This blog post may contain affiliate links. Click here to learn more.
We had such an amazing time in Sedona over the weekend. The views were absolutely breathtaking! We did lots of site seeing, some shopping, lots of eating, and definitely some drinking! It was a busy, but super fun time.
Sedona was actually a place we had visited 7 years ago as broke college kids. That first time we visited we really didn’t have much money to do anything. We simply ate lunch, walked some of the shops (not buying anything), went to the movie theater to watch a movie and drove back to Phoenix. So this time around, we wanted to actually do everything we didn’t get to that first time we visited. After four days in Sedona, mission accomplished!
Here is an overview of our trip with an itinerary and some tips to visiting Sedona.
Where We Stayed
We stayed in the Elite Spa King Room at the Poco Diablo Resort and Spa. This room has a King size bed, Jacuzzi, fire place, and the best part is the beautiful view of the golf course and greenery from the back patio. You can also take a stroll from your room up the golf course to the bar and restaurant at the hotel (very pretty walk).
The resort has a golf course, tennis court, restaurant and bar, outdoor pool, and a Spa! It is located on the south side of Sedona just off Hwy 179. The resort also offers a room discount if you stay more than two nights!
Where We Ate
With so many amazing places to eat, it is hard to choose where to go! We planned ahead for a few places, while others were random choices! Here are all the places we stopped at and what we ordered!
The first night we had dinner at an Italian restaurant called Dahl & DiLuca. I had the Ravioli Romana (a cheese and Portobello mushroom ravioli served with a button mushroom truffle cream sauce) which I loved and Caleb had the Tortellini Della Nonna (tortellini with prosciutto in an alfredo sauce). For dessert, we chose Tiramisu and Limoncello Cheesecake! The food was super tasty and the dessert was delicious. Special Note: Make a reservation in advance. I made our reservation 4 weeks prior and there were only two time slots available for the entire night at a whole month out. So plan ahead!
The next morning we ate breakfast at the Pump House Station. This was a great spot for breakfast. They had great food and the perfect cups of caffeine. I had the Eggs Benedict with a Dirty Chai (highly recommend) and Caleb had the Breakfast Plate with a Mocha! Get there early as we got there about 10 minutes before they opened and a line was already starting to form!
For lunch we ate at the Oak Creek Brewery and Grill. This place was a special stop for us because during our first trip to Sedona we ate lunch at a random Brewery that had one of the best beers we had ever tasted. It was a beer that stuck in our minds so much, that we made it a point to go back to that Brewery and have another glass! Although the beer wasn’t quite what we remember, we still really enjoyed drinking a cold glass with our lunch at the Oak Creek Brewery.
This was the perfect spot for a refreshing beer and truly a great place to stop for lunch! I had the Strawberry Mango Salad (so good and pretty to look at!!) and Caleb had the Harvest Chicken Salad Sandwich. We washed it all down with the Fory-Niner Logger!
For dinner that night we ate at the Sedona Pizza and Pasta Company. A great spot for a quick bite right off the main shopping strip!
The next day for lunch we stopped at Butterfly Burger! This restaurant is located just south of Sedona in the Village of Oak Creek, which is about a 10 minute drive from Sedona. Of all the places we ate, this is definitely one we would highly recommend you try. Here you can find artisan burgers with delicious sides, boozy milkshakes, and crazy good desserts. I ordered the Mowee Wowee which is a Mahi Mahi filet with Teriyaki Sauce and a pineapple served on a whole grain bun. I absolutely enjoyed this sandwich. Caleb got the Waco Kid Burger which was a burger topped with cheese, caramelized onions, and bacon. Overall super delicious food, but to be honest, our hands down favorite part was the Nutella Cheesecake we ordered for dessert! Highly recommend!!
The morning we left, we quickly stopped at StarBites Coffee Cafe for some coffee and breakfast sandwiches. They serve Starbucks coffee along with some savory and sweet food options. The food was pretty good, but the view was even better! Make sure to sit out on the patio near the edge. The view from here is amazing! Best way to end your trip.
What We Did
To start out the trip we took some time to walk all of the shops near the big “Y” round about at N State Rte 89A and Hwy 179. Here you can find art galleries, clothing stores, coffee shops, candle stores, and so much more. You could truly spend hours walking through all of the different shops!
The next morning we did a couples massage at the resort. This was extremely relaxing and the perfect way to start the day! After lunch that day we visited a couple of wineries in Page Springs which is southwest of Sedona about 15-20 minutes. We visited two wineries, the Javelina Leap Winery and the Oak Creek Vineyard. We did a wine tasting at both locations and ended up walking away with a few bottles! After the wine, we went back to the resort to spend some time at the pool to cool down before dinner!
The next morning we rented an ATV from Sedona ATV Rental. We rented the RZR PRO XP Ultimate Dynamix, a two person ATV, for the full day, but ended up only using it for half a day. We thought it was super loud and some what of a pain to drive which made it kind of hard to enjoy with each other. However, this was definitely the best way to do some sight seeing in Sedona! The great perk of our rental was that a trail map and route suggestion was provided to us to follow in order to see some of the great views. My advice would be to either rent a Jeep (like we had originally planned) or try some of the other ATV rental places that we saw out on the trails that didn’t seem as loud as ours. One place we kept noticing was Outback ATV Rental.
After lunch we drove to see the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This is such a cool building as it is a 1950’s chapel built amongst the red rock buttes. The location of this building provides awesome views of the Sedona area. After the chapel, we took a quick drive down to the Red Rock Visitor Center to get an even larger view of the red rocks. This visitor center is a great spot for some panorama photos of the beautiful valley of Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek. Also, this was probably the least busiest place we visited. So win-win!
Our Itinerary
- Day 1
- Arrive early afternoon
- Walk the shops near the big “Y” roundabout
- Dinner at Dahl & DiLuca
- Cocktails at the Resort bar
- Day 2
- Breakfast at the Pump House Station
- Couples Massage
- Lunch at Oak Creek Brewery & Grill
- Wine Tastings in Page Springs at Javelina Leap Winery and Oak Creek Winery
- Relax at the pool
- Dinner at Sedona Pizza and Pasta Company
- Day 3
- ATV Rental for sight seeing
- Lunch at Butterfly Burger
- Sight seeing of Chapel, Red Rock Visitor Center, etc.
- Dinner (We were stuffed from lunch so didn’t end up going out that night)
- Day 4
- Breakfast at StarBites Coffee Cafe
- More sight seeing
- Depart mid morning
What We Learned
The biggest thing we learned from visiting Sedona is to plan ahead. We went for an early weekend and were taken back by how busy it was even on a Thursday afternoon, with it only getting busier Friday to Sunday. So make sure to get a place to stay early, make reservations ahead of time, and if possible maybe go earlier in the week to avoid the mad rush during the weekends. The other thing we figured out was that being from New Mexico, we were running an hour ahead of the Arizona time and this helped us to get into restaurants quicker as we were usually eating a good hour or so before the rush!
I hope this post will help you to plan your own amazing trip to beautiful Sedona, Arizona! If you have already visited, let me know in the comments what are some of you favorite places to go or things you like to do while in Sedona!
