Grand Canyon South Rim trip help

[jgenie]

I plan to head to Fodor’s but wanted to ask here first. Planning 10 days to see the Grand Canyon, Saguaro, Petrified Forest flying into Phoenix. Please share your best recs. Where to stay? Not to miss? Favorite spots to eat? TIA

[StantonHyde]

At the South Rim, you just pretty much take what you can get. I have stayed at the Maswik Lodge and then another place that I can't remember. They were fairly modern rooms. It's lots of cafeteria dining. I would stay there just long enough to see what you want to see. If you are just hiking the rim, not going into the canyon, you can probably see it all in 2 full days. In Phoenix--do NOT miss the Heard Indian Museum. It is truly amazing.

[mmsmom]

We did this trip about 7 years ago flying in & out of Phoenix. I agree that you only need 2 days at the Grand Canyon. All the in park lodging is booked through 2 websites. There are two hotels that have canyon views but to me that wasn’t critical as we saw the views all day. Most people recommend you are there for 1 sunrise and 1 sunset. We drove to most of the outlooks and spent time in the visitors center. We also hiked a mile or so down Bright Angel trail. If you book & plan way in advance then you can take donkeys down to bottom of canyon (our kids were too young at the time). We did a bike tour through Bright Angel
cycles (I think that’s what is was called - there’s only one bike rental place) and enjoyed it. On the travel sites people say the bike tours are in the woods and you don’t see anything but that was not our experience at all. There was a portion of woods but lots of riding along the rim too.

Our itinerary was roughly:
Day 1: Fly into Phoenix & night one was hotel between Phoenix & Grand Canyon
Day 2: Drove early to Grand Canyon (entered through alternate entrance- not main entrance) and drive right in. Drove to view points, grabbed lunch at market, hiked, checked into hotel. Sunset, dinner.
Day 3: visitor center, bike tour
Day 4: drove to Page,AZ for Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, damn & overnight
Day 5: volcano park w/ painted dessert- can’t remember name then drive to Sedona
Day 6&7 in Sedona
Day 8&9 back in Phoenix bc we have family there

[jgenie]

We did this trip about 7 years ago flying in & out of Phoenix. I agree that you only need 2 days at the Grand Canyon. All the in park lodging is booked through 2 websites. There are two hotels that have canyon views but to me that wasn’t critical as we saw the views all day. Most people recommend you are there for 1 sunrise and 1 sunset. We drove to most of the outlooks and spent time in the visitors center. We also hiked a mile or so down Bright Angel trail. If you book & plan way in advance then you can take donkeys down to bottom of canyon (our kids were too young at the time). We did a bike tour through Bright Angel
cycles (I think that’s what is was called - there’s only one bike rental place) and enjoyed it. On the travel sites people say the bike tours are in the woods and you don’t see anything but that was not our experience at all. There was a portion of woods but lots of riding along the rim too.

Our itinerary was roughly:
Day 1: Fly into Phoenix & night one was hotel between Phoenix & Grand Canyon
Day 2: Drove early to Grand Canyon (entered through alternate entrance- not main entrance) and drive right in. Drove to view points, grabbed lunch at market, hiked, checked into hotel. Sunset, dinner.
Day 3: visitor center, bike tour
Day 4: drove to Page,AZ for Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, damn & overnight
Day 5: volcano park w/ painted dessert- can’t remember name then drive to Sedona
Day 6&7 in Sedona
Day 8&9 back in Phoenix bc we have family there

Thank you for the itinerary. I just started planning. Can you get to the South Entrance from the East Entrance? Do you remember where you stayed in Page?

[jgenie]

At the South Rim, you just pretty much take what you can get. I have stayed at the Maswik Lodge and then another place that I can't remember. They were fairly modern rooms. It's lots of cafeteria dining. I would stay there just long enough to see what you want to see. If you are just hiking the rim, not going into the canyon, you can probably see it all in 2 full days. In Phoenix--do NOT miss the Heard Indian Museum. It is truly amazing.

Thank you! Putting the museum on our list.

[StantonHyde]

Page has a TON of hotels. Every single brand. Just pick one. I really like the Lake Powell Motel--really big rooms with living rooms and kitchen for pretty darned cheap. It's a refurbished apartment/motel that the damn builders used. It doesn't have a full time front desk person, so if you rely on lots of hotel help and free breakfast, this is not the place. But if you want room to spread out, it's great. It is also within easy walking distance of a great BBQ place. Here is one of my trip reports with info on Page: https://www.fodors.com/community/uni...eport-1028459/

You can get to the south entrance from the East entrance of the GC. Depending on when you are at the South Entrance, you may or may not be able to drive your car around. In April, they pretty much had you park in one lot and then take shuttle buses around. (obviously you can drive through the park, but you can't count on stopping in different parking lots. You drive to one central lot, park, and then shuttle around. Or park at your lodging and shuttle around)