[spaniard]

Hi all!

First of all thanks a lot for all your help.
I live in Houston, Tx and for the memorial weekend I am going to Vegas yay! It is going to be my first time there so I dont know what to expect. All I know is that its been my dream since I was a kiddo.

I am arriving on sat.10:00 am and leaving on wed 01:00 (tuesday night). Its been a while since I had that much spear time in my hands!!

So basically my trip will focus on Las Vegas and Grand Canyon... but I dont know if there will be enough time to visit Utah parks.. like Zion or Monument Valley (prererably)... or any other recomendations of course.

What do you experienced guys thinK? What would be the "tour" to do? We (my wife and two other friends) will rent a car.

So yes, I am learning photography too and I will appreciate your help with some great cool visual places.

Where is better to rent the car? in airport? o directly to car rental in town?

What is a good nice price hotel?

Any other recommendations?


** promise I will respond to every post until it sinks in the sea of boredom

THANKS A LOTTTT

[jfkIII]

IMO...4 days is way too little time to do Vegas AND The Grand Canyon. Actually, IMO, 4 days is too little to do just Vegas for a first visit.

[spaniard]

I better stay at home them right!
What would you do if you HAD to see vegas and you HAD to see Grand canyon in 4 days?

[jfkIII]

Illegal drugs to stay awake 24/4!

[hockeygirl4]

I agree, if this is your first time here, 4 days on the Strip alone to see everything is going to be just enough, but getting to the sights outside of the city would require more time. Unless of course, you're not a gambler, or enjoy the occasional cocktail, live music, then 4 days would be good to see "some" of the Strip, and maybe 1 or 2 out of town places, but the Grand Canyon would take up a lot of that time. You can do it in 1 day, but it's a loooooooonnnnnnng day. I believe it's 5-6 hours each way just to drive there. Zion is beautiful, as are Red Rock Canyon, and the Valley of Fire. Hoover Dam is something to see as well, all are doable in 1/2 days pretty much.

[jfkIII]

Suggestions: Rent a car...and stay at The Orleans. Ethyl M (as in Mars candy) factory (in Henderson) has a beautiful cactus garden for photography...free of charge.

[spaniard]

thanks hockey.. I am not a gambler and I wont go clubbing. To me 5 hours is long but I have more than doubled them driving to Wichita or Pensacola from Houston... so I love driving plus the scenery there is going to help too!

this is what I might be doing:

Sat. Vegas (day & night)
Sun: 4 or 5 am full throttle to Grand Canyon (leave at dusk) or even stay night there.
Mon: Zion & St. george Vegas night!
Tue: Valley of Fire and Hoover

whatcha think?

[hockeygirl4]

Oh I love driving too, made the drive from Buffalo, NY to move out here, but after driving through Kansas, I about had it with the driving portion. Our last stop was in Flagstaff right near the Grand Canyon, but we didn't bother stopping because I just wanted the driving to end. Now I regret not stopping when I was so close by, but dang that was a long drive from Flagstaff to Vegas.

I would actually flip flop Mon and Tuesdays itineraries though. If you do make that Grand Canyon drive Sunday, I'd stay closer to town on Monday. You may be able to squeeze in Valley of Fire on the way to Utah if you get there when it first opens. It's on the way, and that will leave you more time on Tuesday to do Hoover and see any other places in Vegas you may have missed or want to see.

[Jukesgrrl]

People don't realize how much time it takes to see the Grand Canyon. It's remote -- it's not right beside beside the highway. Even after you get to the general environs, it's a long drive within the park and then you put your car somewhere and make your way on foot to a place where you can view the canyon. It's surrounded by tribal lands, so the closer you get to the park, the less you will see in terms of development (thankfully). Also, since you'll be in Arizona and the state has been closing things right and left (due to budget cuts, supposedly), it might even be hard to find public restrooms on your drive. For instance, there used to be one highway rest stop between Tucson and Phoenix on I10 and it closed this year, so I would think it's the same in the less populated part of the state.

Honestly, if it were me, I'd spend your short time in Las Vegas (if it's always been a dream to go there), see one of the spectacular, scenic places that is closer by, and save the Grand Canyon for when you can devote an entire weekend to it. It's worth it to watch the IMAX movie at the GC and see the site from more than one angle. On the public grounds, there is a service provider with a contract to run food and lodging amenities for the National Park Service and the restaurants range from cafeterias to full-service dining: Grand Canyon tours, accommodation, vacation. Hotels, camping, cabins, lodges. - Dining Overview
They are often crowded, so I would suggest a reservation if you want a sit-down meal. The cafeterias -- and the rest of the park for that matter -- are especially crowded once you get to the time of year when schools are out for summer vacation.

A few of the other restaurants you will see mentioned on the Internet are near the South Rim of the Canyon, but most are in the town of Williams, which is about 50 miles away. I've taken people to see the Canyon -- in and out in a day -- but we were staying in Flagstaff. I suppose it's possible, but I really can't imagine adding a round trip drive to LV to that experience.

If you are wanting to take serious nature photographs, I assume you won't want other tourists in your pictures, so that means you will have to hike to an area that is not the scene of a school field trip or a Japanese bus tour, so that will add even more time to your trip.

[dano]

Sounds like you're going to the North Rim. Since it's higher elevation it has a shorter tourist season. I'd check with authorities to make sure it's even open this early. We've had a cold/wet spring and there's probably still snow on the ground and/or roads.