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Grand Canyon, Zion maybe Antalope Canyon in 2 days

Grand Canyon, Zion maybe Antalope Canyon in 2 days

Old Mar 26th, 2017, 04:26 PM
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Grand Canyon, Zion maybe Antalope Canyon in 2 days

Hi,

We are planning a longer road trip to California and we will go to LV and Grand canyon as well. What I have in mind:

From LA start around 8pm on 30th of Apr.
Stop in Kingman for sleeping.

From here we would love some tips and recommendations. What we would like to see:
- Grand Canyon
- Zion
- Maybe Antalope Canyon

We can stay 1 night somewhere and have to arrive to LV in the evening sometime on 2nd of May.

What do you think would be the best way to do this? We are not big hikers and will not have much gear (since we have to pack light for a 3 week long trip). But would like to see some beautiful scenery

Coming from Hungary BTW.

Thanks for all the help!
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Old Mar 26th, 2017, 06:12 PM
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You are really asking for trouble if you are planning on leaving Vegas at 8 pm and driving to Kingman. Most of the road isn't a super hwy, is very dark, has curves, etc. and there are animals about that would spoil your day if you hit one.

Sleep closer to Vegas, drive to Grand Canyon, hike a bit, see sunset, spend the next night there, see sunrise, hike a bit, visit the overlooks on the east side then continue east then south on89, stop at Wupatki then head back to Vegas.
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Old Mar 26th, 2017, 08:47 PM
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Are you leaving from LA or LV on April 30? Even if you are leaving from LV, if you spend the night in Kingman, you will not be heading to the Grand Canyon until May 1 and you have to be back in LV the next evening? If you try to do anything more than GC in that time frame, you will spend all of your time driving and see nothing. Antelope Canyon is incredible but you just don't have enough time. I agree with e Malloy, take the time to enjoy GC and get your reservations now if you want to spend the night anywhere close to GC
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 06:04 AM
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We will be in Los Angeles until the evening Apr 30th. We can spend the night there, or hit the road and sleep somewhere closer to Grand Canyon.

Basically the original plan was to go to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, spend a few days there, then drive down to San Diego. Since none of my friends visited the Canyon before, I suggested to drive there and do not spend all the 4 days in Las Vegas. Maybe it is too much to fit in? We are coming from Europe (Hungary) and if we are there, we want to see "everything" (you know how it is ).

I appreciate every help and tips, since I have a tendency to "overplan" these trips and put too much programs in a few days. But want to maximize the time we spend there.

We do not mind to drive, but of course I know we should not spend all our time in the car... Appreciate it guys, really!!

ps: the closest hotels to GC we can book now is in Flagstaff.
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 06:21 AM
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For hotels near Grand Canyon, look at Cameron Trading Post, about a half hour east of the park as well as those in Tusayan. If that doesn't work, book a hotel that can be cancelled without penalty and then call the park often as time gets close. People make plans a year in advance and then cancel when they find they can't make the trip.

IMHO Grand Canyon is so much more awesome than Vegas, that I would never opt for 4 days in Vegas if I could go to GC.
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 07:34 AM
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Depending on where you are in Los Angeles, traffic jams could add hours to your trip on the way to LV. While some people enjoy the glitz and gambling of LV, I agree with emalloy, GC, Antelope Canyon and Zion are far more impressive. Personally, I wouldn't spend more than one night in LV to experience the gambling and maybe take in a show. If you want to see the more natural and beautiful side of the desert southwest, you may want to consider spending a few days and do a loop trip starting in LV, going to GC then on to Antelope Canyon followed by Zion and then return to LV. LV to GC will take about 4+ hours drive time, GC to Page (Antelope Canyon) is another 2+ hours and Page to Zion another 2+ hours. If you go to Antelope Canyon, Lower Antelope is much nicer than Upper Antelope. Also keep in mind that you cannot just go to Antelope Canyon at any time, you must make a reservation with the Navajos and take a tour at a designated time which also adds to you time allocation calculations. Finally, if you haven't traveled in the US, especially the Southwest US, it is much more spread out and not as compact as Europe.
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 08:46 AM
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Well, the trip certainly is feasible.

LA to Kingman to Grand Canyon to Antelope Canyon to Zion to Las Vegas is a total of about 1000 miles driving, so at 60mph average that's 16hrs driving. If you speed that up to 80mph average, you cut the driving time down to 12.5 hours.

From 4/30 8pm to 5/2 8pm, that's a total of 48 hours.

Totals
Driving: 12-16hrs
Sleeping 8hrs/night, = 16 total.

That leaves 16-20 total hours time for meals (optional), bio breaks (optional), waiting, sightseeing, photos (optional).

That's more than enough time to check GC, Antelope, and Zion off the "been there" list.

here's how it's possible:
4/30, 8pm leave LA, 5hr drive to Kingman AZ (no stops)
5/1, 1am, arrive Kingman
5/1, 9am, leave Kingman, 3hr drive to GC
5/1, 12 noon, arrive GC
5/1, afternoon, leisurely visit of GC national park
5/1, pm, hotel near Cameron AZ
5/2, 9am, drive to Antelope Canyon, 1 to 1.5hr drive
5/2, 11am tour (pre-arranged time)
5/2, 1pm, leave Antelope canyon, drive to Zion, 2.5 hrs (no stops)
5/2, 3:30 pm, arrive Zion
5/2, visit Zion for 1.5 hrs.
5/2, 5pm, leave Zion, drive to LV,
5/2, 8pm, arrive LV.

If you can get into LV later than 8pm it gives you more than 1.5hrs total at Zion - perhaps stretch that to 3-4 total.
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 10:27 AM
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Spend your time at the Grand Canyon. It's awesome in the original sense of that much overused term.
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Old Mar 28th, 2017, 01:10 AM
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Thank you for all the advices! I run the different scenarios by every member of our party and decide. But for sure the schedule J62 described seems pretty tight.. It is the checklisty-touristy style. Not sure what we should do but it is what I had in mind originally.

Thanks again!
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