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Travel guide
Flagstaff
5 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to June and September to October
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Welcome
Flagstaff, in a few days
At 2,100 metres, in the middle of the largest ponderosa pine forest on the continent, the town where Pluto was discovered in 1930 was the first in the world to be recognised for the quality of its night sky. Around its Route 66 main street rise dormant volcanoes, including Arizona's highest summit, and cliffs where the Sinagua built their homes eight centuries ago.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 1 thing
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 1 thing
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- D5 Day 5 3 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Lowell Observatory · 3 to 4 hOn Mars Hill, the observatory founded in 1894 where Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930, with its historic Clark telescope dome by day and telescopes open to the public at night.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Monte Vista ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€130 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Historic downtown and Route 66 free · half a dayRed-brick streets shaped by the 1882 railway and Route 66, with the Weatherford and Monte Vista hotels, the 1926 station, passing freight trains, craft breweries and a protected starry sky.
- Late afternoon · Museum of Northern Arizona · about 2 hFounded in 1928, the key museum for understanding the Colorado Plateau, from Grand Canyon geology and local dinosaurs to Hopi, Navajo and Zuni pottery, weaving, jewellery and katsinas.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Monte Vista ↗€130 a night
D3
Day 3
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Arizona Snowbowl · half a dayOne of the country's oldest and highest ski areas on the San Francisco Peaks, whose summer gondola climbs towards a viewpoint near 3,650 metres overlooking the Grand Canyon and Sedona.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Monte Vista ↗€130 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Humphreys Peak free · 6 to 8 h round tripArizona's highest point at 3,852 metres, reached by a 16 to 17 km round-trip trail through aspens and above the tree line, on a mountain sacred to the Hopi and Navajo.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Monte Vista ↗€130 a night
D5
Day 5
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Walnut Canyon · about 1 h 30A 120-metre-deep limestone canyon whose ledges shelter Sinagua cliff dwellings from around 1125 to 1250, reached by the Island Trail's 240 steps past 25 rooms beneath the overhangs.
- Afternoon · Wupatki · 2 to 3 hRed-desert pueblos built after the eruption, including Wupatki with its hundred-plus rooms, North America's northernmost known ball court and a blowhole, plus Wukoki, the Citadel and Lomaki.
- Evening · Sunset Crater · about 2 hA 340-metre cinder cone born of an eruption around 1085, the region's most recent, with the Lava Flow Trail crossing a jagged field of blocks, collapsed tubes and lone pines.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €140 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to June and September to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/flagstaff
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.