Today I am sharing my Sedona travel guide! I visited Sedona the last week of March and it was such a great trip. Sedona has a one-of-a-kind beauty and amazing views everywhere you look. Not only is it an outdoor oasis, but it has an adorable town with plenty to do. If you are planning a trip to Sedona in the future, I hope you find my Sedona travel guide useful.
Hotel
We spent a total of 3 whole days in Sedona and really maximized out trip. There are a lot of lodging opportunities in and around Sedona, whether it is hotels or an Airbnb. We opted to stay in a hotel and we stayed at the Matterhorn Inn in uptown Sedona. Uptown Sedona has plenty of shops and restaurants and is very walkable. The Matterhorn Inn is towards the end of the road in Uptown and is a nice, recently renovated hotel. Most of the hotel rooms have a private balcony that face Oak Creek Canyon which is a stunning view, especially at sunset. The Matterhorn Inn features nice rooms but also has other great amenities like a pool and a hot tub. We personally used the hot tub every night.
Things to Do
The amount of things to do in Sedona is truly endless. If you are someone who just likes to relax and go to restaurants, then Sedona is a great place for you. There are plenty of spas, hotels with pools, and plenty of restaurants that can occupy your time. If you are more interested in the outdoors then this place is to be. If you want to see great views, you don’t have to put much physical activity into seeing them. There are many different view points around Sedona that you can drive to.
Another great way to see Sedona is a Pink Jeep Tour. This tour was recommended to us by friends, so we did it on our first morning in Sedona. The Pink Jeep Tour leaves from Uptown Sedona, and there are a few different routes you can take. We took the Broken Arrow tour which is one of the most popular. You ride in a pink Jeep that fits 7 to 8 people and have a driver who is the tour guide. Our tour guide did a great job at educating us on all of the sights in Sedona but also had a personable and fun personality which made the tour great. You go off-roading on trails and rocks through Sedona and up to the Broken Arrow trail. This tour is a great way to see amazing sights with very little work.
Now if you want to see some great sights and views and are willing to work for it, Sedona has over 100 hiking trails. We only hiked a few different trails in our few days there, but if we ever returned there are definitely others I would like to hike. The first hike we did was Subway Cave. This hike is off the beaten path, but has a great and unique view so it is definitely worth it. You start the hike out on the Boynton Canyon Trail, which is incredibly scenic and beautiful. As you make your way out on the trail, you are surrounded by red rocks. This trail has very little shade, so I wouldn’t recommend going on a very hot, sunny day. If you do, take plenty of water with you. We went on a day that the temperature was in the low to mid 70’s and sunny so it wasn’t too bad. You follow the Boynton Canyon Trail for about 2 miles, and then you will reach an area with multiple trees around. There is one large “crocodile tree” that signals you need to turn right and start taking the trail up to Subway Cave. If you plan on doing this hike, please check out AllTrails for more information on reaching Subway cave. You will find very detailed information on how exactly to get there. At this point, the hike turns into more of an incline as you make your way up to the cave. The very last bit to the cave is a rock scramble, so be prepared to do some strategic rock climbing. Don’t worry though, it isn’t too bad, and this is coming from someone who isn’t super active in general. Once you get to the cave you will see a gorgeous view out into the red rocks. This hike is fairly popular so you likely will encounter other people in the cave. We had to wait a bit for others to take their pictures, but the benefit of having others there is having them take a photo of you.
The following day was much cooler and rainy. The temperature was in the high 50’s and it rained on and off all day. We debated completing any hikes this day, but in the end we decided we didn’t want to waste any days on our trip. We opted to do the infamous Devil’s Bridge Hike. The Devil’s Bridge Hike is by far the most popular hike in Sedona thanks to Instagram. It really has the most amazing view with the coolest picture. Since this hike is so incredibly popular it often comes with a very crowded trail and a long wait time and line to get a photo out on the bridge. The one benefit of completing this hike on a cool, rainy weekday is there was only a few other people at the bridge instead of a huge line to wait in. To me, this is totally worth it because once you arrive at the bridge, you want time to hang out and take in the views and to also get as many photos as you want without tons of onlookers. Luckily we had a friendly family offer to take our photo out on the bridge which turned out amazing. The bridge definitely is narrow, but it isn’t as narrow as it looks in photos. I definitely would not cross over it because it does get narrow in the middle, but you can stay on a wider section and still get a great photo. Apparently the height of the bridge from the ground is only around 55 feet, but it still looks like it would be a fatal fall so definitely be careful! There are multiple different trails that lead to Devil’s Bridge, but I recommend starting at the Mescal Trailhead, following it to the Chuckwagon Trail and then continue to the Devil’s Bridge Trail. Taking the hike on this trail gives you great views and it isn’t difficult at all.
Later that day, we decided to try the Cathedral Rock hike. At this point in the day the rain was still going off and on, but it was our last day in Sedona so we decided to do it anyways. This trail is fairly short but has a large elevation gain which makes it more difficult. It starts with an easy walk up the rocks which almost act like steps. The trail then plateaus a bit and starts a slightly more inverted trail where it gets a bit steeper. You soon will reach a stretch where you will need to do some rock scrambling and climbing. I read a lot about this part of the hike on AllTrails and quite frankly, the reviews made me apprehensive about it. Many people talked about how steep and difficult it was and how you should only complete the hike when it is dry, as the rocks need to be dry in order to rock climb up. While we completed the hike it was raining, so the rocks definitely weren’t dry and easy to grip. Despite this, I still didn’t find this portion of the hike very difficult. It was definitely a cardio workout, but I didn’t find it overly difficult and again, I am not a very experienced hiker or very active. In a way, I found the rock climbing portion of this hike really fun. Unfortunately during our visit, the upper trail was closed for maintenance so we couldn’t climb to the top to get the infamous photos. Despite this, it still gave a great view from this point. The way back down seems intimidating, but the best way to get down is sliding down.
In terms of how I dressed on the trip, I made sure to take a wide range of apparel with me since the weather forecast was so varied. I made sure I had a rain jacket, a few lightweight jackets, leggings, shorts, and joggers. One of my new favorite pairs of joggers is my Kuhl Bliss Joggr, which is great for activity such as hiking, but also is great for travel and loungewear. Items like these are great versatile purchases that can be used in the outdoors but not exclusively, which gives more value in your purchase. Kuhl is one of my favorite outdoor brands, along with Cotopaxi and Patagonia.
Where to Eat
As I mentioned before, there are tons of places to eat in Sedona. Whether you are looking for a cafe, a walk up burger bar, a casual restaurant or even a nicer restaurant, there are plenty of options. We ate a few different places while in Sedona. First, we tried Open Range Tavern which was across the street from our hotel. We planned on ordering take-out from this restaurant on a Sunday night, but the line was busy and I wasn’t able to get through to the restaurant to place an order. We had to walk over to the restaurant and put an order in and it was super busy. During our wait for the food we sat at the bar and I got a prickly pear margarita. Prickly pear cacti are ALL over Sedona, so any bar or restaurant you find in the town will have an array of prickly pear drinks. At Open Range Tavern we ordered a Spicy Chicken Sandwich and a French Dip sandwich. Overall the French Dip sandwich was average. It was okay, but I have definitely had better. The Spicy Chicken Sandwich on the other hand was unique and really good. A crispy chicken sandwich with buffalo sauce, pico de gallo, lettuce, cheese, buffalo sauce, and onion straws. It sounds random when all together, but it is actually really good.
The next night we went to Sedona Pizza Company. This is another restaurant directly across the street from our hotel which was really convenient. We were able to get a table right away, although there was a bit of a wait to be served and waiteds on. My husband ordered a cheese pizza which he said was good. I ordered spaghetti and meatballs, but was originally served chicken parm. Given the kitchen mix up, I had to wait extra long for my actual meal. My husband finished his meal before I received mine, but the waiter was very apologetic so it wasn’t a big deal. The actual spaghetti and meatballs meal was very interesting though. The tomato sauce honestly tasted like chicken noodle soup, and the meatballs weren’t the best quality. In the end the waiter gave me a free caesar salad as I waited for my meal and also discounted our check, so I appreciated his kindness in the manner. I also think he appreciated us being easy-going about the situation because honestly, why get worked up over it?
The next day we had a break for lunch in between hikes so we tried out Outlaw Grill which came as a recommendation from our tour guide on the Pink Jeep Tour. Outlaw Grille has a walk-up window where you order your food that you can take to-go, or sit in an open-air room with picnic tables. There are all kinds of burgers, sandwiches, and wings to choose from. We each had a regular burger and weren’t disappointed. Outlaw Grill also has great price points for the amount of food you receive. If you are someone who wants a morning coffee, there are also plenty of coffee shops within Sedona and in Uptown. I personally had Theia’s everyday since it was so close to our hotel, and it had plenty of drink options.
Overall, our trip to Sedona was only 3 days but I feel like we accomplished a lot in that period of time. The gorgeous views are endless and the hikes we did gave such great photo opps and experiences. Sedona is the kind of place I would absolutely return to because of how nice it is and there are still so many hikes I would love to do there. If you are planning a trip to Sedona any time soon, I hope you find my Sedona travel guide useful. Until next time!
