WELCOME TO ARIZONA!

You have reached the online version of Moon Handbooks: Arizona—the most comprehensive guidebook to the state! This website, and the printed guidebook from which it comes, cover Arizona's sights, recreation, and practicalities based on 29 years of research and travel. For each edition I drove some 10,000 miles around Arizona to discover what's new and to verify the old. The well-organized information—both here and in the printed book—will enable you to plan the best possible trip.

Discover Arizona suggests travel strategies and provides background to the land and people of Arizona. Travel chapters begin with Phoenix and South-Central Arizona in the heart of the state and work their way around to Eastern Arizona. You can also drop into the Photo Gallery, check out the latest Updates, and browse the Arizona Booklist.  For travel stories of my adventures trekking and cycling around the world, head over to Bill's Exotic Travels. To see a list of useful Arizona links and those of friends and fellow authors, swing by Favorite Websites. My Dad, Gordon W. Weir, has written a fine memoir on his flying experiences, Navigating Through World War II.

If you're headed only for the Grand Canyon area in the north, my Moon Handbooks: Grand Canyon may be just what you are looking for. Much of this book's introduction, sights, hiking, and river running are also here on this website, as well as in Moon Handbooks: Arizona. I've also included some photos and excerpts from Moon Handbooks: Utah, a worthy book and destination as well, in the Photo Gallery. Finally, if you're seeking Arizona's highlights illustrated with beautiful color photography, pick up a copy of National Geographic Traveler Arizona, now in its fourth edition.

Happy Travels
—Bill Weir
 

Bill's Newest Grand Cycling Adventure

I have long wished to experience Italy on a cycle ride in the springtime. So that's where my trip Italy, Central Europe, and Northern Europe Delights begins! Flights in April 2013 will take me from steamy Bangkok to Rome for a grand tour of Italy from Sicily to the Alps. Next I have an idea of looping around Central Europe and ending up somewhere in Northern Europe, perhaps Amsterdam. The ride could be 5-6 months long. The greatest challenge will not be the rugged mountains of Italy, but the lofty Euro prices! I'll be camping and cooking my meals for much of the trip. I've posted two maps of the intended route along with thoughts of what I would like to do at www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/EuropeDelights

Bill's Recent Grand Cycling Adventure in Asia

In late November 2012 I set out with "Bessie Too the Bicycle" on a four-month journey, Off the Beaten Track in Thailand and Cambodia. The theme was to experience places that I've not been to before, many off the tourist track. I took a bus from Bangkok to Nan Province in the very mountainous north near the Lao border. From there I made a big arc around northern and northeastern Thailand, following the Lao border and Mekong River much of the way. I then crossed into northern Cambodia to visit remote Khmer sites before stopping in at the famed temples of Angkor Wat area. I continued to the capital Phnom Penh and rode south to the coastal plain before returning to Thailand. From Chanthaburi in the east I took buses to Songkhla in the far south and rode north via Nakhon Si Thammarat to a ferry for Koh Phangan and a meditation retreat. Afterward I hopped a boat to Koh Tao for a spell of scuba diving. You can read about the trip and see the photos at www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/AsianSwing.

Bill's Recent Grand Cycling Adventure in the U.S.A.

From April to September 2012 I enjoyed A Grand Ride of the American Southwest with "Bessie Too the Bicycle," www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/GrandSouthwest. The ride began in San Francisco, California, and followed the coast south to Oceanside in San Diego County, headed inland to Arizona, climbed the Colorado Plateau for visits to the Grand Canyon's south and north rims, continued on to southern Utah's canyon country, swung west across the lonely Great Basin's mountains and valleys of Utah and Nevada, crossed the Sierra Nevada in northern California, then lastly rolled over the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco. Unusually, this time I simply headed out the door for the ride without any planes, trains, buses, or automobiles to deal with. Also, no visas, as it was one of my rare bicycle tours in the U.S.A.!

Bill's Previous Asian Grand Adventure with a Backpack

On November 22nd 2011 I headed to Asia on a backpacking trip, Indian Ramble. Flights on Cathay Pacific took me from San Francisco to Chennai in the south of India, where I traveled overland north to New Delhi, then east to Kolkata, taking in lots of Indian culture (and cuisine) over the course of about three months. A short flight brought me to Bangkok for a spell of about two months of meditation, travel, and scuba diving in southern Thailand. Story and photos begin at http://arizonahandbook.com/indian_ramble.htm for India and http://arizonahandbook.com/thai_retreats.htm for Thailand.

Table of Contents
Click on a link at left or a region on the Arizona map or select from the top menu.

Discover Arizona (Introduction)

Phoenix and South-Central Arizona

Tucson and Southern Arizona

Western Arizona

North-Central Arizona

The Grand Canyon and
the Arizona Strip

Northeastern Arizona

Eastern Arizona

Arizona Bookstore