From san diego to grand canyon, suggestions? Please
 

Hi there, I'm traveling from colombia to san diego on october the 24th to a pediatric congress until the 30th of october. Have some friends in vegas and they've asked me to visit them, i want to go first to the grand canyon via sedona, and maybe, maybe go after vegas to zion national park. My itinerary (driving of course) so far and i would appreciate suggestions from my friends travelers...

Oct 30th: going to sedona after brakfast (around 8). QUESTIONS: best route? Where to have lunch? What to do when i get to sedona? Posibbilities of a short bike trail? Where to have dinner with a beautiful sunset? Where to sleep?

Oct 31st: my birthday!!! Going to grand canyon first thing in the morning (south rim right?); taking a helicopter tour, breakfast, going from view point to view point, having lunch, hiking aprox 3 hours, watching sunset, dinning. Sleeping. QUESTIONS: helicopter tour... Is it worth it? Is there any helicopter tour that lands on the bottom? Where to have breakfast? Best scenic trial to hike in 3 hours? 1 down 2 up. Best view point to watch sunset? Best restaurant to have dinner and celebrate my birthday with my wife? Where to sleep? Not too expensive, just confortable, could be inside the park.

Nov 1st: going to vegas after breakfast, doing some route 66, stopping in hoover dam. QUESTIONS: best route? Where to have lunch in route 66?

That's it!! In vegas for the weekend, just for two days, if i decide to stay for another week, i'll get back to you and ask for suggestions for zion, but that will be another story, or topic...

Thanks a lot!!

Regards from bogota
Jose

Be aware that it is a LONG drive from Sedona to the Grand Canyon (about 2.5 hours), even more so if you drive from Sedona to Flagstaff along route 89A (which I do recommend you doing).



<i>Where to have lunch in route 66?</i>

Any restaurant that you come across that looks interesting.

I haven't been to the Grand Canyon in years so I don't know what "new" stuff is there but I stayed at the Holiday Inn and there was not much choice for eating out.

Grand Canyon NP is a no-fly zone - the entire 200+ mi stretch of the river, both overhead as well as in the canyon, so any helicopter tour you take will be far downstream from the National Park. I'm sure you can still see beautiful canyon views over the Havasupai or other reservation territory, but it will not be the part of the GC that is the National Park.

Best trail for a short hike is South Kaibab trail.

Rt66, you could stop somewhere like Seligman, about 1.5hrs west of Flagstaff and eat at the Roadkill Cafe, or eat ice cream at the place across the street with all the historic cars. I forget the name.

Lodging in the park. Go to www.xanterra.com and choose any of the hotels near the rim. They are all comfortable and well located. No need to be literally right on the rim (El Tovar, Thunderbird, Kachina, or BA). Maswik or the other one are 5min walk from the rim and just fine, if utilitarian.

Best restaurant is the El Tovar. Arizona Room at Bright Angel is ok as well - nothing special, except for the location. But ok food.

Maswik is usually the cheapest option at the Grand Canyon. Nothing fancy but its in the park which is far better than being outside the park in Tusayan.

Best trail on the South Rim is the Kaibab trail - it opens up onto a ridgeline after about a mile and you'll have great views up and down the canyon. Cedar Ridge is a good spot to stop and rest about 1.5 miles down. Bright Angel is ok but the views aren't great. It also has more people on it which can be annoying. If you do South Kaibab plan on starting early as there is virtually no shade and it can warm up quickly, even in late October.

I like the Bright Angel historic cabins, the ones with the private bath. Perfect if there are two of you. Even if they are sold out, you can book a room at Yavapai (can be cheaper than Maswik) and then keep trying on the website.

I agree that South Kaibab is the best spot for a hike. You can go to Ooh Aah point if you don't want to go as far as Cedar Ridge.

The website for Grand Canyon rooms is http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/

You might want to have your dinner at the El Tovar Hotel.
http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/el-...ounge-421.html

Personally I would just bring some stuff with your for the breakfast, my room at Bright Angel had a refrigerator and coffee maker.

Do you know about yelp!
It is a web site and app that people write their firsthand experiences for restaurants and other places. You can see what people say about specific restaurants at the Grand Canyon to get a better idea.

Yelp.com

One such review is for a place named El Tovar, which is pretty famous.

Try that to find a place you might like. The base town of Williams, AZ, is pretty funky with some cool places.

There are but only a handful of places to eat at the Grand Canyon - no need to go to yelp as your choices are limited.

El Tovar
Arizona Room
Cafeteria at Yavapai lodge
Maybe there's also a sandwich shop or take out window at Bright Angel.

Bright Angel Lodge also has a restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not just a sandwich shop. You can get full meals. Not great food, but very serviceable and less expensive than El Tovar or the Arizona Room. Think something on the order of a Denny's, but with better food.

>>Oct 30th: going to sedona after brakfast (around 8). QUESTIONS: best route? Where to have lunch? What to do when i get to sedona? Posibbilities of a short bike trail? Where to have dinner with a beautiful sunset? Where to sleep?<<

It is a 7+ hour drive SD to Sedona. If you leave around 0800 and stop a couple of times for lunch/rest break you won't get to Sedona until after sunset (about 5:30PM in AZ).

Skip Sedona and spend two nights at the Grand Canyon. Better use of your time on this trip.

I stayed at El Tovar last year. Had a lovely meal for dinner and a delicious breakfast next morning. Breakfast doesn't take bookings but you MUST book for dinner or you wont get a table. Its a beautiful old lodge just a few metres walk from the path around the edge. My husband and I enjoyed our overnight stay there. Would always recommend to stay in the village rather than outside of the park. You can be there for sunset, walk into the bar and have a few drinks and go to dinner. In the morning get up at dawn and walk outside to watch the light change the colours of the canyon, go for a walk along the rim then go back inside for breakfast. Better than driving back and forth.

Getting lodging directly at the Grand Canyon can often prove difficult, but there are hotels right outside the park. I've found it be easier to find lodging through the Grand Canyon Railroad in Williams, which sells packages that include a night in the park or at their hotel in Williams. This isn't the best deal, but it's one way to secure a bed at the Canyon itself when everything else is sold out. In any case, make your reservations for the Canyon NOW. You can always cancel if you find something better.

I can't recommend the helicopter tours. They are environmentally insensitive and a real nuisance for those who have come to appreciate nature in peace and quiet. But it's not entirely true that no helicopters land at the bottom of the canyon. On the Hualapai reservation at the WEST RIM, you can actually get their helicopter transfer to the bottom. But this is not the part of the canyon that you know, and it's not quite as scenic as the South Rim. You can also visit the hideously overpriced Skywalk, a transparent walkway over the canyon rim. The tribe built the Skywalk to fund their own tribal priorities, so at least the money is going to a good cause.