Driving Los Angeles to Grand Canyon
 

Dear.

I´m going to rent a car around 5 p.m in LAX and would like to drive to near Grand Canyon.

What about the route, its good for a 7 hours drive for 2 persons? i would like to sleep in Willians, AZ.

Many tnks.
Mr Juliano

That's the peak of LA rush hour so there is no "fast" route. Of the many possible routes I'd probably take the 405 to the 5 to the 210 and across to I-15 and connect with I-40 in Barstow for the trip to Williams. With good conditions it is about a 7 hour drive, but expect it to take longer starting at that time of day.

105 to 605 to 210 to 15 to 40

May I suggest that you spend the night in the LA area and drive the next day.
You will be passing through some scenic areas at night and you will be dead tired when you arrive in Williams, It is also likely that you will spend the first two hours sitting in traffic.

I second logandog's recommendation, especially if you've just flown into LAX. There is a section of I-40 between Barstow and Needles that is two hours of *nothing*. It's really easy to get sleepy, and you wouldn't want to get into an accident.

At most, I would drive to Barstow or maybe Victorville your first day, get a good night's sleep, then head to Williams the next day.

Lee Ann

I´m really looking a way to arrive in Grand Canyon in the time to make a good tour around it.

i was planning in stop and sleep around 200 miles from LA and get up early to arrive in Canyon early as possible.

My wife can drive too, so i think that she could helps me.

after canyon i´m going to Levas, so i can sleep in Williams and drive to Vegas in Morning.

Some tips?

Many tnks again,
Juliano.

The best tip so far is NOT to drive out of LAX at 5pm - unless it's a weekend. Traffic is extremely heavy, a lot of stopping and very little going, so you're really better off getting something to eat at the airport and getting a bit of rest, THEN rent the car at a later hour, say, around 7pm. Traffic will still be heavy then, but much more manageable. You are really not saving time by starting out at 5pm. If your plan is to arrive in Williams at midnight, then you will not be able to make it.

The best place to stop, if you want to stop at midnight is Kingman, Arizona. This will place you with about a 3 hour drive the next day to the Grand Canyon.

Otherwise, start out from LAX at 7pm and get into Williams about 2 or 3am in the morning.

Whatever you do, please don't start out from LAX at 5pm!

My plan is to start around 7 p.m. I will arrive around 4 pm. in a flight from Mexico, so i think that i´ll lose around 2 hours pass trough Immigration, luggage's areas and Alamo.

Is it easy to get a motel or hostel near Kingman without reservation?

tnks again.

I would think there would be rooms available in Kingman. There are many motels close to I-40 and some older motels,not luxury, left from the route 66 days in downtown.

Tnks.. Now i´m going to get the newest maps to my GPS and relax for this nice trip..

Do you guys have some route to get out from LA or there is just one way?

While I am one to say - go for it!! - I think you are getting some good advice about chilling at the airport for a couple hours - having something to eat - and then picking up the car and heading out after 7 PM to avoid most of the rush hour traffic.

If you did get as far as Barstow - or if you are feeling spry and keep going to say Kingman - that's doing pretty good and the next day - it's a relatively short shot into the GC.

see: http://www.travelmath.com/driving-ti...o/Grand+Canyon

BTW - I always - repeat - always recommend you carry some old fashioned paper maps too - just in case the GPS malfunctions -which has happened to travelers.

Here is the Mapquest page - http://www.mapquest.com/ and enter Los Angeles Airport and Grand Canyon for a detailed route.

Basically - you head east on the 105 - eventually taking the 15 north - and then hooking up with the 40 east.

Many tnks my friend. i prefer paper maps than gps, in some place in Brazil GPS isn't works very well, so always have a good map in my hands to help me.

This week i´m going to figure out every route near Los Angeles.

see ya.

Would be: 105 East to 605 North to 210 East to 15 North to 40 East to Williams.

What day of the week? You can fly LAX to Las Vegas for $60 each way. It is a little over 3 hours from Las Vegas to Williams.

The rental cars are much cheaper in Las Vegas. If you do rent at LAX drive no farther than Primm to stay at Buffalo Bill's.
Primm is exit 1 in Nevada. It is better than anything in Victorville, Barstow or Baker.
I take it that you are coming from overseas and have to clear customs at LAX.

You'll be driving through quite a bit of desert, so ask for a car with low mileage. I once had a rental car break down in New Mexico out in the middle of nowhere - it's really no fun. Besides which, you'll be traveling at night.

Have a good flashlight, bring sufficient water, and some sunscreen. You may want to have a hat and some sunglasses also. Wear sturdy shoes.

Always have at least a quarter tank of gas - there aren't that many gas stations out in the desert.

Have a great trip! :)

Good advice to always be prepared when driving longer distances. We always take a small cooler - which we load with water/beverages/snacks/ice - and keep in the back seat - under a couple towels (sweat shirts, whatnot) - to not only further insulate it - but keep it quiet while driving. I would suggest you look for a large grocery store near LAX to load up with the essentials - which you will also enjoy the rest of your trip. Also suggest you get some triple antibiotic cream to put on if you get a scratch/cut. Sometimes - the drier desert type air can encourage infections.

And I don't like to get much below a half of a tank of gas, although there are usually gas stations along the freeways. In the more remote areas - plan accordingly.

With the good mileage cars get today - you can probably average 25 mpg (US miles per gallon - not Kilometers per Liter :) ) - and go some 200 miles before getting very much into the lower half of the tank.

Also good advice to check the mileage on the rental car. The major rental car companies usually have a newer fleet - but sometimes you never know when you might draw one with more miles.

And here is the website I always first check when renting a car: www.carrentals.com,

I agree with tomfuller, get an inexpensive flight to/from LA to Las Vegas, get your inexpensive rental car in Vegas (the difference in cost of car and gas may be the same as the cost of the flight) find an inexpensive hotel in Henderson and head to Grand Canyon in the morning. This makes much more sense, since you are planning to come to Vegas after GC.

Have a great trip.

Uhh Many tnks for the tips.

I did my rent reservation last week, so it´s late to try get a car in Vegas.

My plan is to stay 1 full day in Canyon, sleep near Williams, get up early and drive to Vegas, stay 3 days, after Vegas drive to San Francisco pass-through Death Valley and Yosemite.

I´m going to take some notes with this informations.

many tnks again.