driving to Grand Canyon from strip??

Hello! I was wondering if anyone has rented a car and driven from the strip to the Grand Canyon...if so, can you please tell me:

a) Where did you rent the car from/how much did you pay for the day?

b) How long is the drive?

c) What is the drive like...scenic, boring?

d) Are there places to stop along the way...restaurants and such?

e) Was it worth it??

driving to Grand Canyon from strip??

It is recommended that a trip to the GC be an overnight trip. It is 4 1/2 to 5 hour drive one way that will depend on traffic (Hoover Dam later in the day can get backed up). Rental car rates are all over the map so best to check a site like Dollar.

Personally we rented a car from Hertz at the Wynn left around 9:30 went to the Hoover Dam did a mini tour and then continued on stopped for lunch and got to the GC around 5:00, stayed overnight at the Best Western.

Is it worth it? If you only are in Vegas a couple of days I would say no, if you have the time there is something about being able to say you saw the GC.

M

driving to Grand Canyon from strip??

LAst time I took 7 in a minvan left Vegas at 7am stopped at Hoover Dam then stopped fro brunch about 10ish. Got to canyon noon spent a few hours in various places got snack lunch and drinks and headed back. Had dinner at the Hacienda near hoover dam fanatatsic $3.49 fir the dinner buffet and it was on a par with MGM even had carving station. Its a long tiring but lovely day.

Only two towns of any size on the way.

Kingman and Williams, at the turnoff to the GC.

Pretty boring desert after you leave the dam area.

It is a VERY long day trip, you want to do this as an overnight. And it is tough to get a room in the GC itself. Most of the time you end up in Tusayan (gateway town) or back at Williams.

A couple little rt.66 towns on I40, but not much else.

Oh, and Grand Canyon Caverns are a dry cave about 25 miles off the freeway. Good for kids

THANK YOU so much to everyone for replying to my post! You have all given me very useful information!!! Thank you!

Whether it is worth it depends on what you like. If natural wonders appeal to you, then definitely it is worth your time. Pictures show how beautiful it is, but can%26#39;t convey the sense of awe one feels when at the canyon.

Along the way is the Route 66 town of Seligman which is a fun stop. The Snow Cap Drive In is a funky blast from the past. www.theroadwanderer.net/RT66seligman.htm

A visit to the South Rim is best done as an overnight trip. Try to stay in the park http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/ or at nearby Tusayan.

Be sure you go to Grand Canyon National Park. An area know as Grand Canyon West is heavily advertised in Las Vegas. It is not in the national park, doesn%26#39;t have the awesome scenery of the park and is expensive to visit. Many TA reviews of it are negative.

We left in the morning drove to Kingman (went shopping for Harley mother road t shirts) and then took the Route 66 (just had to say we had been on it).

We had lunch at the Roadside Kill cafe at Seligman and then ice cream at the Snowcap (both famous route 66 places). This is the longer route and we did not hurry, stopped anywhere we fancied.

We arrived at the canyon in the afternoon, we had booked a hotel on the canyon rim through xanterra website (this is the official GC lodging site) a long time in advance as we wanted to stay in the national park.

It was incredible to see the sunrise and sunset and if you have enough time in your holiday it is worth it. They had to drag me away.

We did not do Route 66 on the return and we were back in Vegas in about 4 and half hours. Only stopped once for a burger.

Couldn%26#39;t tell you the cost of the car because we rent from UK for the entire.

Did I think I think it was worth it? Hell yes!!

Would I do it again? Yes (although if I could afford it maybe take a plane lol.)

Have a lovely holiday.

Yara

I read this forum a lot but rarely post, but wanted to tell my Grand Canyon story.

In summer 2006, my sis %26amp; I went to Vegas (both late-20s at the time). We had planned 3 nights, but I convinced her to stay an extra night in Vegas, with the perk being that we could go to the GC for one night. I put her in charge of the GC portion of the trip.

She wanted to do the mule ride, so we booked the 1/2 day mule ride at the North Rim. She didn%26#39;t book us at the GC Lodge b/c they don%26#39;t have AC. The people at the mule tour told her the best place to stay was Kanab, UT.

So we left Treasure Island one morning (picked up rental car there--PITA but I will leave out those details). We got stuck with a gold PT Cruiser. After going to the outlet mall, we finally got on the highway, heading towards UT. Stopped in the last town before we left NV for a little gambling. It was a boring drive for the most part, till we got to Bryce Canyon National Park. Had to pay $20 just to drive through. No real other choice, so we did it. It was very pretty. I saw some busses and I would have been SCARED had I been on one of them.

Got to Kanab to check into the hotel (Hampton, Holiday Inn Express, or something of that nature). Realized that we were 80 miles from the GC! Our room was in the basement, and there were no others available. Was a little worried (safety). Freaked out about the 80 mile drive but decided to stay put and get up super early to make it to the mule tour. Had to be there by 7 am I believe.

Ate dinner at the world%26#39;s slowest (and probably worst) Wendy%26#39;s. This was after we tried one local place (can%26#39;t remember the problem) and a Pizza Hut, at which we walked in and no one was in there. No one. No workers, no customers. Weird.

So we get up at the crack of dawn (4:30 or so) to leave by 5 and be at GC by 6:30 and not miss the tour. After being followed to our car by some FREAK at the hotel, and being scared out of our minds, we got on the road. A few minutes into the drive, we realize that we don%26#39;t really know what time it is. We were in Utah, but AZ (where we were going) doesn%26#39;t use daylight savings time. So does that make them one hour ahead or one hour behind? We were confused and called the GC Lodge. Instead of it being 5:30 AM, it was 4:30. Nothing really else to do, so we kept going. This was a really boring drive. It was dark. I hit a rabbit. :( And I was ticked off because I could have had another hour of sleep!

We finally make it to the North Rim, expecting the gate to be closed. Instead, it%26#39;s open, with no one working it. Woo-hoo--we saved the $20 national park entrance fee.

After all of that, we got to the GC in time for sunrise. It was so beautiful that it made all of the other stuff worth it. We were there before the restaurant even opened. We sat out on the deck just taking it all in. Then we got a great table (view) at the restaurant, went on our mule ride, and overall had a great time. (It was 50 degrees when we got there, explaining why there is no AC at the GC lodge).

Would I do it again? YES. I encourage everybody to do it. I was scared on the mule, but once I got used to it, I loved it. It helped that our guide was from NC and a cute young cowboy. (we are from NC also--nice to meet somebody from home). If I go again, I will plan a couple of days, stay at the GC Lodge, and maybe even do the whole day mule ride.

At the end of the day, we went back to Vegas for one last night before we headed back to NC. So it was also worth it that I got another night in Vegas. :)

lol haley. Perhaps the mule ride people have a side business in Kanab so they try to steer people there. Not the place to stay for GC North as you learned. Glad the trip turned out well in the end.

LOL!! That story was too funny, thanks for sharing that with all of us! I too am glad it worked out in the end and you enjoyed yourself!

So it seems the consensus is the trip to the south rim is definitely the way to go and well worth it, but it should be an overnight thing as it is pretty far away. THanks for all your assistance Tripadvisor members!

You are welcome. Use www.kayak.com to search for cars. Post followup questions about Grand Canyon in the Arizona%26gt;Grand Canyon National Park forum.