My husband and I have rented a house in Sedona (friend of a friend of a friend! so no personal help!) in October. We'll be there 10 days, and would like to visit the Grand Canyon during this time, as well as explore any other 'shouldn't be missed-cause-we-may-never-be-back) places. Hubby thinks we can make a day trip to the Canyon, but I think we need to stay over at least one night! Any thoughts/suggestions on things to do, as well as a place to stay near the Canyon?

Drive up to Grand Canyon Airport and take the helicopter tour then drive back to Sedona.....Go to L'Auberge De Sedona or Enchantment Resort and have a quiet peaceful trip. You will see all of GC you need to in the helicopter.........

If you love to hike, you will love Sedona. There are several hiking reviews on hikearizona.com.

Since you have time, I would think you would want to spend at least one night at the Grand Canyon--see the sunrise and sunset at the canyon, drive around, hike a bit. October should be a wonderful time to visit.

There are a few very interesting National Monuments on the way up there. They are all really worth visiting, so it might make a little longer trip. If you aren't hiking or whatever you don't need much time at the canyon (my opinion - I've been slammed before it!).

http://www.nps.gov/sucr/Flag_Areas/frameset.html

But you can make the GC trip in one day if you start early. We've done it several times from Sedona.

Stay over near the entrance in Tusayan. Lots of hotels. Another must do trip while you're in Sedona would be to Monument valley. There you could stay at the Holiday inn in Kayenta and the next day drive back to Sedona via Page Lake Powell. Paul

I am in same position as sharon, only our rental in Sedona is between Christmas and New Years. Has anyone done the one day trip to GC then, when the days are alot shorter? We want to hike down in GC about a mile or so, weather and trail conditions permitting.

We were in Sedona for a week in July and did an over night to the GC, staying at the Bright Angel cabins. I am glad we did this. On the way back to Sedona, we headed out of the east entrance to GC, stopping at the Cameron Trading Post, Sunset Crater and ruins near Flagg Staff.

Click on my name for my trip report.

MY

PS: The Canyon is breathtaking!!

Thank you all for responding! Michelle, your report is terrific! Just what we needed! Maybe a little more ambitious than we are up to, but lots of great reviews, thanks so much for taking the time to write...once my DH has a chance to read it, I'm sure he'll have more questions (i'm the geographically-challenged-get-lost-in-my-own-neighborhood type!). The Jeep tour sounds thrilling, but I would never have thought about motion sickness, so I'm glad to know to prepare for that, and to take lots of Ibuprofen before and after! I'll be back to this board to check for any other tips/suggestions anyone cares to share.

Dear Sharon:

I hope you have a good trip. Everyone on the Jeep Tour thought I have motion sickness, but it was food poisoning!!! DO NOT EAT AT THE CANYON BREEZE!!!

Good luck. The October weather should be great.

MY

Sedona has become such a depressing place. I went through there about 10 years ago. The town was a piy stop and the area was beautiful. I went through there again 3 years ago, and it had become completely infested with ticky-tack, faux-adobe housing developments. Really, really depressing.

As far a going to GC for day trip, it is certainly possible. The trouble is that you want to be at the Canyon as early as possible to avoid he hordes and to find a parking place. You'd have to start out very early from Sedona to do that.

Agreed. The town is all t-shirt shops and tourist junk.

Also, do not eat at L'Auberge; over-priced and underwhelming and don't book any treatments in their spa. I was there once with a (now-ex) girlfriend and they actually gave her a massage treatment in a ballroom!! Not exactly relaxing.

Oh! I am disappointed to hear y'all say Sedona is tacky! I had thought it was supposed to be a lovely place! We're staying at a friend's home in a neighborhood, so hopefully our immediate environment will be nice. Thanks for the 'heads up' on places NOT to eat, too! Friends have been trying to convince us to take the time to go to Scottsdale when we arrive in Phoenix, before we drive to Sedona...appreciate any input on that--it would just be for the afternoon, as we will be anxious to get to the house and take a nap after 'loosing' 3 hours! P.s. We'll be in Sedona starting 10/5 and will be able to access the internet, so I'll keep checking this board for advice/help.

I do not think Sedona is tacky. There is an uptown area that has tourist shops and some other tourist shops on 89A and 179, but it doesn't strike me as tacky and I just don't go in them. And I avoid uptown due to tourist buses (most of them get off the bus, look around, shop, and get back on the bus). Yes, Sedona has changed in the last 10 yrs. that I have been going there because more people go there now, more people have moved there and retired there. All I have to do is get out on a trail or look at the views which are everywhere, and the tourist shops melt away for me. ALso, I think an effort has been made to blend shops and housing into the environment, so we are not talking huge malls, these are low lying buildings that for the most part are adobe colored to blend into the environment.

Personally I wouldn't stop in Scottsdale, I would get right to Sedona. On our first trip to Sedona, we spent the first night in Scottsdale and thought it was a waste. Next time we headed right to Sedona and we didn't miss Scottsdale at all. We also landed in Tucson once and spent a few days there first, which was also a nice stay.

Thanks, Postal. Aside from high-end shops, which I would only LOOK at anyway, I wondered if there was any 'reason' to see Scottsdale, as it just sounds like a pricey suburb, and we've all seen those!

We were recently there and had a lovely breakfast by the creek at L'Auberge...the atmosphere was wonderful. The hotel, etc there has changed hands in the last year and are working hard to regain their reputation.

I agree that Sedona is just a shadow of its former self. Most of it looks like my hometown - and probably your hometown too - with strip malls and ugly sprawl. Slide Rock State Park is pretty if you are there when no one else is (if your a birder look for Dippers there) and Red Rock State Park is quite nice for a short hike.

Sedona is just a town. And, like most places that are in a beautiful area, it is getting overbuilt.

But IMO, the area around Sedona is some of THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SCENERY IN THIS COUNTRY --- bar none. So don't let anyone put you off. ENJOY Sedona and its surrounds, go hiking if possible, drive through Oak Creek Canyon, by all means, stay overnight at the GC if you can. Also take a drive over to Jerome, go to Walnut Canyon just east of Flagstaff and, if you or hubby are nostalgia buffs, head over to Winslow to see "standin' on the corner" and visit the Route 66 shop right across the street.

If you want to pretend that you believe in ghosts, by all means go to Sedona. If you want a cosmic experience, go to the coast in SoCal.

Sedona is a myth; stay away.