nothing was too difficult. We made it about 75% of the way through the out-and-back trail before needing to turn around to make dinner. With a bit of creativity, you can find some good photo opportunities; however, overall, I would view this hike more as a good way to get your steps in for the day than as a destination for the views.
Day 6: Antelope Canyon & Horseshoe Bend
On our next full day in Sedona, we made the drive up to Page, Arizona, to see Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. Both are located near each other and are about a 2.5-hour drive from Sedona, with the first 30 minutes or so being a lovely, winding drive through the mountains. Antelope Canyon is split into Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon, and you will need to book a tour with one of the few tour groups permitted to operate in the canyons. I would recommend booking in advance, as the tours can sell out, especially if you're traveling with a group. As a reference point, we were unable to secure a tour around the Thanksgiving holiday when we looked only a few days beforehand. The tours are also very strict about their no-bag policy. Another thing to note is that you'll drive through another time zone on the way; however, Page and Antelope Canyon are in the same time zone as Sedona.
We decided on Lower Antelope Canyon. It's generally considered less commercial, but is often rated more highly than Upper Antelope Canyon. However, there are more stairs to climb, some of which are steep and narrow. Everything is man-made, so there are no natural obstacles to navigate. Our tour guide was particularly helpful and showed us the best settings on our phones to capture photos, pointed out some of the best angles, and even indicated where many popular background photos and screensavers were taken. The canyon is mostly covered, so it was comfortable even on a hot, sunny day. While the rock formations themselves are beautiful, this activity felt largely centered around photography.
After Lower Antelope Canyon, we went to Horseshoe Bend (another popular desktop background image), which is about a ten- to fifteen-minute drive from the canyon. Horseshoe Bend is a steep canyon with a river flowing through it hundreds of feet below. From the main parking lot, there is a short, roughly ten-minute walk to the main viewpoint, along with a nearby ~1.5-mile hike. Given the high temperatures, we skipped the hike. While most of the trip had not felt overcrowded, the viewpoint definitely did, and it felt like there were limited places to take good photos unless you were willing to venture off the main trail or do a bit of climbing.
Once we were done at Horseshoe Bend, we grabbed a late lunch in Page before starting the 2.5-hour drive back to Sedona. We had a quiet dinner at the resort. For the extra adventurous with plenty of endurance, it is possible to visit the Grand Canyon on the same day, although doing so adds roughly four additional hours of driving.
Day 7: Golfing
On our final full day in Sedona, we opted for a calmer day with a round of golf at Oakcreek Country Club. Oakcreek is one of the main public golf courses in Sedona, with others including Sedona Golf Resort, Seven Canyons, and Canyon Mesa Country Club. While the round was fun, I found the course to be a bit underwhelming, both in terms of course design and scenery (given that it is Sedona, after all). Personally, if I were to play golf again in Sedona, I would probably try one of the other courses, most likely Seven Canyons or Sedona Golf Resort. After golf, we relaxed for a bit at the resort before heading out for dinner in the town of Sedona. This wrapped up the final day of our second trip to Sedona, as we packed and prepared for the drive back to Phoenix the following morning.
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Our Arizona trips were the perfect mix of wellness, nature, and easy exploring. Scottsdale gave us a taste of sunshine, rooftop views, and Southwest charm, while Sedona offered a peaceful reset surrounded by stunning red rock landscapes. Whether you're looking for spa time or scenic trails, it's a great long weekend escape.
