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Touring Grand Canyon- South rim or north rim? |
Travel Info HI everyone, I will be arriving in Pheonix by plane around August and plan to hit straight to Grand Canyon and stay there for a night. Any recommendation on how to travel there from the airport? Is Greyhound a good choice? Any recommendation for cheap lodging around the Grand Canyon??? I have check around the website; hotels inside the canyon are 95% booked for the month of August, so any lodging webite where I can stay is welsome. Any must see attractions inside the canyon and any potential tourist traps? Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance Travel Tips During summer, I personally prefer the cooler and less crowded North Rim. But it is actually about 4-5 hour longer drive (not 2) from Phoenix, so if you only have one night, than the South Rim is your best bet. The South Rim is great too and has more attractions and overlooks - but as you can see - it will be crowded. As for how to get there... Greyhound will only take you as far as Flagstaff (1.5 hours from the canyon). In addition to running guided tours, Open Road Tours out of Flagstaff offers a number of straight transportation shuttle options including from Phoenix to Flagstaff and then from Flagstaff to the South Rim (you must have reservations, see link below). There are also small commuter flights from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon airport, but they are way expensive. Your best bet may just be to just rent a cheap economy car (you don't need high clearance or an SUV). Lodging - The lodges inside the park ran by Xanterra are the best place to stay because they are all very nice and most are within easy walking distance of the rim (staying outside the park means you have to go through the line at the gate anytime you want to visit your room). As far as the lodges being all booked up... since you are not going for a while there is a good chance that you can pick up a cancellation. Get a reservation now at another spot as a fall back and then call the Xanterra reservation line every couple of days and see what has become available in the park for your date. The trick for picking up cancellations is to call rather than use the website - it might take a week or two, but the odds of something opening up are pretty good. Bright Angel Lodge is the cheapest, followed by Maswik and Yavapai (Yavapai is a bit further from the rim than the others). As far as other places, outside the park... there are a number of chain hotels just outside the gate at the little tourist village of Tusayan (see link below), but these will likely be booked to. The lodge at the Cameron Trading Post (near the Little Colorado River about an hour east of the park) is nice, a unique interesting place in itself, and tends to fill up slower than the Tusayan spots. If the above fails, you will almost certainly be able to find a room in Flagstaff or Williams. Williams is slightly closer to the canyon, but Flagstaff is much larger and will have a much wider range of hotels and restuarants (it is also more on the direct route from Phoenix). As far as what to see at the canyon... Because it is a National Park, it is ran along pretty strict guidelines and so there is nothing in the park itself that I would call a tourist trap. One great thing to do is ride the free shuttle that runs along the rim from the lodges to Hermit's Rest and back - you can get on and off at a variety of stops and overlooks along the way, so it is a great way to see a lot of the canyon. Mather and Yavapai Points (near the entrance) are very impressive, but parking is real pain there in summer. Another thing to not overlook is the various historic buildings including the grand 1905 El Tovar Lodge (check out the lobby), the nearby 1905 Hopi House gift shop (built to look like an indian pueblo), Lookout Studio, the Kolb Brothers photo studio and house and Hermit's Rest (made to look like a hermit's cave). Many of the buildings were designed by famous architect Mary Jane Colter. Personally, I don't think that you can fully experience the canyon without going at least a little bit down into it and feeling what it is like to be INSIDE the canyon. Just looking from the rim is like standing outside a historic castle or cathedral without going in. You don't have to go very far down (indeed you should not in summer), but just going a couple of switchbacks down the Bright Angel or South Kiabab trails can be rewarding. Always take water with you and avoid the heat of the day. Another thing about the canyon, is to just find a quiet spot and sit and take it all in for a while. The canyon moves at a different pace and rewards contemplation. Walking a little ways along the rim trail away from the lodges and main overlooks will usually find you a place of your own to sit in solitude and relax, feel the breeze and watch the light change in the canyon. Keep an eye out for ravens and condors. Sunrise and sunset are the best times to be 'canyon watching' as the soft light and changing shadows are amazing. There are a number of interesting places in the vicinity and on the way from Phoenix including Sedona/Oak Creek, Flagstaff (several good museums and attractions) and Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments, but given your time limitations you should probably focus your time on the canyon. Have fun! It is an amazing place and worth the effort to get there. Source(s): Arizona resident and frequent Grand Canyon visitor and hiker. Grew up in Flagstaff near the canyon. Xanterra lodging website: http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/... Open Road Tours: http://www.openroadtours.com/shuttles/de... Tusayan Hotels: http://www.grandcanyonchamber.com/busine... Cameron Trading Post and Lodge: http://www.camerontradingpost.com/... Other Travel Tips We stayed at the south rim at the Maswick Lodge not too far from the rim. South rim is where most hotels and park buildings are located. Most trails also start at the south rim. There is more development and shuttle buses, so I think it is the better place to stay. Also, the north rim is another 2 hour or so drive away. It is a great place and you will always remember the first time you see it. Ive been I'm not sure how you get from Phoenix to the Canyon unless you have a car. In which case, I would take the "back" roads and drive up through Sedona. It's a cool town to visit, and the surrounding countryside is awesome. As for lodging, I would look at staying in Williams. You might stand a better chance of getting a room there, and there's a good restaurant there that serves good food at cheap prices (I can't remember the name!). The North Rim is probably less crowded, but it's further away. The South Rim is packed with tourists, and as I recall, there are some spots where only the tour buses are allowed to go. But it is definitely worth it. The view from every pull-off is different; even the first one before you officially enter the park! Try to get out to the western point about sunset - you'll be stunned at the beauty. Have a great trip! good luck finding a place to stay inside the park in August. They say some of them are filled up at least a year in advance. You may want to rent a car in Phoenix and drive up Rt 17 north. Flagstaff may be a good choice to stay if you can't get a room inside the park. There are more choices there. From Flagstaff, head west on Rt 40 for about 25 miles and north on Rt 64 at Williams for about 50 miles. It will take you right inside the park at the south rim. The best way to see everything at the rim is to take the tram. When you go on the tram, ask the driver about going to HOPI point at sunset. He will know about HOPI point. If you can be there at sunset you must not miss it. The view of the canyon at sunset from there is nothing less than spectacular. Hopefully the weather will be clear so you can really appreciate it. It is about a 2 hour ride to Flagstaff from Phoenix and about 1 1/2 hrs from Flagstaff to South Rim of Grand Canyon. AND at least 30 degrees cooler. If you do drive up Rt 17, about an hour north of Phoenix in Rock Springs, is a place called the Rock Springs Cafe. It's a rustic old cafe that has the best homemade pies. It's quite unique. Enjoy your trip! |
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