My mom and I are planning mother/daughter trip to Grand Canyon for my 30th birthday in June. I am paying for the whole trip for my mom. It is her Mothers day, Birthday and Christmas gift for 2008.
Anyway we are taking Amtrak from MA to Flagstaff and staying a night in Flagstaff and then renting a car and going to Grand Canyon. Then we are going to stay in Williams.
This is what what we thinking schedule wise.
Wednesday June 4th-Arrive in Flagstaff about 9pm Stay a night in Flagstaff
Thursday June 5th-(My birthday)Rent a car
go to the Grand Canyon South Rim
Check in to hotel in Williams
Friday June 6th-Go to the West Rim for the Glass Bridge
Saturday June 7th-Go to Sedona and do Pink Jeep tours
Sunday June 8th-Relax at hotel go horseback riding.
Monday June 9th-Going home on Amtrak
Is there anything we must see or must go? Or any must eat places? I would like to go to a good place to eat for at least my birthday. We have to get the train back in the middle of the night I think we have catch at like 4am or something like that so I think we want to relax and the hotel has horseback riding right there.

What a great gift--time together and in a beautiful location! I love that area of the country.

I have a few suggestions. First would be to stay within the park at the Grand Canyon if there is space available in any of the lodging there. Look at Xanterra.com website for availability and check soon as June is so popular. The lodging within the park is quite reasonable and it's so nice to stay and eat in the park rather than in the very non-descript town of Williams. We've stayed at both Bright Angel cabins and Yavapai and enjoyed both, though if Bright Angel has availability I'd get that first as it's closer to everything. Have also stayed in Williams one trip and would not do that again after experiencing lodging in the park.

They have a pretty decent restaurant, AZ room I think it is, at Bright Angel, but if you want really nice ambience, go for El Tovar restaurant. Even if you don't do their restaurant...do take a walk through the public spaces/lobby. Very nice.

Next suggestion is to skip the glass brdige. It is a LONG hard trip from the main Grand Canyon park and very expensive. I've read nothing but bad reviews from people who have done the trip. It seems every step of the way costs you something...bus ride onto the reservation from a central "collection" point, then the bridge itself, per person, is quite expensive. I'd save that money and spend it on a meal at El Tovar instead, and take that day and see the various lookouts along the drive along the Grand Canyon rim (within the park). A bus makes the travel easy from observation point to observation point. See the canyon at sunrise and sunset if possible.

Thrird suggestion involves mode of transportation...taking the plane instead of train, unless you really like train travel and just want that expeience. I think it'd be a long hard trip from MA and not much, if any, less expensive than flying from Bradley or Boston, or even Albany, whichever you are closest to, to either Phoenix or Las Vegas and renting the car there and driving. I've only flown into Phoenix for our trips to the GC. It's a 4 hour drive from that airport. I've read of many others flying into Las Vegas instead. Vegas has so much competition for flights, you might find you can get a better airfare flying in there. At any rate, unless you just really like trains, I'd fly instead.

We've enjoyed several trips to Sedona, but have always hiked and never done the Pink Jeep tour. Whatever you do, you'll be amazed at that area. It's spectacular.

I think it sounds like an awful long train ride for the relatively short time you're out there. I agree with most of what OO said.

Skip Williams and the Skywalk and give yourself a night at the Grand Canyon and an extra day for either Sedona or the Grand Canyon. If you can fly it would give you a lot more time, and possibly/probably even be cheaper than Amtrak.

Agree with the other posts, spend at least one night at the canyon instead of Williams, preferrably at a lodge on the rim (or at least near it) ... the canyon is at its best at sunrise and sunset.

Also, skip the Glass Bridge, which is the # 1 tourist trap in Arizona, a real rip-off. An extra day in Sedona would be much more enjoyable.

Bill

Ditto. Skip the "glass bridge"---you will be very disappointed, expecially after seeing the "real" canyon at the south rim.

I would strongly suggest you stay inside the park instead of Williams. You could spend 2 nights there---the 5th and 6th, and then 2 nights at Sedona. That would make a nice trip.

There is still availablity at two of the lodges inside the park on those nights (Maswik and Yavapai). Book at

www.grandcanyonlodges.com

Train is cheaper then plane. Plus the train I can walk around which is important since I am 6'1" and everytime I get on plane I seem to have more knee problem when get off then when I got on. We might add a extra day or two but not sure yet.
I will have to look into a night at Grand Canyon. I am rethinking the glass bridge now we are thinking of Sedona instead for extra day.

We oringinally were going to stay in Williams but decided to stay at the Canyon (at Maswick Lodge). We were so happy we did! We got to see both the sunrise and sunset plus we were able to hike both days. You don't want to be rushed- there is so much to take in!

The lodging is very reasonable and the food is also reasonable.

I agree with all the suggestions just dont cut your stay short in Sedona its well worth more than 2 nights stay. Lots of well run B&B's in the area.
www.bbsedona.net

My mom really wants to go the Pink Jeep tour in Sedona. I think we are think two days each at both Sedona and Grand Canyon. I am still working out all the details. So any suggests for what we should do let me know. We discuss going to the glass bridge we decided not since you have to pay for every little thing. So any suggests let me know if there some we that is a must do so I can add it my list of things to see.

Man that train trip sounds really long. I totally agree with others. Shoot for overnighting in GC and skip williams and the glass bridge. You might want to consider a helicopter tour over the canyon. It is expensive, but pretty spectacular. If your knee doesn't bother you very bad when walking, you might want to consider a partial decent into the canyon or at least a rim hike. Remember coming back up is the hard part. You will love GC and Sedona. Have fun!

You indicated that you are committed to taking the train from Massachusetts to Flagstaff, but if I could make one suggestion to you, it would be to fly from Providence, Rhode Island, on Southwest Airlines to Phoenix. There are several flights every day, including a non stop flight. I, too, enjoy train travel, but quite frankly, I would be willing to predict that once you are at the Grand Canyon and also in Sedona, you are going to wish you had spent the travel time savoring the colors at the canyon, enjoying walks along the rim, sitting with your mother on a bench above the switchbacks of the Bright Angel Trail as hikers arrive from their trek into the canyon, walking out to Shoshone Point, getting up before dawn to see the sun come up. If you go online and check the prices for flights and sign up for the Southwest emails about special rates, you should be able to get a decent price for the plane tickets.

Just my thoughts...

The lovely place to stay in Sedona is The Enchantment Resort. It is located outside of town with beautiful facilites and a great spa and hiking trails. If you don't stay there, their Sunday brunch is supposed to be spectacular. Also, have breakfast at The Coffee Pot, cheap, good, local. I would also vote to stay in the Park. I thought there were horseback rides at the Grand Canyon and not only down to the Canyon floor.

What a great idea!!

If you do want a nice dinner within the park, go for the Arizona Room (usually no reservation needed) or El Tovar (reserve in advance). Both offer great canyon views; the Arizona Room isn't as pricey/upscale as El Tovar, but the people-watching is fabulous.

If you can't get a reservation at El Tovar, you can eat in the Arizona Room and grab a drink at the El Tovar bar to soak up some of the atmosphere.

Sedona - the Pink Jeep tour is great. Hubby and I did it, and it was a trip highlight. If you want a real splurge meal in Sedona, try El Portal. It's an inn, and they only serve to the public on the weekends. Spendy, but totally worth it. Small, intimate dining room. Local wines. Amazing food and service. You MUST reserve, though. Sedona is also a great place for massage/spa activities, as well as hiking the red rocks. (Bell Rock is a fairly easy hike.)

Have fun!

I have check airline tickets and they are more then the train. Plus we have taken the train from LA to Phila. It was fun for us. We are near the border of NY so we closer to Albany then Boston. So going to Boston or Providice, or CT would be harder and then we would to drive from either Phonix or Las Vegas. Where Amtrak we can leave for our own city. It sound long but it is not that bad. Plus we get to see the country and scenery
This is the timeline:
June 2nd
leave hometown at 3:40
arrives in Albany at 5:40
Leave for Chicago at 7:05
June 3rd
arrives in Chicago at 9:45
leaves for Flagstaff at 3:15
June 4th
arrives in Flagstaff 8:50
We are planning on getting a sleeper.

I forgot to do the way back which isn't bad either. I don't want to plane from CT or RI or Boston because who want to drive home 2-3 hours home after being on the plane for
June 9th
Leave Flagstaff at 5:11am
June 10th
Arrive in Chicago at 3:20pm
Leave for Albany at 10 pm
June 11th
Arrive in Albany at 3:40
Leave Albany at 4:10
Arrive home at 5:30
We are not worried about the layover in Chicago because we know good pizza place down the street from the station we go eat at. Plus it might be a short if we run late.

Hi Julia,
In your original posting, you wrote:

"Anyway we are taking Amtrak from MA to Flagstaff and staying a night in Flagstaff and then renting a car and going to Grand Canyon. Then we are going to stay in Williams."

I interpreted MA as meaning Massachusetts so I apologize for the mistake. I didn't realize that you live close to Albany, which is obviously a long haul from Boston or Providence!

Just to clarify a previous posting about the canyon... there are no horseback rides into the canyon from the South Rim.

Have a great time on your trip!
Jane

I leave in Massachusetts on the western side and I am only about hour away from Albany and about 2-3 hours from Boston.

I mean I live in MA