Going to try the ever popular Vegas-to-Grand Canyon-to-Bryce-and/or-Zion NP-and-back trip in one week in October. I want to stop at Page, AZ and visit Lower Antelope and Vermillion Cliffs area as well. Any suggestions on:

(1) lodging/restaurants along the way

(2) route

(3) travel time

I'm not getting in to Las Vegas until late so unsure about staying the night there and getting a fresh start in the AM or just heading out of town from the airport. I'm getting in on a Saturday night.

Thanks for any suggestions!

I would suggest staying overnight in Vegas. The trip east from Vegas can be a little scary at night... you have to head over the Hoover Dam, and there a lot of boats and RVs, people get impatient and try passing, even in double yellow line areas - it can be chaotic! So, stay over night in Vegas, get up early, and hit the road. Plus, you'll want daylight so you can see the great scenery!

My suggestion is to take 93 south from Vegas, over the Hoover Dam, and down to Kingman, AZ, where you'll catch 40 east. Then you'll want 64 north to Grand Canyon Village. I would stay overnight at or near the Grand Canyon... Find in-park lodging info on the park website (www.nps.gov) or there are several nice hotel/motel options outside the park.

Spend whatever time you'd like there, but make sure you've got daylight again to head to Page. Fabulous scenery. In fact, I wouldn't make any of these drives at night... You'd miss too much! From Grand Canyon Village, take 64 east to 89 north to Page. Driving along 64 lets you drive along the rim, get out, take pics, etc.

After visiting Page, as silly as it sounds, I suggest backtracking back down 89 (it's less than 30 miles)and getting on 89 alternate route, rather than continuing north to Kanab. The alternate 89 route gets you to Kanab, too, but takes you through the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, which is really cool. You'll join up with 89 again in Kanab, Utah, and then continue north to Bryce. Zion is an easy drive from Bryce, either back down 89 to 9 west, or 14 west to Cedar City and down 15 south to Zion.

At Zion NP, I strongly recommend the Desert Pearl Inn (as would a number of people on this board and Fodor's itself!)... It's beautiful and very reasonably priced.

Final tip - if you're planning on seeing even two of the parks (Grand Canyon, Zion, and/or Bryce), get an Annual National Park pass. It's $20 per entry for each, so at $50, the national park pass is worth it. You can use it at any National Park in the US.

Thanks so much for the detailed suggestions! Sounds like an excellent route and plan. I had looked into several places for lodging in Springdale...one of which was the Best Western I believe...but I'll definitely look into Desert Pearl Inn.

I strongly recommend the Desert Pearl, and also the Spotted Dog Cafe for at least one meal -- we had dinner there and breakfast -- a short walk down the street from the Desert Pearl. Also recommend renting the water shoes and big wooden hiking sticks and hiking into the Narrows. Awesome.

We recently returned from a very similiar trip...ditto to all the above info. We stayed at the Lake Powell Resort in Page - the only one there (I think) that is actually on the water. It was fine - in fact one of the best sunrise pictures we took on the whole adventure was off the balcony there overlooking the lake with mountains in the distance. Drove into town for dinner at the Dam Bar and Grill rather than eating at the Marina. Thoroughly enjoyed the tour at Antelope Canyons.
As you drive out the east end of the GC Park, at least stop at the Cameron Trading Post - if not to eat - it was interesting - in a regional sort of way.
If I'm remembering correctly, the Alt 89 suggested about includes the turn-off for Lee's Ferry near the Navajo Bridge - it was a nice little side trip(1 hour or less, total) and enabled us to actually get down to the Colorado River banks, after seeing it from the top of the Canyon. Bryce was very unique but could be, in a time crunch, be seen in a day, leaving more time for Zion. Of course, I am water-oriented, so I enjoyed the "wetter" sites more than the really dry ones. Enjoy your trip!

Ausc59 and travlsolo2...thanks for the thoughts. In particular, one of the people traveling with has commented that she is a little more "water-oriented", and wanted to balance the desert time with some forests/river/streams.

The Desert Pearl and Best Western appear booked for the 2 days we were going to be in Zion. Any recommendations among the other accomodations?

Flanigan's looked pretty good - that's where the Spotted Dog Cafe is. Also, there's another one right there -- check Tripadvisor.com. I can't think of the name right now...

Just looked -- Cliffrose is the one I couldn't think of.

Cliffrose and Flanigans were also booked, so went with Best Western ZP Inn. Itinerary now looks like:

PM flight into Las Vegas
Vegas to Grand Canyon for--- 1.5 days
Page/Antelope Canyon--- 1 day
Grand Staircase/Escalante/Bryce Canyon via Kanab/Mt. Carmel--- 1.5 days
Zion NP--- 2.5 days

...also...when leaving Grand Canyon, after you've taken 64 east to 89, going north to Page, stop at Cameron Trading Post. It includes a huge gift shop with an interesting combination of good stuff and kitsch, and a restaurant where I had a "Navaho fry bread burger" -- it was really good (I don't usually eat burgers).

*chuckle* Sounds interesting. I don't eat red meat but my fellow travelers will probably try it. Thanks for your help/suggestions!

Philsbert, you may be able to get a Navajo taco with just beans if you ask. It's worth a try - nothing like fresh fry bread!

Lee Ann

We loved the Navajo Tacos. They're very large. 1 is enough for 2 people. We stayed at Lake Powell Resort and liked it a lot. We did the float trip which was interesting and relaxing. We also really enjoyed the Lower Antelope Canyon tour. We drove over to the Navajo grounds and got a tour guide right there.