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Sorry, I mean fly into Las Vegas from Ohio, avoiding Denver altogether.
I don't think there is that kind of airport at Las Vegas. Albuquerque would be the closest for non-commuter commercial flights, as far as I know. Last time I looked there were commuter connections to Santa Fe's airport via one airline.
We were just at the Grand Canyon a few weeks ago (car trip this time) and I agree
with Jaxart's comments about watching it over the course of a day.
HOWEVER, at this time of year, the South Rim where 99% of the people go (including us),
is going to be a mob scene. It could take hours to get to the main areas from satellite parking
areas via shuttle bus. We were there the week before Memorial Day when kids were
still in school and even then the nearby parking areas were 3/4 full by 10am.
Friends just returned a week ago from the far more primitive North Rim and said it
was much better both visually and in terms of fewer tourists but it would take a lot
more time to get to and see.
Regardless of your start and stop points, I strongly recommend considering different origination and departure airports. For the durations involved, the one-way rental surcharges will be reasonable if you shop around.
Trick for oneway car rental: Use Kayak and pick a city near (but not the city you land in) for your car pickup. Kayak assumes you mean the airport rental car facility, when the rental car place in the landing city 5mi down the road costs half as much. Since you'd be in a shuttle for 10min anyway, this way you just have to shell out $20 for the crosstown shuttle (or less for the mass transit if it's worthwhile) and save a couple hundred with no loss in time.
DEN and SLC or DEN and LAS seem like good anchor points for this trip (Southwest and a few other carriers won't penalize you for booking separate oneways like they used to). Think of it as getting two bonus days on your vacation, allowing you to branch out a bit more on the stretches you don't skip, and take things at a vacationers' pace, not a Homer Simpson (out of the way, jerk***!) pace.
I'm beginning to realize we would need to do variations of this trip for the next 20 years to even begin to scratch the surface of all there is to see out there!
Pretty much, that was one reason for us moving the the Southwest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbaker79
Anyway, I am tweaking the route and will see if I can work in some of your suggestions. Some people on the Colorado forum have suggested we fly into Las Vegas and do a shorter loop that, as far as Colorado is concerned, would only incorporate the southwestern corner.
The Grand Canyon is certainly worth visiting, and it is large with various parts (South Rim, North Rim to begin with). We have been six times during the 1972-84 period. I imagine it has gotten more crowded since then but there are plenty of "uncrowded areas". For us the Bryce Canyon National Park was a spectacular area as well as the Zion National Park, both in Utah. Our trips to the Grand Canyon area all originated from Las Vegas, Nevada or several points in Arizona.
I have had too many good friends who are traveling fanatics who keep recommending various parts of the Lake Powell area (which includes: The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley and ). You might look over this site: Page - Lake Powell Guide - The Official Lake Powell Guide
Mike, it does sound like the North Rim is the way to go. I will have to see how that fits in with the route.
Zoid, appreciate the tip on car rentals. I originally planned this as a one-way trip but the cost was something like 3 times higher. I don't mind paying a little extra but 3 times? No. But I will check into your suggestion.
Poncho, actually my wife had a job offer in Colorado and we were very close to moving out this summer. For many reasons that I won't get into, we chose to stay in Ohio, but I definitely see why, for adventure lovers such as ourselves, the idea of moving out there is very appealing.
Did a little searching on Kayak. Renting from Denver to Las Vegas: $110/day. Renting from Aurora CO to Las Vegas: $74/day.
If you reverse the trip and rent the car in Henderson NV and return it to Denver Intl, it goes down to $59/day. (Ever since the Delta/Northwest merger, airline ticket prices between Denver and Ohio started creeping up; Vegas may actually be cheaper for you so don't count it out yet).
(This is for late July, this year, 2 week rental).
BTW, if you have an entertainment book, write down Kayak's best suggestion, use the appropriate coupon in the entertainment book, and book on the best option's company's own website using the coupon, and it will cost you even less (sometimes even before the coupon!).
There's so much to see out here that at some point you just have to accept that
one lifetime will never be long enough to see everything that you "Must See".
Just listen to your heart... if Area X really appeals, do it. If Area Y does not, skip it.
Lost Wages (the Nevada one) doesn't do much for me so I just rode through it but
other people would have found it fascinating and spent days there. I was blown
away by the Petrified Forest shooting hundreds of photos of crystallized logs, other
people wouldn't be so affected.
The one thing to remember is that most of it will still be here long after we're gone
so don't think you have to cram everything into one trip. We'll let you come back..
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