We are two adults travelling, age around 60 but fit, and have never visited that area before , coming from South Africa. We are flying into Cedar City on 25 September arrival at 17h50. We have 4 nights and want to visit Zion and Bryce Canyon. Please assist as how to plan this to see all we need to see. Have to be back in Cedar City again on 29 September latest 12h00. HELP!!

For driving, it takes about an hour from Cedar City to Zion, about 1.5 hours from Zion to Bryce Canyon (this is about 90 miles with an elevation gain of about 4,000 ft) and about 1.5 hours from Bryce Canyon to Cedar City.

Bryce Canyon is pretty small. For me the main things would be to get up very early in the morning and get to Bryce Point in Time to see the spectacular sunrise start to light up the whole canyon.

Then I'd go back for a short nap and have breakfast before hiking the Navajo Loop / Queens Garden trail.

If you start with Navajo Loop going down you'll start at Sunset Point and come back up thru Queens Garden which will leave you at Sunrise Point. It's about a half mile walk along the flat rim back to Sunset Point to get your car.

Be aware that Bryce Canyon is at an elevation of about 8,500 ft so hiking up Queens Garden will require drinking lots of water and most likely some short rest stops.

Then I'd ride the scenic road and really, the only different viewpoint is Natural Bridge.

So I'd arrive in Bryce from Zion mid to late afternoon and go to sunset point for a not too exciting sunset.

hen stay over in Bryce for night #3 and if you'd like for night #4 before returning back to Cedar City first ting in he morning of the 29th.

That means you'll sleep over in/near Zion on night #1and #2.

For Bryce I would definitely sleep in the park. For Zion it's not as important as Springdale is right outside the park.

Zion is most likely worth the better part of 2 days. There are may hikes at different levels. I suggest you check out their web site and decide which hikes suit you the most.

In Bryce your are at the top and hike down. In Zion you are at the bottom and hike up. So in Bryce and it's elevation change you'll have to hike back up from wherever you are at the bottom of your hike.

Where are you flying into Cedar City from? Good luck getting a rental car after 5PM (1700).
Most tourists that visit the region fly into Las Vegas NV with a few that fly into Salt Lake City, Phoenix and some other small airports.
Car rentals are easier and cheaper in Las Vegas IMO.
In 4 days you could also visit the north rim of the Grand Canyon as well.

Before you do anything, get lodging set. If you think you can drive an hour on the day you arrive, look for lodging in the park at Zion or in the nearby town of Springdale. If you fear you will be too tired to drive, then get lodging in Cedar City.

For Bryce, look for lodging in the park or at Ruby's or other places in the nearby town of Tropic.

I would not try to use one place for both parks as the roads are curvy and have animals (deer, elk, antelope, etc) on the roads which are hard to see after dark.

I just returned from a four day/3 night tour of Bryce, Zion and North Rim. The tour company was Southwest Adventures and the guide did a great job showing us around. You might check their website for reservations or even just suggestions as to what to see/do and where to stay/eat. We left LV early AM and stopped to view the formations in the Kolob section to the west of Zion. That was followed by a northern route through Cedar City to Bryce for overnight. Next day was exclusively Bryce. Traveled to North Rim followed by overnight at Jacob's Lake Motel. Fourth and final day was at Zion.

Cedar Breaks is the closest park on the road to Bryce.
Take the detour through Cedar Breaks to Panguitch. Stay there (cheaper) and do Bryce the next day.

Have you thought about buying a book?
If you have Kindle, then they are very cheap. Kindle can be read on ANY computer.
Go To Amazon.com
In search bar, type in:

kindle zion bryce cedar breaks

and select on or all of those books
All is probably cheaper than on dinner in Cedar City.

BTW - Cedar city has an excellent museum that you should visit. They are famous for producing iron !

Vaga

I researched driving from Las Vegas to Cedar City = 3 hours
Las Vagas to Springdale (Zion) = 3 hours

You will probably spend more time withing for airplane connections ? And more expensive?

Vaga

Depending on whether or not you can get a car the night of arrival and how tired you are, I would head to Bryce first. I've stayed at the Best Western Grand Hotel right outside the park and it was fine for us, but if you can get lodging in the park that would be ideal. As for seeing Bryce, I'd recommend exactly as Myer said. Then I would head to Zion in the evening. If you have time on your way in, you could do the Canyon Overlook hike before the tunnel.

For Zion, I'd stay in Springdale. This gives you 3 nights/2 full days at Zion. You can see a fair amount in that time. For hikes, I would recommend the Narrows, Hidden Canyon, and Emerald Pools. Observation Point is on my to-do list, and I've done Angel's Landing as well. Loved it, but not sure you want to tackle that. I would suggest looking up some of these hikes and based on description decide which ones are suitable for you. Another option for one of your days is the Kolob Canyons section. Haven't done it, but again is on my to-do list. Then you can drive back to Cedar City on the 29th to be there by noon.

RE: Virginia
Best Western Grand Hotel = Excellent hotel - note Grand = tad expensive

Directly across the road is another Best Western named Ruby's Inn that is less expensive, but excellent. Family run since Bryce became Bryce.
http://www.rubysinn.com/

Best lodging prices are at the town of Panguitch about 20 miles away.

Vaga

Thank you so much to you all the wonderful advice from everybody, I am printing this out and will now sit with a map (or google) and discuss with the other half what he thinks.
Have a wonderful day!!

Kind regards
Magda

Since you will be studying, I recommend you spend $2.00 for this kindle book that can be read on any computer with appropriate free ap from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Zion-National-...+national+park

Vaga

We just left Utah earlier this week, so I am not writing as an expert, but just a recent visitor also around 60.

We went to Bryce first for two days - then one day in Zion. In retrospect, I wish we had reversed that. Springdale area looked very interesting, and they have a shuttle system that picks up at a variety of places ( although it might not be in operation in late Sept, not sure)

We stayed between Panguitch and Bryce Canyon. Being from Florida, I would call Ruby's and the Best Western mentioned tourist traps because of the kitschy western decor and small rodeo venue. That said, the lodging and meal options are definitely limited, and the location is far better than where we stayed.

In late June, the temperatures started rising, and while we are used to Florida heat, found the altitude affected us more than we thought it would.

Hope that helps