flup

We are arranging a trip to Arizona for end of April for 17 days. Here is our itinerary: fly to phoenix (2 nights)drive to Tucson, visit to Tombstone (must see!)overnight (or 2) in Tucson. Drive back up to Flagstaff, from Flagstaff want to visit Monument Valley and Lake Powell. Should we stay in Flagstaff and visit these places as day trips or would it be better to get accommodation in Monument Valley?Also can anyone suggest good places of interest en route? We then want to spend 8 nights in Las Vegas.I know this sounds a long time but we want to go on a couple of day trips from there, maybe Hoover Dam/Lake Mead,Valley of Fire.(already visited Grand Canyon several years ago) We want to chill out around the pool during the day, then hit the Casinos and shows at night.Are we trying to do too much? No guide books appear to give this advice.Help!

pollyvw

After Tucson, drive back to Sedona via Jerome. Stop off in Jerome for a few hours then to Sedona for at least overnight. Next day drive through Oak Creek Canyon en route to Flagstaff.

Continue to Page (Lake Powell) for overnight and then to Monument Valley, again, for overnight, or vice versa.

In my humble opinion, Flagstaff is too far away to serve as a base for the latter two destinations. And since you are so close, Sedona is not to be missed.

flup

Thanks,Polly, we will try that. Would it be better to drive straight to Lake Powell/Monument Valley from Sedona or would you stay overnight in Flagstaff before setting off next day?

paula1470

flup - You had a thread going before that asked the same questions-it's better to just add on to the old thread. I had already suggested Sedona as a place to stop and also talked about staying in Flagstaff. Here is my answer from last week that pretty well answers the questions you are asking again.

"You mentioned you are heading up to Flagstaff after Tucson. Are you planning on stopping in Sedona? If you haven't been there, it's a must see and you could go from Tucson to Sedona-spend the night there and then head up north. Are you using Flagstaff as your base for Grand Canyon, etc? You could go directly to Lake Powell or the Grand Canyon from Sedona-not sure it is necessary to stay in Flagstaff."

paula1470

To answer your question further. Flagstaff is only about 30 miles from Sedona so unless you get a late start in the day leaving Sedona, there is no reason to spend the night in Flagstaff. As polly suggested, leave Sedona in the am and drive to Lake Powell, it's about 160 miles from Sedona to Page, AZ and Page to Monument Valley is around a 2 hour drive if I remember correctly.

flup

Sorry if you think I'm repeating myself, but this is a new question regarding whether to use Flagstaff as a base or whether to go straight to Page/Monument Valley from Tucson.I would have added to the original thread but it appeared to have disappeared.Will take your advice on Sedona and won't bother you again!

paula1470

flup - sorry if I seemed rude - it's just so much easier to add on to your old thread and you will probably get more answers that way. If you can't find your old thread, just click on your name and all your postings will come up. I just felt like you hadn't read my answer because I suggested just what Polly did, drive from Tucson to Sedona, spend the night and then go from there to Lake Powell. If you've already been to Sedona, then you could go from Tucson to Flagstaff for the night but I definitely wouldn't use it as a base for the other locations-they are too far away. Have a good trip.

flup

Thanks Paula for telling me how to add to my original thread. As a new Fodorite I thought the question was displayed for a while then disappeared and you had to repeat it. I wanted as many replies as possible.DOH!

utahtea

With 17 days you could see SO MUCH more if you didn't spend so much time in Las Vegas. Yes, Valley of Fire State Park is a nice day trip from Las Vegas, but there is so much more in the area to see that is to far from Las Vegas for day trips. I know you said you have been to the Grand Canyon. Have you been to Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park? What about Canyon de Chelly National Monument?

Monument Valley and Lake Powell are to far from Flagstaff to make that a base. You are better off staying at each location to maximize the time to see these locations.

I would leave Tucson and spend one night in Sedona if you want. Of at least drive thought the area and spend the night in Flagstaff. I would then head east on I-40 traveling thought the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert National Monument. Then head up Hwy 191, stopping at Hubbell Trading Post National Historical site and then on to Chinle, AZ and spend the night near Canyon de Chelly. If you can squeeze in the morning half day guided tour, it would be worth it, then head up to Monument Valley. If you don't want to spend the night near Monument Valley then move on to Lake Powell (Page, AZ).

From Lake Powell I would take Hwy 89 to Mt. Carmel Jct. and then take Hwy 9 thought Zion National Park on my way to Las Vegas. If you could squeeze out another night or two on the road, then I would spend one at Bryce and one at Zion.

Utahtea