#16 best destination in the world

Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park

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Best time to travel: March-May, Sept-Nov
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Steep sided canyon cared by the Colorado River
  • The canyon is 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide, with a depth of over a mile
  • Nearly 2 billion years of geological history have been exposed as the Colorado river cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted
  • For thousands of years, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves

Grand Canyon Village, Grand Canyon National Park

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Best time to travel: March-May, Sept-Nov
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Accommodations for tourists visiting the South Rim of the Grand Canyon
  • The town’s origins trace back to the railroad completed from Williams to the canyon’s South Rim by the Santa Fe Railroad in 1901
  • Many of the structures in use today date from that period
  • It is a National Historic Landmark District, designated for its outstanding implementation of town design

The Wave

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Best time to travel: Jan-May, Sept-Dec
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Sandstone rock formation in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness of the Colorado Plateau
  • The formation is well known among hikers and photographers for its colorful, undulating forms and the difficult hike required to reach it
  • Due to the fragile nature of the formation and the large number of people wishing to visit it, a daily lottery system is used to dispense only ten next-day permits in person at the Kanab visitor center
  • Additionally, ten online permits for each date are available four months in advance of a planned trip
  • A map and information about the hike are supplied to those who have obtained permits

Antelope Canyon, Navajo Nation

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Best time to travel: Late March-early Aug
Walk difficulty: Easy
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Slot canyon formed by the erosion of Navajo Sandstone due to flash flooding and other sub-aerial processes
  • Rainwater, especially during monsoon season, runs into the extensive basin above the slot canyon sections, picking up speed and sand as it rushes into the narrow passageways
  • Over time the passageways eroded away, deepening the corridors and smoothing hard edges to form characteristic flowing shapes
  • Accessible by Navajo guided tour only

Chapel of the Holy Cross, Sedona

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Best time to travel: March-May
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Roman Catholic chapel inspired and commissioned by a local rancher and sculptor, who had been inspired in 1932 by the newly constructed Empire State Building to build such a church
  • Completed in 1956

Taliesin West

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Best time to travel: March-early May, late Sept-Nov
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and school in the desert from 1937 until his death in 1959
  • Today it is the headquarters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

Bridal Wreath Falls Trail, Saguaro National Park

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Best time to travel: Jan-Feb, Dec
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Saguaro National Park preserves Sonoran Desert landscapes, fauna, and flora, including the giant saguaro cactus
  • Earlier residents of and visitors to the lands in and around the park before its creation included the Hohokam, Sobaipuri, Tohono O’odham, Apaches, Spanish explorers, missionaries, miners, homesteaders, and ranchers

Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix

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Best time to travel: Jan-April, Nov-Dec
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Largest museum of its type in the world
  • The collection has over 15,000 musical instruments from nearly 200 countries and territories
  • Opened in 2010

Horseshoe Bend, Page

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Best time to travel: Jan-Feb, Oct-Dec
Walk difficulty: Easy
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Horseshoe shaped incised meander of the Colorado River
  • The land south of the Bend’s parking area, trail, and overlook are on the Navajo Nation territory

Painted Desert Inn, Petrified Forest National Park

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Best time to travel: March-Oct
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Historic complex designed in the Pueblo Revival style, by the National Park Service, in Petrified Forest National Park
  • Located near the original alignment of historic U.S. Route 66, overlooking the Painted Desert