Thursday Travel Tips-GRAND CANYON
During covid we were fortunate enough to be able to travel. During this time we decided we wanted to visit the National Parks. Of course, the Grand Canyon was on our list and since we were doing the Grand Canyon, we also decided to do Sedona! We found Flagstaff, Arizona was central to both, so our recommendations are based on staying in Flagstaff, AZ.
LODGING- we stayed at the hotel Little America. We highly recommend it. Its not fancy, but it is so cute. They have lots of walking trails in the back, an outdoor pool/hot tub and restaurant on site. The rooms were fabulous. They had a microwave/mini refrigerator in the room. It was a great price for what you get. In addition the lobby was lovely and they had a gift shop. We were traveling in late November so they had it decorated for the holidays. It was so adorable! Lastly, this hotel is only 40 minutes to Sedona (which I’ll write about in another post) and is a little over a hour to the Grand Canyon South Rim.
https://flagstaff.littleamerica.com/#
FOOD
MartAnnes Burito- we ate breakfast here. We highly recommend this spot. It was good. You can definitely share, as the portion sizes are so big.
Karma Sushi- we had dinner here! The food was good, but the service was fantastic! It was a little pricey, but it was worth it if you love sushi.
https://karmaflagstaff.com
GRAND CANYON -We highly recommend doing both sides of the Grand Canyon.
GRAND CANYON SOUTH RIM-https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/desert-view-drive.htm
We started with the Grand Canyon South Rim, because it was closest to Sedona. At the time we didn’t know the glass walk out was on the west side. The south rim is just over a 100 miles and has so many breathtaking views. Since we had a toddler we did the Desert View Drive. We drove through in our car and got out at several different stopping points. The views were unbelievable!
GRAND CANYON WEST-https://grandcanyonwest.com/explore/west-rim/
The Grand Canyon West is 4-5 hours from the south side, so obviously once we left the South side we moved on. I highly recommend going to the west side. It’s incredible!
The Grand Canyon West is on the Hualapai Reservation. Once you arrive you park your car and will take a shuttle out to your destination. You can not drive into the park!
GRAND CANYON SKYWALK-https://grandcanyonwest.com/things-to-do/skywalk/
We chose to do the glass walk out. It was such an incredible experience. I highly recommend everyone doing it! After doing the glass walk out, you can go upstairs to their restaurant and eat or have a drink! It has incredible views too!
* FYI- if possible go in the afternoon as the sunsets there are incredible!
LODGING- I highly recommend driving to Las Vegas as it’s only 2 hours away and there are so many options for hotels in Las Vegas. If you go during the weekdays, you typically get a lower rate.
*FYI- we found hotels near the National Parks were more expensive and not that nice. Also, there typically isn’t many food/water options or if there is, it is super expensive. Note, bring snacks and water with you!