Hi. You all are so helpful, so thought I’d inquire here!
We live on the east coast and have never been to Arizona and the Grand Canyon. Thinking of planning a trip for a week in late May when daughter arrives home from college.
Can you tell me if I am on the right track? From my research it seems best to fly into Phoenix, stay the night, then I was thinking drive to Flagstaff and use Flagstaff as our home base. Visit Sedona on the way and do other day trips from Flagstaff, including the Grand Canyon. Then drive back to Phoenix. Does that make sense? If you have any other suggestions/tips/places to stay/places to go would love to hear! (Trying to avoid the heat in May so thinking this area of Arizona would be best for us.)
Your plan makes sense, but I’m a bad one to ask as I found the Grand Canyon to be just a big underwhelming hole in the ground. The coffee table book was better. If I were flying in to Phoenix, I’d just spend the whole week at The Phoenician and enjoy Scottsdale.
Another suggestion to reconsider the Grand Canyon. You’ve seen it in pictures and on TV in commercials for many things. It’s neat to see in person, but if you can only go to one spot, consider Utah with Bryce, Zion, Arches, Capital Reef, etc. Bryce, esp, was a stunner for our family from the east.
ETA: That order for our preferences in Utah. Bryce and Zion can easily be done together. Arches is a little more driving and we passed Capital Reef along the route we opted for. We went to Zion, then Bryce, from the Grand Canyon if I recall correctly, but it’s been a decade so my mind might be a little off.
If you want an old world experience the Hassayampa Inn in Prescott has a hand crank elevator and the peacock room restaurant. Used to be high end in an old western way.
Phoenix and Flag are right but you can also stay by the south entrance. Plenty of hotels near the Canyon. A few mins away. You used to be able to fly commercially there although it doesn’t appear so now.
But you can fly American and United to Flagstaff. But what you described is most common.
Btw petrified forest/painted forest . Less than 2hrs east of flag is worth a visit too if u have time. And as a city to explore Tucson easily beats phoenix, also with lots of nature. But if u like to hike, camelback mountain near phoenix is a short but nice hike…a bit steep.
We stayed inside the park twice (once north rim, once south rim) and it is really peaceful after everyone has gone home for the day. The accommodations and food are nothing special, but the peace and quiet is really nice. You can hang out at the rim near dark or before the crowds arrive.
I’ve been wanting to do a similar trip, esp bc it would involve a lot of outdoor activities like hiking. Everything I’ve read says that for the average family GC is really just a one day thing, so you’d want to have plenty of other day trips or excursions/activities planned. We are thinking about a road trip that starts in SantaFe, then Sedona, then GC, then maybe up to Bryce Canyon and fly out of SLC.
Just before the pandemic, we went to Vegas as a family. We are not gamblers at all (and didn’t even play a slot machine while there) but we loved the shows and restaurants and Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon. I’d consider another trip that stretched from Vegas to Phoenix and included GC.
So much to do there…in Phoenix as well as around. Just in Phoenix….go to the MIM (Museum of Instrumental Music). Even if you aren’t a musician, you are almost guaranteed to love this one. It has AC…so heat won’t be an issue. Go to the Desert Botanical Gardens. If they are doing docent led tours, go to the first one in the morning. It won’t be that hot, most likely. The Phoenix Art Museum is free on Wednesday nights.
If you are going to Sedona, and Flagstaff…I think you can fit Jerome in there too. Neat artsy town.
There is good hiking almost everywhere if you like that.
Re: the Grand Canyon. I saw it once…and loved getting to see this expanse in person. Also did a mule or horse (I forget which) ride down and back…and thought it was terrific. I’m glad I did it once…so if you haven’t, you might want to.
You could also venture to Tucson and see it…very different from Phoenix.
We are most familiar with Page, AZ, considered to be in the center of the “Grand Circle.” Many people will rent a vacation rental home in Page for a week and do day trips to the Grand Canyon (2.5 hours to the North or South Rim), Bryce, Zion, Moab, etc. Interspersing that with local days-Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Buckskin Gulch, Lake Powell/Rainbow Bridge, etc.
We flew into Phoenix, day in Sedona, night in Flagstaff where we met our 4 day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon (hiked out Bright Angel Trail). Horsehoe Bend and Antelope Canyon on the way to Bryce for a couple days, then Zion for a couple days. Flew out of Vegas. Fantastic trip! We’ve also been to Petrified Forest NP and loved it! Can’t wait to go back and see Moab, Canyonlands, Arches, etc.
It’s about 1.5 hours from Flagstaff to GC South Rim, and you need to get there as early as possible to beat the crowds. If your family is good with waking up early, then Flagstaff is fine. We’ve stayed in Williams (about 1 hour away) and Tusayan is even closer. I agree with @ChoatieMom that GC can get tedious and underwhelming . I grew up in AZ - and for me, one day - a morning to evening at GC on the South Rim tram ride is plenty good, cause the next day, it’s the same thing. If you’re planning some adventurous GC trip though - then that’s a totally different itinerary.
Sedona is beautiful - and Monument Valley is also interesting - about 2.5 hours from Flag. Petrified forest too.
Just saw the suggestion to Bryce and Zion - yes, absolutely - but it will be a lot of driving from GC to Bryce and Zion, because you need to go east and then west. Not sure you will have time for that and head back to Phoenix. However, you can plan to land in Phoenix and fly out of Vegas. For a first timer to this area, my suggestion would be to Phx > Sedona > GC > Bryce > Zion > LV
You could spend some time in Scottsdale , Phoenix etc- but it will be indoors visiting museums or shops, or in a pool like a crocodile, because it already hits 100+ by May. And Tucson is lovely but the heat will make it difficult to enjoy the outdoors. Best time for Phx/ Tucson etc is November - March
We went to the Grand Canyon last February as a stop on our skiing road trip. H and I had both been before many years ago and 1 day was good for us. We stayed in Flagstaff. We also drove through Monument Valley twice on that trip and really enjoyed it.
Eons ago, we visited Grand Canyon as a day trip from Phoenix. The best thing we did was pay for a very expensive (for us at that time) plane flight through the canyon. It was an amazing experience.
Gee, I had no idea the Grand Canyon has detractors here. I think the plan to fly to Phoenix and then drive to Flagstaff is great. From Flagstaff, in addition to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, you can visit Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon and Wupatki. The Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff is worth considering. And I second the recommendations that while in Phoenix you should check out the Musical Instrument Museum and the Desert Botanical Gardens.
We are East Coasters (tho my H is from California). The summer before my oldest left for college, our family of six flew to Vegas then drove from there to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and spent the night in a cabin on the rim. It was fantastic! No crowds on the north rim - spent two days there doing several hikes. From there, we drove back to Utah where we met dh’s brother who drove from his home in So Cal with his family to meet us at Zion. We spent six days exploring Zion, Bryce and the surrounding area. Dh and I had both been to AZ/southern rim before we had kids so decided to go someplace different on this trip. Our kids, all teenagers, had an amazing time. The northern rim doesn’t get nearly as many visitors as it is “off the beaten path” but it is just as beautiful.
I think the north rim is so much better and less crowded. It opens in mid May and is ideal at that time of the year, when Phoenix is getting hot. It is better to fly into Las Vegas to get there. You can easily combine it with Zion, Bryce and (my personal favorite) Capitol Reef. The lodges are great if you can get a reservation, though it might be tough to find one only a few months out.
In particular, dine at the North Rim lodge (reservations needed), this was the view:
we did a road trip from the midwest to san diego; flew back.
stopped in utah at some parks and the Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon is amazing and magnificent. But, for us, we enjoyed the utah parks much more. the hiking and variety was just . . . different i guess. At the grand canyon, we just walked along the ridge, with everyone else. (i’m sure there are more options!).
I second everyone above who says fly to phoenix; hit the GC, then Utah Parks, the fly out of vegas. If you are going to that much work to hit the SW US; enjoy Utah. it was wonderful.
we all thought that southern utah and northern arizona were very “other worldly” - with the red rocks formations just appearing out of no where. It looked like what we’d think Mars would look like. cool.
If you want to go big, on another trip, Yellowstone/grand tetons is THE BEST OF ALL.
