At end of September my husband and I are going to fly from Ft. Lauderdale to Sedona where we will stay in a time share.

We are in the 53-62 range.
We golf.
not as active as we should be

I am not sure where to fly in and out of. I would like to go to the Grand Canyon either at the end or beginning of the trip and stay a night or two somewhere onsite or nearby.
Please give suggestions ..and yes, read the forums is one of them I am sure and I will..but I want to know specifically about airports and places to stay near or on the GC.
Favorite golf courses nearby would be helpful too.
I want at least two days just to chill . The whole trip will be approximately 9 days.

El Tovar and Bright Angel Lodge would be my two choices for the South Rim. Do eat a meal @ El Tovar. You might want to see the North Rim as well(it is a long long from the south rim). North rim stay at The Grand Canyon Lodge there(only option there). I would hike a little way into the canyon, catch a sunrise and sunset, maybe take a helicopter tour. On the north rim there is 1 or 2 flights per day that connect in Phoenix. The south rim offers only small private planes an airstrip. Make reservations ASAP for lodging, may already be to late.

Phoenix is the closest major airport. Flagstaff has an airport, but you would certainly have to connect somewhere.
I'd chose a direct flight to Phoenix.

I really can't disagree with what spirobulldog has already said. Get your hotel reservations now!!!

Regarding the meal at the El Tovar, they have superb breakfasts. Dinner was good, not great, IMO. Others may have different opinions.

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

el Tovar is certainly the nicest of the lodging choices, but I would book any of the places in the park and then check back for cancellations if you don't get your first choice. Bright Angel has a lodge and cabins, some of the rooms in the lodge have shared bathrooms, if that matters to you. Kachina and Thunderbird are motels on the rim and Maswick and Yavapai are motels back a bit from the rim. I would book what ever I could now and keep checking for cancellations if you don't get your first choice as people who book a year in advance often cancel when the time comes near.

There are to my knowledge no golf courses near the park. Take a hike along the rim from Bright Angel towards Hermit's rest and hop on the bus when you get tired, then go down one of the trails into the canyon at least a little way.

The closest large airports would be Phoenix or Las Vegas. Smaller one in Flagstaff, very small one near the rim.

We are going to go to Sedona first and either do a day trip or keep the reservation we made today in the Bright Angel lodge at the end of our trip. They gave us the phone number to El Tovar and reservations need to be made a month in advance.

If we choose to do the day trip during our week in Sedona, what would be the best way to do that? Driving ourselves, take a jeep tour etc?

Thank you so much for your responses. Any favorite golf courses within an hour travel of Sedona or right in Sedona?

If you drive yourself, you are in control of how long to stay. I drove to GC one April and got a room in el Tovar when we walked up to the desk, no advanced reservation. Always pays to call and cancellations are more likely the closer to the date you want since people sometimes don't make the decision to cancel until close to the date.

Emalloy, what are the roads like from Sedona to Grand Canyon should we decide NOT to stay a night and have dinner after hiking around and then eating at El Tovar?

Sedona is my favorite place in Arizona. You can take 2 roads to grand canyon. One is direct, highway and the other is a winding road travelling from 3-4000 ft elevation up to the 7/8000 to the canyon. If you have any concerns about being on the side of the road with drops that high (my mother was freaking out), then take the highway TO The GC and the beautiful winding road BACK to Sedona since you will be hugging the road that way. We also thought El Tovar was ok for dinner and expensive; breakfast was very nice. We did the Pink jeep tour and had a terrific driver; it is touristy but fun. Get a car and you can drive around Sedona-go off the main roads and see the beautiful red rocks!!Have fun!!

robbie: Although it was almost 5 years ago, here is the link to our Sedona/GC trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...rip-report.cfm

I would highly recommend at least one night at the GC.

Do a Pink Jeep trip. Very fun!!

MY

"...what are the roads like from Sedona to Grand Canyon should we decide NOT to stay a night and have dinner after hiking around and then eating at El Tovar?"

There is some pretty good information here from AAA: http://tinyurl.com/yh6jq6u

_______________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

"...what are the roads like from Sedona to Grand Canyon should we decide NOT to stay a night and have dinner after hiking around and then eating at El Tovar?"

There is some pretty good information here from AAA: http://tinyurl.com/yh6jq6u

_______________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Sorry about the doubletalk. It was unintended.

_______________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

I rebooked at the Bright Angel for a room during the trip which has a view of the GC. I could have gotten El Tovar but there was not a view..would rather have a view than the plushness of the hotel. I am not high maintainence LOL

Will check with AAA regarding the roads.