Jacqui_H

I am planning a trip to the Southwest in late April - early May next year,and will have one night in Page, and one night at The View.

I would like to do a tour at Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley while I am there. I will be travelling solo, and wonder if I am better to book a tour in advance, or can I just turn up and wait for the next tour? How busy will it be at this time of the year?

If I am better to book in advance do you have any tour companies that you can recommend?

Thanks!

kathybay

Book before you go! Antelope Canyon tour is the most popular, but for a real adventure, do the Hummer Tour! Well worth the money to have a semiprivate tour. Page ina day is a crime, stay longer if you can. We did four days and felt we were rushed. There is more to do than the "typical".

emalloy

In April/May you should be able to just drive to the Antelope Canyon parking lot and get a tour. You have to go with them in any case, so pre booking just gets you the few miles from Page to the parking lot. There is an upper and a lower. The upper is the only one that I've done and is beautiful. The key is to have a sunny day. We went in the mid afternoon and it was great.

We did a tour of MV with a guide also and I think the quality of the tour depends on the particular guide you get. Ours was only fair and I think we would have had as good a tour (and at a better pace) if we had just done the drive on our own. You would need a fairly sturdy car as the road had not been graded recently when we took the tour.

I have some pictures of these at www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009/sets if you are interested. In the 2008 set I think.

Have a fantastic trip.

Myer

I went the end of May and had no trouble. I didn't even drivbe into Page.

First I went down 89, stopped at the Horseshoe Bend parking lot and walked a hot, 3/4 mile to a spectacular view.

The I drove back up to 98 and went east to the parking lot. Paid $6 for parking and the fee for the tour. waited about 10 minutes for the next guide/driver and spent a great hour walking thru the little canyon. The guide knew good spots for photographing.

No need to book a "real" tour or in advance.

You can see photos at:
www.travelwalks.com

Select the trip to Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon and Sedona. They're in there.

Jacqui_H

Thanks for your replies, and the links to the great photos.

I think I will just go to Antelope Canyon and wait for a tour. I was worried that I would have to wait for a while for a tour to leave.

I guess for Monument Valley I should be able to join a tour from the visitors center.

tomboy

We went in Sept.
Didn't pre-book, booked the morning of the tour at a strip mall near motel.
Got out there (parking lot), and there were bazillion Indians standing around, each trying to hustle tour-ists on their own. Apparently the "sanctioned" guides get the prime booking spots in town, and the unsanctioned ones on on their own at the parking lot.