OT Anybody been to the Grand Canyon

[signtalker]

seeing as you lot out there are so well travelled, I was wondering if anybody had been to the grand canyon?.
Were now planning next years holiday, and this is a place we would love to visit.
Im going to attempt to book it myself, but is there anybody out there who has been?. Any tips on the best airport to fly into, accom etc. Were planning to do a flydrive and sort accomadation, before we go, along with rafting/other areas of interest.
Anybody who can provide any help would be most appreciated.

Jules

 

[athurstance]

We drove across to the canyon from San Diego - took about 9 hours if I remember. Not much to stop and look at on the way either - we just took it in turns to drive. We were on a driving tour and went on up to Las Vegas afterwards and I would think that would be a reasonable place to fly into.
The canyon is quite amazing - we expected it to be big but when you actually see it it takes your breath away.
There are hotels in the National Park. We stayed in one - can't remember its name - they have a central reservation system so if you telephone them they can tell you what is available for your dates and book you in. It is more expensive to stay in the park but if you want to see the sun rise and set (which I would recommend) then you are on hand to just walk out to the canyon.
There are lots and lots of hotels and motels in the surrounding area aswell - all the usual chains are there.
If you want to do rafting or go down into the canyon hiking or with donkeys etc then book in advance. Everything gets very booked up. We couldn't get on anything like that but we did take a plane flight over the canyon (there are lots of companies offering this and also helicopter flights so easier to get on at the last minute) - it was an awesome experience. I am a bit of a flying wimp and this is the only time I've agreed to go up in such a small plane but it was well worth it. You can see the two rivers merging - one was really muddy and the other clear and you could see the water merging together.
We did a circular driving tour. Starting at LA, San Diego, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Bishop (just outside Death Valley), Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, San Franscisco, Monterey, Carmel - then back to LA. Fantastic trip - if you want any more info just ask.

Angela

 

[signtalker]

Angela Ive sent you a PM, thanks for your help.

Jules

 

[Olaf]

This is a link to a travel article which appeared in the New York Times some time ago. I remembered it and went searching.

NYT

Can you believe I lived in Phoenix for a year and never made it up there?

 

[pegasusEH]

We are thinking (subject to finances and job situations) of making a trip to the West Coast next year too. Virgin do a "Fly Tour" with 4 nights in San Francisco, 4 in Las Vegas and 6 in Los Angeles. We don't want a car over there and to see all we want to would involve far too much driving anyway. The "Fly Tour" includes internal flights between the cities.

From Las Vegas it is possible to take a flight/helicopter to the Grand Canyon and stay one night. That's the way we plan on seeing the GC anyway - if we make it over there!

 

[Astrid]

Hi

Sounds like a great trip you're planning Jules. We went to the Grand Canyon for a day trip out of Las Vegas in a small (very small!) aeroplane - where we all had to be weighed before boarding! As Angela says, the flights a bit hair raising but well worth it for the views!

It really is the most fantastic place to see, photos and videos just cannot do it justice. We went to the South Rim and spent the day touring with lunch out in the open with a real American Indian, it was the highlight of our trip and I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is staying on the West Coast.

I can't help with any accommodation or anything I'm afraid, but getting trips out of Las Vegas was easy, we booked ours whilst we were there, and there were overnight stay ones available too.

PegasusEH- I'm sure I've some literature here somewhere if you'd like any more information.

I would have thought Las Vegas was the easiest main airport to fly into and then pick up an internal flight from there.

When we went we spent a week in Los Angeles and then drove for a week to Las Vegas - though as Angela says the drive is long and the scenary on the way not desperately exciting - apart from when you reach the Nevada border when suddenly out of nowhere there's a huge great roller coaster and casino.

HTH

Astrid

 

[paulc]

We went to the West coast in 1999 starting in Las Vegas and then travelling onto San Diego and ending up, where else, but Disneyland in Los Angeles. Whilst in Las Vegas we took an airplane tour to the Grand Canyon in a 10-seater plane. The flight, about 40 mins as far as I remember, was very turbulent and five of the eight-passenger were airsick. Once there words cannot describe the Canyon itself. At first I felt a little disappointed as there is nothing really to give you a scale of how massive it is until I saw a helicopter that was descending to the valley floor and I followed it down, and down , and down and down until it was a speck and it still hadn’t reached the bottom – it was at this stage the “wow factor” really kicked in. I wouldn’t have missed visiting the Canyon for anything but I was not one of those was ill on the plane
Hope this helps
paulc