If you’ve never been to Idaho and want a taste of what this state has to offer, this is a great starter itinerary. You’ll get both city and outdoor adventures, which is my favorite type of vacation. This itinerary does not include travel time; we arrived the evening before and left early the morning after the 3 days described below.

How to Get There

You’ll want to fly in and out of Boise, ID. If you’re coming from the west coast, non-stop flights shouldn’t be a problem.

When to Visit

We went during Labor Day weekend and I highly recommend that or even later in September. Summers would be great for the mountains but Boise itself will be hot.

Day 1: Boise and Environs

A full day is more than enough to get a good taste of Boise. I recommend staying downtown so you’re walking distance to everything. You’ll even have time to get out of town for a couple of sights just out of town. This blog post will get you covered!

Day 2: Ketchum and Sun Valley

Ketchum is about 2.5 hrs from Boise. Once there, be sure to get to the top of Bald Mountain and visit some of the Ernest Hemingway sights in town.

Day 3: Hike in the Sawtooth Wilderness

The Sawtooths are amazing and you’ll have your choice of hikes! We went for Bench Lakes, which is about 7 miles but there are definitely lots of other options, both shorter and longer. The bonus with Bench Lakes is that you get to also visit Redfish Lake and its lodge, which are right by the trailhead for this hike.

From there, you can get to back to Boise in about 3 hours.

Here’s our high-level itinerary and where we overnighted. For our last night in Boise, we stayed by the airport instead of downtown to save a little bit of money.

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