Off to San Diego and Las Vegas in Dec .10days. ( I know it's going to be cold) any suggestions for the most important things to see and do with 5 days in SD and 7 in LV. Open to suggestions on whether to bus or helicopter to Grand Cannon for a day trip, and the best tour for the money. Will we see snow?
Thank you
Pachet

Hi Patchet for best reponse move to US forum

www.grandcanyontours.com chopper in best not cheapest

Snow possible not probable.

lasvegassightseeing.net

With seven days in Las Vegas, I would drive to the Grand Canyon for at least one night (at a room in one of the rim lodges, if possible).

Death Valley and Zion National Park are two additional places worth visiting that are relatively close to Las Vegas.

HTTY

Seven days in Las Vegas is five too many for me.

Rent a car and make an overnight visit to Grand Canyon National Park.

Make a 2 night visit to Death Valley National Park.

From Las Vegas you can add Red Rock canyon, Valley of Fire and Hoover Dam.
You will likely find that flying from San Diego (or Long Beach) to LV and renting a car in LV will be cheaper in the long run.
Flying home from Las Vegas may save some money vs. San Diego.

You may not realize that, although Las Vegas is in a dessert it is cold - can be very cold - in the winter. And Grand Canyon -- at that altitude - is even more so - and some things are closed in winter. I too would be bored to death in LV for 7 days - esp since the pools are closed - and I'm not a heavy duty gambler.

My question is why 7 days in Vegas? Are you big time-ish gamblers and will have comped rooms? If not I'd think about 3 days in LV (4 absolute max) and the other 4 days either in San Diego, some other part of California, or parts of Arizona.

I'm curious, too, as to why 7 days in Vegas........I'm not a gambler, and 3 days was plenty for me.

I thank you all very much for your suggestions, and now we are considering less days in Las Vegas, and it took all your helpful replies to convince us. We thank you very much.
Pachet

San Diego - Wander around Balboa Park looking at the various gardens, check out some of the museums if they interest you. Maybe go to Cabrillo National Monument? I haven't spent much time in San Diego but I enjoyed both of those.

Las Vegas - go to one or 2 of the Cirque du Soleil shows. You can't go wrong with Mystere or O. Plenty of day trips from there as others have suggested.

My question is are you renting a car for the entire trip? If so, you have several options from Vegas. Zion, Death Valley and the Grand Canyon are all best as overnight trips or longer. If you are renting a car for the entire time, you could go to the Grand Canyon, then Sedona and drive through Phoenix to get to San Diego (or in reverse order depending on whether San Diego or Las Vegas is your first destination).

If you're driving, I really enjoyed Anza-Borrego State Park in California, a couple hours from San Diego and not far off the interstate between San Diego and Phoenix.

I love Las Vegas and I gamble a lot when I'm there. Even so, 7 days would be a lot for me. I think it is wise for you to rethink that amount of time. For me, 4 days is perfect.

Even though I'm not a gambler, I do enjoy Las Vegas. I just think 7 days would exceed my attention span. Like tom42, 4 days is good for me........

<<<Like tom42, 4 days is good for me........>>>

1 day every 10 years is enough for me

wow, sf, I thought I had a short attention span.......

You can spend 7 days in Vegas doing a lot of things, especially if you get out to Red Rock Canyon, down to the Grand Coulee dam, over to the Grand Canyon (an overnight or two would be great - right on the rim at the South Side - about 5 hours? from Vegas), the Valley of the Sun.

You can also take advantage of the many freebies in Vegas - such as seeing the Lions at the MGM Grand (go early - when they open at 10 am when the lions are more active), taking in the Laser show downtown on Fremont St, checking out the beautiful fountains at Bellagio - and their beautiful Arboretum/botanical garden/which changes themes 4 times a year, and the 27 foot chocolate fountain next to the Arboretum - at the Patisserie, walking around the miracle mileshops at the Planet Hollywood, and Cesear's Palace - and ditto with the new - huge- incredible City Center.

For that matter, you could rent a car for two weeks in San Diego - drive to Vegas (5 hours) and then have use of the car there and for local trips and coming back to SD.

Many many things to here in SD - including the Zoo, Wild Animnal Park, Sea World, Old Town, the Gaslamp downtown, Coronado, getting up to Apple country - Julian - and strolling around the lovely village areas of La Jolla and Del Mar, the many museums in Balboa Park, etc.

The best car rentals rates I have found are on: www.carrentals.com, and they usually have good weekly rates - unless you are here during the busy holiday times.

Just a couple of clarifications. The Grand Coulee Dam is in the state of Washington. I'm sure Tomsd meant Hoover Dam, near Vegas. The Wild Animal Park is now called the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and is located just outside Escondido, about 40 minutes north of San Diego.