"Arizona, breathtaking scenery" a Arizona Travel Page by vtveen

Arizona (or better northern Arizona) was our first American destination ever. It was part of a 16 days road trip through Arizona and Utah. The more or less ‘official’ Grand Circle is a 1,400 mile circle encompassing the Four Corner states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah with the National Parks of Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands.
But we absolutely wanted to see Petrified Forest National Park (missed these petrified trees during an Argentina visit) and after reading a lot on the internet we added more State Parks and Monuments to our own ‘custom made Grand Circle’.

Being not interested in Las Vegas we started our road trip in Phoenix, which we reached with Delta Airlines. This company offered the best fares from Europe and had a rather convenient flight schedule. Besides it has the closest international airport for visiting Petrified Forest nearby Holbrook.

Although we had read a lot and seen numerous pictures we were really surprised by the stunning and sometimes breathtaking scenery. It was not only absolutely beautiful, but also varied with every day other highlights and landscapes.

We travelled the second half of June and the weather was excellent, although especially in and around the desert of Phoenix it sometimes was too warm with temperatures of more than 110°F (43°C).
Staying, eating and travelling (June 2008) was for us - with the strong Euro - rather cheap.
The Americans we met, were very helpful and friendly. Just the native Americans could have been a 'little bit' nicer.
We only disliked the mandatory ‘tip’ - for foreigners - on a couple of our restaurant bills.

All together we had a fantastic holiday and are looking forward for a next trip to the USA.
For tips/pictures of the Utah part of our 'Grand Circle' please take a look at my Utah page.