Grand Canyon trip - need help planning!
 

Husband and I are planning a trip to see as much as we can of the grand canyon area in 5 days. Would like to spend 1 day/night in las Vegas, then drive the Grand Canyon, then to Bryce Canyon or in whatever order makes the most sense.

Can I do all 3 in 5 days?

Is the North Rim or the South Rim better for the GC? I have no real knowledge of the area. Any suggestions would be extremely helpful. We won't be camping, but would like to do "mild" hikes.

Thanks!

WHat time of the year is this? The North Rim is closed for the winter months.

I forgot to mention - we'll be going mid-late Sept of this year. I haven't made any reservations yet, though!

I think you can do it. Here is what I did:
Overnight in Vegas, leave about 8-9am and drive to Zion. Stay 2 nights at the lodge in the park. Leave 9am and drive to Bryce. We stayed 1 night here but you could just do a few hours in Bryce (take the horse ride to the bottom of the canyon from the lodge area).

Next day we left early and drove to GC North Rim which we loved... we are not big crowd people when it comes to national parks. Spent the afternoon exploring the GC area, light hiking. Next day drove back to Vegas, 5-6 hours as I recall.

So yes you can even do 4 in 5 days, just don't skip Zion. With the above itinerary, the only thing of real value that you may miss is sunrise at Bryce but that takes some dedication to get out of bed in the wee hours.

South Rim is generally regarded as better, more scenic. It would entail less driving, however, to visit the North Rim if you're also headed to Bryce.

Nevertheless, you could still do 1 day/night in Las Vegas, drive to the S. Rim in about 5 hours and stay overnight, then drive to Bryce and spend a day there. You can fit that all into 5 days, but if you go in winter, you'll have to check road conditions ahead of time.