Arizona Travel Ideas

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Arizona Travel Ideas Arizona travel inspiration for locals and visitors. Exploring things to do all over Arizona (and beyond) from the eyes of a 3rd generation Arizonan.

10/13/2026

Super Bloom has arrived at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona!�
This colorful new art exhibit has gorgeous and vibrant installations, and it’s worth experiencing both during the day AND after dark!

Here’s what to know before you go:

WHERE: Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ

WHAT: Super Bloom is an immersive art experience created by Graphic Rewilding , featuring 21 colorful installations throughout the Garden. This is an art exhibit, not a natural wildflower superbloom!

WHEN TO VISIT: My recommendation is to arrive before sunset! You’ll get to see the incredible colors and details in daylight, then watch the experience transform as the installations light up after dark. Be sure to check sunset times and the Garden’s hours before planning your visit.

TICKETS: Check the Garden’s website for current admission prices, hours and any special ticketed experiences because cost will depend on the day but starts at $16.95 for youth or $32.95 for adults

CHECK THE EVENTS CALENDAR: Desert Botanical Garden hosts seasonal events, special experiences and activities throughout the year, so take a look at what else is happening during your visit. You might be able to plan your trip around another event!

BONUS: Give yourself time to explore the rest of the Garden, too! There’s so much more to see beyond the Super Bloom installations.

Find tickets, exhibit information and the seasonal events calendar at dbg.org.

Save this for your next Phoenix outing and follow for more things to do in Arizona!

10/10/2026

Have you seen clouds like this before? Are they stratus, cumulus, cumulonimbus…

Phoenix area do they look like this for you too?

09/20/2026

If you’re looking for unique things to do in Flagstaff, Arizona, you can actually hike through an underground lava tube just outside of town.

📍 Lava River Cave — Flagstaff, AZ
Search “Lava River Cave” in Google Maps
171B Forest Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Lava River Cave is a lava tube in the Coconino National Forest formed by volcanic activity hundreds of thousands of years ago. Once you’re inside, it’s completely dark and stays cold even when it’s hot outside.

How long is the Lava River Cave hike?
The cave itself is about 1 mile long, but you can explore as much or as little as you want. It’s about a .3-mile walk from the parking area to the cave entrance.

What to bring to Lava River Cave:
• 2–3 reliable light sources with fresh batteries — please don’t rely on your phone
• Good shoes with traction
• A jacket or layers — it gets COLD underground
• Water
• A backpack for your gear + anything you need to pack out
• Gloves can be helpful if you’re sensitive to scrapes
• A helmet/hard hat isn’t a bad idea either. We didn’t but have heard lots of stories of people getting banged up so if you’re worried it wouldn’t hurt. Even a hat gives a little extra protection — there are plenty of low spots, so watch your head AND your step

There’s no entrance fee and parking is free.

A few things to know before you go: this isn’t a developed cave with paved paths or lighting. The ground is rocky and uneven, and you’ll be navigating entirely by your own light sources.

Please leave it exactly as you found it — pack out everything you bring in and be respectful of the cave, the forest and the other people exploring it.

Save this for your next Flagstaff trip & follow Arizona Travel Ideas | Allison Waken for more Arizona road trips, hikes and unique places to explore.

09/15/2026

Arizona Fall is coming! Yes, we have fall in AZ and a gorgeous one at that.

But being such a diverse state means there’s a little less area for the dense fall colors you might picture in places like New England. Our best color tends to be concentrated in higher elevations, mountain forests and along creeks, which also means the most popular spots can get BUSY at peak.

A few things to know before planning an Arizona fall trip:

Fall doesn’t happen everywhere at once. Higher elevations change first, sometimes starting in late September, and color works its way down through October and November giving us a surprisingly long season if you’re willing to change WHERE you go.

FLAGSTAFF: San Francisco Peaks, Snowbowl Road, Aspen Corner and Arizona Nordic Village are great places to start. Check ’s LEAF-ometer before you go. It tracks current color at several locations.

MOGOLLON RIM: Highway 260 through Payson, Heber-Overgaard, Show Low and toward Pinetop-Lakeside makes a great fall road trip. Rim Road/FR 300 is another favorite when road conditions allow.

WHITE MOUNTAINS: Look around Pinetop-Lakeside, Greer, Springerville, Eagar and Alpine. US 191 between Springerville and Alpine is a beautiful fall drive too.

SEDONA/OAK CREEK: Color generally comes later here. Highway 89A through Oak Creek Canyon is one of my favorite fall drives, with yellows, oranges and reds against the red rocks.

And a realistic warning: those gorgeous aspen groves you see all over Instagram really CAN be packed on peak weekends. Go midweek or early if you can.

Most importantly, don’t choose one October weekend months in advance and assume you’ll hit “peak.” Check leaf reports, weather + road conditions before you leave and be willing to pivot to a different elevation.

Arizona fall is absolutely worth experiencing. You might have to chase it a little differently & set expectations accordingly.

09/11/2026

Tip: keep a couple small bills in your front pocket in case the train gets held up & “robbed” 👀

📍 Grand Canyon Railway - Williams, AZ to the Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel

Cost varies by car but the coach class here was $44.99 one way and the Luxury Parlor was $119.99.

Note: children are not permitted in the Luxury Dome or Luxury Parlor (under 2 not permitted in the Observation Dome but are free in the other classes).

For this train schedule the ride began at 9:30am but get there around 9 to see the show! You’ll arrive back at the station in Williams at 4:45pm. This changes slightly based on time of year and if there is another train running.

This is such a great gift idea too!

Grand Canyon update as of 9/11: The South Rim is open, but Stage 4 water restrictions remain in effect. In-park lodging is currently closed and some services are limited, so bring plenty of water and check current conditions before visiting.

ArizonaTravel

09/09/2026

Traverse City was not the Michigan I was expecting and I mean that in the best way. | Ad

I visited for the first time on a hosted trip with Grand Traverse Resort and Spa Traverse City & Cherry Capital Airport , knowing very little about the area, and left wondering why I hadn’t heard more about it.

Northern Michigan is beautiful. The w**eries surprised me, the food was SO good, and being surrounded by Lake Michigan (a large inlet of the lake) gives it a completely different feel than what I pictured when I thought of Michigan.

But the thing I loved learning was how much the people who live here genuinely seem to care about this place.

I heard some version of “I grew up here, left, and came back” over and over again from business and w**ery owners to people working in tourism and hospitality.

The TVC Tarmac Dinner gave me a chance to sit down with so many of those people in one place, while also experiencing food and w**e from around the region. And yes… having dinner while planes were taking off and landing right outside the tent was pretty incredible too.

And for my Arizona people, Traverse City is easier to get to than you might think. There are seasonal nonstop flights from Mesa directly into Traverse City, plus year-round options from Phoenix with an easy connection!

If Traverse City or northern Michigan isn’t on your travel radar yet, I’d absolutely put it there.

Places from my trip shown in this reel:
Cherry Capital Airport
Bonobo Winery
Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
Spa Grand Traverse
Mission Point Lighthouse
Brys Estate
Fustinis
Downtown Traverse City
Grand Traverse Pie Co
Wind Dancer Sailing Adventures

09/04/2026

Not gonna lie. I’ve said “It’s SO nice out” A LOT this week.

I personally stay home on holiday weekends because I have a more flexible schedule but not even mad about it with this forecast 😎

What are you up to in Arizona this weekend?

08/27/2026

We loved Alaska. But I think this trip taught us something about how we like to travel.

The things cruising makes incredibly easy are apparently some of the things we enjoy & missed the most. 🤷‍♀️

We like driving (or even flying). Figuring out the route. Driving farther than we planned. Pulling over because something looks interesting. Finding our own hikes. Eating at local restaurants. Changing the plan because we found somewhere we want to stay longer.

On a cruise, so much of that is handled for you. You unpack once, wake up somewhere new, step off the ship and can have some pretty incredible experiences without figuring out all of the logistics yourself.

And I think that’s why an Alaska cruise can be SO good for the right travelers.

Someone recently told me how blown away they were by a little trail they could walk to right from an Alaska cruise port like moss-covered trees, a creek, beautiful forest views. And I get it. We’ve hiked through similar landscapes in Arizona’s White Mountains, but they’re certainly not as easy as stepping off a ship and walking over to them.

I think your normal travel style and the places you’ve already experienced probably have a lot to do with how an Alaska cruise feels to you.

For us, the crowds, touristy ports, limited time in each place and food options/quality (especially traveling gluten-free) made us realize that we missed having the freedom to explore on our own.

I don’t think the takeaway is that Alaska cruises aren’t worth it. We saw some incredible places and I’m really glad we experienced it. And the BEST part was doing it with family. Plus, getting to these places is NOT as easy as renting a car (though there are other ways to get there than a giant ship).

I just think we learned that we don’t want to be picked up and delivered to the destination.

We like the adventure, the experiences and the time spent getting there.

And I guess that’s a much bigger part of travel for us than we realized.

Anyone else?

08/23/2026

What are your thoughts on cruising? Have you been? Do you like it, love it, favorite cruise line?

Just got back from Alaska & already missing my balcony but I do have some thoughts on cruise travel & I’d love to hear some other perspectives before sharing my own!

08/19/2026

Not in Arizona anymore 😲

The one thing I was hoping to see in Alaska was a brown bear catching salmon & I got my wish while we were also fishing!

Make sure to watch at :44

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