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Routes · North America

Tokyo to northern Arizona: Sedona and Flagstaff

Tokyo → Sedona → Flagstaff

Sedona
"Sedona Town view 2013.jpg" by Tuxyso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons· licence
Downtown Phoenix Aerial Looking Northeast (Phoenix)
Photo: DPPed, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Red-rock trails & a dark-sky town Best season (general guide): Mar–May, Sep–Nov

Northern Arizona rises from desert to pine forest in a short drive, from red rock country to a high mountain town. This route spends three nights in Sedona and three in Flagstaff. From Tokyo you'll connect via a US hub to Phoenix, then drive north. Sedona is surrounded by red sandstone buttes and spires, and trails lead to formations such as Cathedral Rock.

How to pace it: Spend days one to three in Sedona: day one, drive from Phoenix; day two, Cathedral Rock trail; day three, Oak Creek and the Holy Cross chapel. Then spend days four to six in Flagstaff: day four, drive up Oak Creek Canyon; day five, Lowell Observatory; day six, Walnut Canyon and Sunset Crater.

Oak Creek Canyon, a scenic road north of Sedona, climbs to the Colorado Plateau. Flagstaff was the world's first International Dark Sky City, and at its Lowell Observatory the dwarf planet Pluto was discovered in 1930. Nearby, Walnut Canyon has cliff dwellings, and Sunset Crater is a young volcano with lava trails.

Spring and autumn are the best seasons; summers are hot in Sedona and winters snowy in Flagstaff. Sedona's red rocks get their colour from hematite, an iron oxide, in the sandstone of the Schnebly Hill Formation. Slide Rock State Park, in Oak Creek Canyon, has a natural water slide in the creek bed.

Flagstaff lies on historic Route 66.

Flagstaff is also a gateway to the Grand Canyon, about an hour and a half north. Meteor Crater, east of Flagstaff, is one of the best-preserved impact craters in the world, and Sedona was named after Sedona Schnebly, the wife of the town's first postmaster.

Safety: Canada's advice for US is to exercise normal security precautions (updated 10 Oct 2026), and this is a domestic US trip with no State Department advisory.

Suggested outline

  1. Tokyo

    Start

  2. Sedona

    By air · 3 nights suggested

    A town among red sandstone buttes.

  3. Flagstaff

    By road · 3 nights suggested

    A mountain town under dark skies.

    Flagstaff Arizona San Francisco Peaks
    "San Francisco Peaks Christmas Day 2010.jpg" by Martin Ely, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons· licence

Day by day

  1. Day 1 · Sedona — Arrive; drive from Phoenix· Tokyo → Phoenix (by air) — long-haul; may arrive the next calendar day, then Phoenix → Sedona (overland)
  2. Day 2 · Sedona — Cathedral Rock trail
  3. Day 3 · Sedona — Oak Creek and the Holy Cross chapel
  4. Day 4 · Flagstaff — Drive up Oak Creek Canyon· Sedona → Flagstaff (by road)
  5. Day 5 · Flagstaff — Lowell Observatory
  6. Day 6 · Flagstaff — Walnut Canyon and Sunset Crater
  7. Day 7 · Flagstaff — Travel home from Flagstaff· Flagstaff → Phoenix (by road), then Phoenix → Tokyo (by air)

A suggested pace only; expedition days are set by the operator.

Flights, leg by leg

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Sedona

Nearest airport: Phoenix Search fares · Phoenix ↗

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