Itinerary for Vegas - Phoenix
 

Hello everyone,

We are planning a trip between Las Vegas and Phoenix for March 28 - April 3th. We need to end up in Phoenix by Friday, April 3. Initially we were going to fly to Phoenix but I think it makes more sense to fly to Las Vegas and start there. We have no interest in spending time in Las Vegas, it's just a starting point.

Is it going to be too cold at the end of March to go to Bryce Canyon? Should I eliminate something from the itinerary and add a the time to something else? We don't need to hike all the trails in every park but do want to get a good sense for the things we see.

Thank you!

Here is my itinerary so far:

Friday, March 27th - Las Vegas - Arrive Late. Stay for the night.

Saturday, March 28 - Drive to Zion Nation Park in the morning on the 28th.

Saturday, March 29th - Zion National Park

Monday, March 30 - AM drive to Bryce Canyon. Spend the day hiking in Bryce Canyon. Overnight near Bryce Canyon.

Tuesday, March 31 - Drive to Antelope Canyon, horseshoe bend. Spend the night in Page, AZ.

Wednesday, April 1 - Drive to Grand Canyon. Spend the day at Grand Canyon. Over night in Grand Canyon.

Thursday, April 2 - AM drive to Sedona, AZ. Spend the day around Sedona. Overnight in Sedona.

Friday, April 3 - AM head to Phoenix.

Make sense to me. When you arrive at Vegas, look for lodging on the north side of town, with access to 15 north.

If it is not sunny, Antelope Canyon will be disappointing, otherwise when the sun is reasonably high and horseshoe bend is best in the morning.

Looks like a nice trip. I would keep Bryce in your plans because it's beautiful in the winter but it's more than likely you won't be able to do much hiking...you might be able to do snow shoeing though. You can rent them just outside the park. The sunsets in the canyon way before it sets on the rim because the canyon faces east. This works in your favor. You can watch the sunset and still do some driving towards Page. Maybe stay in Kanab. Another option would be to spend three nights in Zion and make Bryce a day trip from Zion. This way you could choose which day would be the better one for Bryce incase the weather was going to be bad. And if the weather was bad both days in Bryce you could just spend another day in Zion.

Upper Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend will take a total of 3 hours tops. There are also Glen Canyon Dam tours and even short boat tours on the lake.

The weather could be unpredictable at this time of the year so be flexible on your plans.

Utahtea

Thank you so much for your responses!

Utahtea, thank you for reassuring me about Bryce Canyon. I was really looking forward to it, so now we will definitely go. I understand about being flexible, just not sure how to make that flexibility work with lodging plans.

Sounds like we may be should may be skip Antelope Canyon on this trip and instead add a day to Zion or Sedona. Would you recommend a 3rd full day in Zion or a 2nd day in Sedona?

A second day in Sedona.

Sedona is beautiful but I prefer the national parks so if I only had a short time and I would spend it in the parks.

If you leave Bryce area early enough you might be able to fit in the upper slot canyon tour in Page before moving on to the Grand Canyon. Since you will be arriving late to the Grand Canyon, maybe spend the extra night there. That would give you a full day to see all the over looks and maybe walk along the canyon rim. If not the Grand Canyon then I'd spend the extra night in Zion.

Utahtea

I totally agree with utahtea, spend the extra time in the parks.