A few weekends ago, my husband and I took a “just because” trip to Sedona, Arizona. It was just two days but an incredible weekend. Our Southwest companion pass is expiring at the end of the year and we wanted to try to sneak a few more free flights in before we lose it.

Here’s my round up of our favorite things and what we recommend!

When To Go

We went over Veteran’s Day weekend and it was perfect weather. We were expecting it to be too hot or too cold – but we had light jackets and loved being outside the whole weekend. Be sure to bring lots of water with you, even in the cooler months.

How to Get There

We flew into Phoenix, AZ on a quick flight from Burbank (our airport of choice if we can find a deal!) and then rented a car to travel up to Sedona. It was a beautiful drive filled with so many cacti and sweeping views. The car rental company, of course, tried to up-sell us on everything and told us that the compact car we’d picked out wouldn’t make it up the mountain roads into Sedona, this was 100% untrue. We didn’t have any car issues and the compact car was totally fine.

Where to Stay

We actually choose to stay outside of Sedona to save a bit of money and picked out a room at the casino in Camp Verde. It was newly renovated and so much more affordable. We had a bit of a drive (~15 – 20 minutes) to get to Sedona but since we had the car that was easy. The casino itself wasn’t really an attraction for us and we actually tried to avoid it because of all the second-hand smoke.

There are plenty of very nice hotels and Airbnbs in Sedona and being closer to our actual destination would have been nice, but for such a quick trip, we didn’t mind the extra time in the car.

Where to Eat

The best breakfast we had was at the Red Rock Cafe, even on a holiday weekend, we didn’t have too long of a wait and the food was just fantastic – it was Tex-Mex inspired breakfast at it’s finest. My favorite part was that they gave us a personal pot of coffee to keep on the table so that we could re-fill ourselves.

We also loved Dinner at The Hudson and post-hike snacks/drinks at Sedona Beer Company.

What to Do

Hike! We did a big hike each day we were there. Day one was Cathedral Rock which was very vertical and actually involved a bit of hands and knees climbing up the side of the rocks. It was a very unique experience and we loved getting to do something a bit different.

On day two, we spent 4+ hours hiking up to and around Devil’s Bridge. There is a road trail that is pretty rocky but you can do a jeep tour and use that path. We really wanted to walk so found the smaller trail and had a much more secluded trip up the mountain. Next time we go, I’d love to rent bikes, we saw lots of them wiz by us along the path.

We had a fantastic time on our quick trip and can’t wait to go back and also to explore other parts of the region. Has anyone else had a great time in Arizona? Let us know in the comments!