Help planning the Grand Canyon

lisamore28

Hi,

Myself and my friend are planning on taking a trip to the Grand Canyon July 2016 and we are looking to start planing it soon. We have a couple of questions we were hoping past visitors could help us with:
1) Is there any direct buses from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon? We can only find tour buses and they all have a load of stops planned and only actually spend a little time in the Canyon. Our plan is to get to the Canyon and spend two days doing our own thing.

2) If we had to rent a car (both of us are slightly nervous drivers) which is the best company to go with?

3) Which hikes would you recommend? We are both fairly fit but not much actually hiking experience.

4) We were looking into staying one night in the Canyon Village and then the second night down in the actually Canyon after hiking down. Has anyone done this and would you recommend it? Also is it possible to book beds to stay down in the Canyon as we won't have camping equipment with us?

Thanks for any help.xx

iusedtoknow

It's a nice easy drive from Las Vegas to the canyon so rent a car! The freeways are easy going and the roads are well maintained. Americans aren't fast drivers so you should be OK.

Just remember that it is monsoon season in arizona so plan accordingly. The rain can be torrential and the lightening storms magnificent. I was there last year, and just sat in one of the restaurants watching the storms.

Trekking at that time of year is always hard going as it is seeringly hot in the day and freezing at night - especially on the floor. We did this one in November. 4 days and totally worth it. One day to get to the floor and back is not really doable - it's a two day trip whatever way you look at it.

dave2pvd

As iusedtoknow said, go ahead and rent a car. Look on Expedia and see who is cheapest. But read the other threads here to figure out how insurance works.

You'll need to book well in advance if you want to stay in Grand Canyon Village. Definitely worth it though. Once there, you don't need the car, the buses take you wherever you need to go. Bike rental is also an option, although the allowed bike routes are not as extensive as the bus routes.

This website can be your friend: http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

One of the easier (none of them are easy) trails is Bright Angel. Start early in the morning and get down to the canyon floor before the day gets ridiculously hot. Perhaps stay at Phantom Ranch? Again - you have to book months in advance to secure a spot.

InTheTrees

iusedtoknow wrote: »

It's a nice easy drive from Las Vegas to the canyon so rent a car! The freeways are easy going and the roads are well maintained. Americans aren't fast drivers so you should be OK.

This.

If there's one perfect country for nervous drivers its the USA. Very easy. Big wide roads, slow drivers, slow speed limits.

Just dont skimp and get something small, distances are large and its going to be blindingly Hot, so you'll have the A/c on full blast

InTheTrees

dave2pvd wrote: »

One of the easier (none of them are easy) trails is Bright Angel. Start early in the morning and get down to the canyon floor before the day gets ridiculously hot. Perhaps stay at Phantom Ranch? Again - you have to book months in advance to secure a spot.

It can be hard.

The south rim is at 7000 feet which means it can be hard work getting back up again I would imagine. (I've never done it).

InTheTrees

lisamore28 wrote: »

4) We were looking into staying one night in the Canyon Village and then the second night down in the actually Canyon after hiking down. Has anyone done this and would you recommend it? Also is it possible to book beds to stay down in the Canyon as we won't have camping equipment with us?

I believe that almost every variation of camping is catered to in some way, from helicoptering in, to rafting, etc. And I'm sure there must be some company that will provide camping gear, sites, transport etc.

CaliforniaDream

You can rent a car from McCarran airport. They'll have most of the big providers in one area.
If it wasn't a major holiday I wouldn't book the car in advance. You can show up and get quotes there. They'll usually give you a better deal because they know your shopping around and that way to want get hit with any extras you weren't expecting.
The drive is fairly easy to the Grand Canyon. Except for leaving Vegas. We're not slow careful drivers here. The speed limit on the roads you'll take will be 65mph but most people go 75-90mph. Make sure you stay in the far right lane if you're slower.
Plus you'll have drunk drivers on the road all times of the day. Be aggressive and you'll fit right in. 😀
But once you get past Hoover dam it's pretty straight forward. It's a two lane road most of the way and should be quiet enough.
If you google hikes in the Grand Canyon you'll get tons of info. Just remember it will be hot in summer so factor that in. And it gets snow in colder months so make sure you plan you're clothing and water accordingly.

Ponster

lisamore28 wrote: »

2) If we had to rent a car (both of us are slightly nervous drivers) which is the best company to go with?

2. You don't really have a huge choice. Renting from the airport involves getting out there. Go with Hertz @ the Bellagio, probably the only on-Strip car hire place.

InTheTrees

Ponster wrote: »

2. You don't really have a huge choice. Renting from the airport involves getting out there. Go with Hertz @ the Bellagio, probably the only on-Strip car hire place.

Go to Google maps.

Go to las Vegas area. Type in "car rental" and you'll find every major company with multiple offices around Las Vegas.

They're all reasonably similar. I think if you rent from an off airport location it can be cheaper and also the selection is usually smaller so there's more room for being upgraded for free.

Ponster

OP, booked in advance you won't have to worry about the prices. The drive takes approx 4 hours but you can come back a slightly different way and catch some of Route 66. If you can't stay in the Grand Canyon, a hotel right at the park entrance is basic but cheap. Hike down as far as you feel comfortable with. You'll see lot of signs warning you of the cost of a helicopter rescue but just don't try to do too much in the same day.
Don't try to reach Phantom Ranch and climb back out in the same day. It may be possible but won't be a lot of fun.

CaliforniaDream

Ponster wrote: »

lisamore28 wrote: »

2) If we had to rent a car (both of us are slightly nervous drivers) which is the best company to go with?

2. You don't really have a huge choice. Renting from the airport involves getting out there. Go with Hertz @ the Bellagio, probably the only on-Strip car hire place.

InTheTrees wrote: »

Go to Google maps.

Go to las Vegas area. Type in "car rental" and you'll find every major company with multiple offices around Las Vegas.

They're all reasonably similar. I think if you rent from an off airport location it can be cheaper and also the selection is usually smaller so there's more room for being upgraded for free.

There's shuttles running from the airport to the rental area. Takes 5 mins or less to get there. Or getting a cab from the strip will cost $10-$15.

I live in Vegas and have rented cars many times, both on holidays and when I've lived here.
It's definitely not cheaper to rent on the strip (nothing is cheaper on the strip!).
It's always been cheaper for me to just book at the counter. I get an offer from one place, tell them I'm checking out another and they usually offer a lower price. I still check out other booths and end up getting much better deals.

But I understand people get nervous and are happy to pay higher prices for peace of mind in advance.

Wompa1

I'm living in Arizona. I've gone up to the Canyon 3 times so far. The drive from Vegas is pretty easy. There's also plenty of bus services to and from the Canyon that depart from the various hotels on the strip.

July is probably the worst time of year to visit, to be honest. It's going to be very, very hot. The talk about "but it's a dry heat" goes out the window when a storm rolls through.

Also, the Canyon is cool to see. Personally, a day would be enough for me but maybe you're more of the explorer type than I am. I would prefer a day at the Canyon and then a night in Sedona with a day in Sedona too. There's a pretty cool safari place in Northern Arizona too that your might be interested in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHZE3OIj8Y8

dubgirl15

Probably a bit late to this but planning on the same trip for September this year and wondering if you found accomodation there that you could recommend?