cmlawrence1960

My husband and I are attending a wedding in mid May in Seattle and want to visit Utah. We are thinking of flying from Seattle to Las Vegas (on a Sunday) and renting a car traveling all over Utah and then flying out of Salt Lake back to Louisiana ten days later. I'm overwhelmed by all the possibilities! I need what not to miss, lodging and dining ideas. It will be a trip of a life time for us so I want it to be well planned ahead of time so all we have to do is enjoy. We want to hike a bit but not everyday. Thanks for any help you can give me!
Michelle

Kathie

If Utah is your goal after the wedding in Seattle, fly to SLC - much easier and less time-consuming than flying to Las Vegas. Also consider spending some time in the Pacific NW.

janisj

Depends on where you want to visit in Utah -- I'm assuming Zion, Bryce etc. If so flying in to Vegas does make sense.

Are you only wanting sites/towns in Utah or are you also maybe interested places like the Grand Canyon?

suze

<flying from Seattle to Las Vegas and renting a car traveling all over Utah>

What is it exactly you are wanting to see? Do you have a list of specific places you want to visit?

If you are truly starting from scratch, this is the time a good guidebook might work better than the internet, at least until you have a basic outline of your itinerary. Then we can help you fill things in.

tomfuller

Skip either SLC or Las Vegas depending on what you want to see.
Las Vegas rental cars are cheaper but they want them returned back to Las Vegas. Use Priceline for the best deal on a LV rental car.
From Moab, head back to Las Vegas by way of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and US 93 high above Hoover Dam.

janisj

Whether ANY of these suggestions make sense or not depends on what you want out of your trip and where you want to visit.

cmlawrence1960

Our goals are to see part of the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Canyonlands and Arches. It sounds like alot to accomplish. I'm in a panic because I just started looking for lodging and lots of places are already totally full.

emalloy

You can do a loop from Vegas and see all the places you want to see in 10 days but you will be doing a lot of driving. The loop might be Vegas to Moab for Arches and Canyonlands to Grand Canyon (north rim ) to Bryce to Zion to Vegas. Or it could be Vegas to Bryce to Moab to Grand Canyon south rim to Vegas. Or the opposite direction on either or some other logical loop Check out this map with mileage chart that was posted a while ago by another fodorite:

http://ohiohickstraveltips.weebly.co...-utah-map.html

Depending on when in May you go and how much snow there was, the north rim of the GC might not have everything open. You could loop through to the south rim (my favorite) but that will add miles.

Decide which sites are most important to you and see if you can get lodging in or near the parks. Then decide which direction to do the loop.

Kathie

You may need to choose which places to visit depending on where you can get accommodations. You are trying to cram a lot in, and your trip will be better if you can make some cuts. Lack of availability of lodging may help you make those cuts.

suze

>

I'm not seeing where Seattle fits into this trip at all. None of those are anywhere near here. Am I missing something??

suze, in seattle

Kathie

Suze, they are attending a wedding in Seattle in May. Since they are from Louisiana, Seattle seems close to these places they want to see. Thus, flying to Vegas and driving